Kyoto Sanga 2013 Season Update

京都サンガ２０１３年シーズン終了

Sanga broke our hearts again.

For the second year in a row, the J2 team finished in third place in the regular season.

The top two teams - this year Gamba Osaka and Vissel Kobe - automatically qualify for promotion to J1. The four teams that finish in third, fourth, fifth and sixth place enter a playoff for the final spot in J1.

Kyoto tied in its first match, against sixth place Nagasaki, and thus "won" and proceeded to the final game against the winner of the match between the fourth and fifth place teams.

On Sunday, at the National Stadium in Tokyo, all Kyoto had to do to earn promotion was not lose.

Tokushima scored two first half goals, and that was more than enough.

Kyoto dominated the entire match - shots on goal (Kyoto 13, Tokushima 4), corner kicks (Kyoto 11, Tokushima 4), and ball possession - but could not score.

And thus we are back in lowly J2 for yet another year.


Ticket Information (in Japanese)

Cycling for home games at Nishikyogoku is a flat and easy 20 minutes from central Kyoto and parking is free and readily available.

Up to 40% off Best Selling Bike Brands


View Cycling to Kyoto Nishi Kyogoku Stadium in a larger map


Asics running shoes, now up to 40% off!



© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

Worst Bicycle Lanes Kyoto 2013

京都市専用自転車レーンワースト３

It is time for CycleKyoto's annual "Worst Bicycle Lanes" list. Kyoto does not have any bike lanes that are completely separated from either pedestrian or automobile traffic. Therefore, one is talking degrees of separation, or degrees of less bad bike lanes.

In recognition of the city's half-hearted (baked?) effort at laying down an infrastructure for cyclists - excluding, of course, the many parking lots for bicycles here is the second annual awards for Worst Three Bicycle Lanes in Kyoto.

We have not included any of the "lanes" painted onto sidewalks. The winning lanes are on the road.

3. Bronze Medal - Oike Dori on the south side of Nijo Castle

Going east towards downtown as you ride past Nijo Castle on your left, the left lane of Oike Dori in is a "bike lane." (A picture of the lane is on page 12 of this Kyoto City report on bike lanes.) We know this because on the street in large block white letters it is noted 自転車専用 (exclusively for bicycles). However, the lane has been colonized by cabbies, salarymen, delivery trucks, and others who park there, which forces cyclists back out into the remaining lane and traffic. Moreover, aside from the lettering, there is nothing - no construction, no signage, nothing - to indicate its putative purpose.

Useless and dangerous.

2. Silver Medal - on Shinmachi Dori in front of the Police Headquarters

This "lane" is brilliantly bad (see left). It is just one city block, or roughly 250 meters long. It goes to nowhere, and comes from nowhere. It is the Dante Tenth Circle of Hell Bike Lane: you can circle the two sides of the street, within the lanes, forever, getting nowhere, going nowhere, accomplishing nothing.

Moreover, a taxi lane is built into part of the lane on the west side, so that cops and bureaucrats at the prefectural government building next store can catch a ride home. Also, because of complaints about the coloring - it was too bright and blue - the lane was repainted a more subtle, a more "Kyoto" brownish purple. According to the Yomiuri newspaper, that cost the taxpayers 6.5 million yen ($78,500). In typical Kyoto fashion, the awful original paint job, and then the money involved to redo it, nearly caused a riot.

Awful.

Drum roll, please. It is time for the 2013 CycleKyoto.com award for the worst bicycle lane in Kyoto. And the winner is:

1. Gold Medal - The "lanes" pictured at the top right and below right on Rokkaku Dori, Higashinotoin, etc., in the center of town north of Daimaru Department store. The lanes are barely as wide as normal handlebars. Outside the white line is the space designated for pedestrians; cyclists are allotted the space within the white and purple lines; and automobiles are squeezed into the middle space.

Absolutely hopeless. A complete and utter waste of time and money.

To give the city its due, we will look at the best three lanes next week.


© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags

Japan
Touring
Kyoto
Cycle
Japanese

Best Cycling Cities in Japan 2013

日本自転車都市ベスト５

Here is CycleKyoto's subjective list on the best urban areas for cycling in Japan, 2013.

1. Osaka

2. Tokyo

3. Kyoto

4. Nara

5. Hiroshima

To be honest, we have not cycled in Sapporo, Sendai, Kamakura or Fukuoka. Sapporo is too cold, Sendai we don't know. Kamakura we love and have walked much of it, but with a population of only 160,000 it is a bit too small for this survey (we made the cutoff at 300,000). Fukuoka is a great city and on the "must cycle soon" list.

The most "surprising" omission will be Nagoya. For those who follow Copenhagenize and its annual ranking of best cities worldwide for cycling, in 2013 Tokyo finished 10th and Nagoya tied for 11th with Munich and Montreal (the criteria the blog uses are listed below in italics).

Even a close reading of the criteria leaves us scratching our helmeted head. Tokyo, yes. In terms of cycling culture, facilities, gender split, modal share, safety, Tokyo - almost any Japanese city - would score well. But Nagoya? The home of Toyota, wide car-filled boulevards, and as suburban as any city in Japan with the most deeply entrenched automobile culture in the country? Please.

For good urban cycling, Osaka takes the Japanese crown. It is flat, relatively compact, has many bike lanes (most on wide wide sidewalks), and a deep cycling culture. From salarymen to grandmoms, students to hipsters, nearly everyone is on a bike. To Osakans, a bike is a tool, an extension of the body used to get from A to B.

Tokyo comes in a close second to Osaka because it is hillier, more spread out, and busier.

Kyoto is the perfect size, mainly flat until you hit the mountains that surround the city, home to more than 100,000 university students (out of a population 1.5 million), and has a long and enduring bike culture. The city's efforts at improving the infrastructure have been hit or miss, but dearth of bike lanes notwithstanding the city is still a great place to ride.

Nara is small and chill and a great place to get around on a bike, whether you are a tourist or a resident.

Hiroshima got in by the skin of its teeth. We have a soft spot for the city - the rivers, wide streets, trams, great vibe, fun nightlife - but not having cycled Fukuoka or Sendai, this ranking comes with an asterisk.


Here are the Copenhagenize criteria for ranking cities:

Advocacy:
How is the city's (or region/country) advocacy NGO(s) regarded and what level of influence does it have?
Rated from no organised advocacy to strong advocacy with political influence.

Bicycle Culture:
Has the bicycle reestablished itself as transport among regular citizens or only sub-cultures?
Rated from no bicycles on the urban landscape/only sporty cyclists to mainstream acceptance of the bicycle.

Bicycle Facilities:
Are there readily accessible bike racks, ramps on stairs, space allocated on trains and buses and well-designed wayfinding, etc?
Rated from no bicycle facilities available to widespread and innovative facilities.

Bicycle Infrastructure:
How does the city's bicycle infrastructure rate?
Rated from no infrastructure/cyclists relegated to using car lanes to high level of safe, separated cycle tracks.

Bike Share Programme:
Does the city have a comprehensive and well-used bike-sharing programme?
Rated from no bike share programme to comprehensive, high-usage programme.

Gender Split
What percentage of the city's cyclists are male and female?
Rated from overwhelming male to an even gender split or more women than men cycling.

Modal Share For Bicycles:
What percentage of modal share is made up by cyclists?
Rated from under 1% to over 25%.

Modal Share Increase Since 2006:
What has the increase in modal share been since 2006 - the year that urban cycling started to kick off?
Rated from under 1% to 5%+.

Perception of Safety:
Is the perception of safety of the cyclists in the city, reflected in helmet-wearing rates, positive or are cyclists riding scared due to helmet promotion and scare campaigns?
Rated from mandatory helmet laws with constant promotion of helmets to low helmet-usage rate.

Politics:
What is the political climate regarding urban cycling?
Rated from the bicycle being non-existent on a political level to active and passionate political involvement.

Social Acceptance:
How do drivers and the community at large regard urban cyclists?
Rated from no social acceptance to widespread social acceptance.

Urban Planning:
How much emphasis do the city's planners place on bicycle infrastructure - and are they well-informed about international best practice?
Rated from car-centric urban planners to planners who think bicycle - and pedestrian - first.

Traffic Calming:
What efforts have been made to lower speed limits - for example 30 km/h zones - and generally calm traffic in order to provide greater safety to pedestrians and cyclists?
Rated from none at all to extensive traffic-calming measures prioritising cyclists and pedestrians in the traffic hierarchy.

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

Global Gender Gap Report 2013 Japan

国際男女格差レポート2013

The Global Gender Gap Report 2013 has recently been released by the World Economic Forum.

Japan fared badly, falling four spots to 120th out of a total of 136 countries.

In the words of this year's report:

The Global Gender Gap Index introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006, is a framework for capturing the magnitude and scope of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. The Index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education- and health-based criteria, and provides country rankings that allow for effective comparisons across regions and income groups, and over time. The rankings are designed to create greater awareness among a global audience of the challenges posed by gender gaps and the opportunities created by reducing them. The methodology and quantitative analysis behind the rankings are intended to serve as a basis for designing effective measures for reducing gender gaps.

Here are the rankings:

1. Iceland
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Philippines
6. Ireland
7. New Zealand
8. Denmark
9. Switzerland
10. Nicaragua
11. Belgium
12. Latvia
13. Netherlands
14. Germany
15. Cuba
16. Lesotho
17. South Africa
18. United Kingdom
19. Austria
20. Canada
21. Luxembourg
22. Burundi
23. United States

33. Mongolia

69. China

120. Japan

Japan does badly in the number of female representatives in its parliament and dearth of executives at companies.

The data gathered are true enough, and life in the public sphere and halls of power are heavily biased towards men, and in particular older men.

However, in other hard to measure ways, Japanese women hold great power. In home finances, the neighborhood, shopping decisions, and often at the PTA Japanese women rule.

And on the roads of Japan, Japanese women of all ages are well represented pedaling their bikes.

Still, it comes as no surprise that talented Japanese women often end up at foreign companies, starting their own companies, or working abroad.


© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

Kyoto Antiquarian Book Fair Autumn 2013

2013年京都秋の古本まつり百萬遍知恩寺

One of Kyoto's largest antiquarian book fairs is about to kick off.

It will be held in the grounds of Chionji Temple, which is a ten minute walk from Demachiyanagi.

The fair is open from October 31 - November 4, daily from 10 am until 5 pm.

The Autumn Used Book Fair (Aki-no-Furuhon Matsuri) is one of the three annual book fairs in Kyoto. There will be about 200,000 used and rare books.

It is a good day out, even for those who do not read Japanese.

Information

The temple is on Imadegawa Street across from the campus of Kyoto University.

Contact (in Japanese): 080-6141-7925

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

Kyoto Nuit Blanche Art Festival 2013

５日に白夜祭　日・仏・独のアート競演

Nuit Blanche is an art festival held in October every year in Paris. It has since spread to Brussels, Montreal, Singapore, and is now held in Kyoto.

This October 5, the second Nuit Blanche will be held in Kyoto.

Events will be held from 6 pm until late.

Scheduled performers include:

Chinami Kishioka
Naoko Kotaniguchi (clarinet) with Tetsu Okamoto (trombone), Motoji Konishi (trombone), Kosuke Nakayama (percussion), Kazunari Minase (horn)
Manuel Bienvenu
Ulrike Haage
Eric Schaefer
Selenographica

Venues are spread throughout the city and include the Institut Français, Villa Kamogawa, the Kyoto International Manga Museum, ART COMPLEX, and more.

Venues map

© CycleKyoto.com

CycleKyoto Home Page

Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese

Yamauta 2013 Festival

山水人２０１３年

One of Japan's main peace, renewable resources, vegetarian, campout, live music, hippie confabs is now taking place in the mountains of Shiga Prefecture, which is just across from Kyoto.

The annual Yamauta festival features live music, workshops, and lots of family fun.

The three kanji that make up the title mean "mountain," "water," "person."

Yamauta runs until September 16.

Admission is not free. A pass for the entire two weeks is 6,000 yen (4800 if bought online in advance). A day pass is 3,000 yen.

The easy non-environmental way to get there is drive in your own car. For those not driving, access from Kyoto Station is:

1. Take the JR Kosei line from Kyoto Station JR Adogawa Station (about 30 minutes).

2. Change to the Ewaka bus Kutsuki Line and get off at "Kutsuki Shisho Mae - Bus stop"

3. Take the Takashima community bus from there to "Oisugi bus stop."

4. It is about 15 minutes on foot from there.

For the ironmen and women out there, it is 45 km on a bike from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.  We have done the ride to Ohara, which takes about 45 minutes, but have not gone beyond that point.

It would be hard riding on mountain roads. Godspeed.


View Yamauta Festival Map in a larger map


© CycleKyoto.com CycleKyoto Home Page Tags Japan Touring Kyoto Cycle Japanese