Bicycle Museums Japan

自転車博物館

Japan has several good bicycle museums. Below are three worth checking out.

Tokyo

Jitensha Bunka Center
自転車文化センター
Tozai subway line to Takebashi Station. Exit 1B, seven minute walk.
Tozai/Hanzomon subway line to Kudanshita Station. Exit 2B, seven minute walk.
03-3217-1231

600 yen for adults, 400 yen for children

Nagoya

Cycling Gallery Yagami Jitensha Shiryokan
サイクルギャラリー・ヤガミ自転車資料館
Subway Sakuratori Line to Gokiso Station. Exit 4, 6 minute walk.
Open Saturdays, admission free.
052-853-3281

Sakai

Jitensha Hakubutsukan
自転車博物館
South Of Osaka, in Sakai. Take the JR Hanwa Line to Mozu Station. A 10-minute walk.
072-243-3196

300 yen for adults, 200 yen for junior high school students

This is the best of the bunch.

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Japanese Sweets Gion

和菓子祇園

Though not perhaps technically "wagashi" - Japanese sweets - these small, beautiful hard candies are incredibly Japanese.

Basically sugar, food coloring, and a lot of skill went into creating them.

While riding through Gion, we stopped at Cafe Fugetsu and had lunch.

The cafe is housed in a old tea house, which is itself worth a visit.

After lunch, the waitress brought out green tea cheesecake with tofu-cream, and a side dish of small candies.

Up close, one can see that the colorful candies are intricately carved.

Access


From Minami-za Theater, walk or ride towards Yasaka Shrine on Shijo Dori. At Hanamikoji, turn right and head into the main area of Gion. At the fourth corner on the left, turn left (east). Cafe Fugetsu is on the right side of the street.

Tel: 075 561 5937



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Video of Bike Ride Kamo River

自転車で鴨川の録画

The bike videos continue.

This ride takes in part of the embankment along the east side of the Kamo River.

We started just south of Sanjo. The second bridge we ride under is the Sanjo Bridge.

Other highlights are a homeless encampment - note the blue tarps under a bridge - the young skateboarders near the conjunction of canals that feed into the river from Okazaki, and of course the beautiful river itself.

The ride ended when we went up an exit ramp at Marutamachi Dori.




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Kyoto Eirin Bicycles

京都サイクルエイリン

Close to Doshisha Unversity and the Imperial Palace is a new Eirin shop.

Eirin is a Kyoto chain that sells new and used bikes. The stores also have free air pumps out front. If your tires are low, it's a good place to refill (some of the smaller mom & pop places try to charge for air).

If you are in the market for an inexpensive beater for getting around town, Eirin can be recommended.

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Video of Bike Ride Gion Kyoto

自転車で祇園の周辺の録画

On a cold January weekend, we took a ride in and around Gion.

The ride started at Cafe Fugetsu - a wonderful former tea house - and then winds its way back to  Hanamikoji Dori.

Then, to avoid the tourists, we took a right down a side street.

Gion is the most well-known area in Japan for geisha, but at this time of day none were to be found.

The ride ended as we entered a bumpy section of Kenninji, a zen temple in Gion.




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Video of Bike Ride Near Kitano Tenmangu Shrine

自転車で北野天満宮周辺の録画

On a cold January weekend, we rode past Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

From there, the ride took us past the eastern side of the shrine.

At that point, we cut down into Kamishichiken.

This is an area of tea houses and geisha.

The end of the ride takes us down a narrow street hard by a temple.




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Kyoto Maiko on Pontocho

京都先斗町舞子

We are not sure what if anything this lovely creature has to do with cycling, but she reeks Kyoto.

This maiko (apprentice geisha) known as Ichiraku is seated serenely near the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theater, in central Kyoto, surrounded by tourists, assorted leg-humpers, and a party of people she appeared to be with.

Poised and perfect.

It must be brutal work.

Editor's note: this photo was taken in May 2008.


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Kyoto Kimono and Bicycle

京都着物と自転車

Two ladies out for an afternoon of shopping on Kyoto's Sanjo Dori.

Two rugged bikes parked in front of the store outside of which they are window shopping.

Curious, we waited.

And, no, alas, the ladies did not mount the mountain bike and recumbent bike and zoom off into the Kyoto dusk.


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Kyoto Snowfall Cycling

京都雪自転車

Sunday night saw heavy snowfall in western Japan.

Areas along the coast of the Sea of Japan - Shimane, Tottori, Niigata - have seen record-breaking accumulation.

Kyoto City is often cold - ask any midwinter cyclist - in winter. However, accumulation is fairly rare.

For the second time this winter, though, Kyoto saw its rooftops and roads blanketed in a beautiful white.

We threw in the proverbial towel and walked to the train station and stewed in a packed, late (six minutes!) train.

High school students and die-hards, however, were on the roads.

The snow is mostly gone from roads, and we are back in the saddle.


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Increasing Number of Bike Accidents in Japan

自転車危険も加速

Accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians have skyrocketed in the last 10 years in Japan.

In 2009, there were 2,934 such accidents. That is 3.7 times the number recorded a decade earlier.

In one chilling case, a junior high school student was ordered to pay 30 million yen ($300,000) to an elderly woman he hit and badly injured.

Thanks to the increasing popularity of cycling, particularly in cities, accidents have increased. In contrast to the surge in number of bikes on the road, though, the infrastructure of Japanese cities has not kept pace. That means riders are often on sidewalks, whether they want to be or not.

To date, just 6.8% of Japanese roads have dedicated lanes for cyclists.

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Kyocera Solar Cycle Station

ソーラーサイクリングステーション

Kyocera announced in November, 2010, that it would begin production of  its “Solar Cycle Station.”

These are an alternative to less eco-friendly electric bike charging stations. Kyocera's Stations use solar panels to provide energy.

Each station comes equipped with three solar panels that can produce an output of 79.8 V, and up to 1.14 kWh per day.

The Stations cost $roughly $23,000, and are expected to start appearing near tourist sites, shopping malls, and other locations in Kyoto. The Station pictured above is located in front of the prefectural government building in neighboring Shiga Prefecture, in Otsu.

According to company sources, the item is currently only available in Japan.

Six bikes can be charged at one time.

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Five Golden Safety Rules for Cycling Japan

自転車安全利用５則

The police are at it again.

Using a pliant media, the police have been reminding the cyclists of Japan of the five golden rules:

1. Bikes on roads, use of sidewalks is the exception
2. Ride on the left side of the road
3. Priority on sidewalks is for pedestrians, cyclists on sidewalks should ride on the street side - slowly
4. Follow safety rules (don't ride and drink, one person to a bike, don't ride side by side, light on at night, obey traffic rules and crossing lights)
5. Children must wear helmets

Hear hear. Point well taken.

In defense of the police, many cyclists do not follow the above rules. "Salmoning" in and between moving traffic, jumping up onto sidewalks, listening to iPods, texting, etc. are all common.

Rules should be enforced, fines levied. Follow the letter of the law. Trust me, misbehaving cyclists would soon get the message.

However, the larger problem - infrastructure - is that on the crowded roads of urban Japan often there is no choice but to break rules.

Without dedicated lanes for bicycles and an increase in the number of cyclists on the roads, accidents will continue to rise.

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Kyoto Keirin Van

競輪車

Who knew?

Kyoto has a Keirin van.

And it has been spotted parked in front of a bank near Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.

Is this the pace car? Is there a pace car? Is it some young guy's idea of how to meet girls by tricking out his family van with keirin logos?

We want one, if only for a day. Imagine loading an old beater of a bike in the back, putting on our worst used bike gear, and bursting out of the back of this van in front of Kyoto Station.

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Tofu Seller on Bike in Kyoto

自転車乗っている豆腐やさん

Just east of the Imperial Palace, a tofu seller held onto to his goods as he slowly pedaled north towards Imadegawa Dori.

He did not have the baleful horn that the traditional sellers honk to alert customers as they ride around town.

We are thus guessing that he was merely making a delivery to a nearby restaurant.

His bike clanked along as he moved gingerly forward.


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Kyoto Public Bath

京都銭湯

What can you get for around 500 yen (about $5.30) these days?

4 cokes (220 ml/can, 480 yen)
4 cans of Kirin beer (220 ml/can, 480 yen)
Four packs of gum (480 yen)
A one-way trip to Osaka from Kyoto on JR (540 yen)
Postage enough for 4 letters to the US (50 mg or less/letter, 440 yen)
A trip to a public bath (410 yen)

The sento (public bath) is the least expensive of the above options, but you can keep the change. We don't drink coke, canned beer is for the hottest of summer days only, gum we can live without, and Osaka you can have. Except for Mom, letters are pretty old school (but so are we and confess to writing and buying 110 yen stamps often).

The public bath is old school as well, but ah what lurks behind those inviting curtains.

For less than $5, you can bathe and chat, wash and soak, rinse and scrub to your heart's delight. And then repeat.

A standard neighborhood sento will have several baths: cold, really hot, and herbal. Often there is a sauna as well.

The boiling hot bath gets you cleaner than you have been months. The changing room is good for neighborhood gossip, a massage on chairs for that purpose, or watching a ball game on the tv affixed to the ceiling.

However, the main goal - getting naked, and really clean, with a bunch of strangers - is itself worth the entrance fee.

Highly recommended.

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Snowy New Year Kyoto Mailman

京都雪の中の郵便屋さん

The end of 2010 brought with it heavy snow, ending commuting, touring, and daily shopping on two wheels.

On this street in western Kyoto, however, the mailman was on his motorcycle making his appointed rounds.

Not far from Myoshinji Temple, the mailman had on his chains and was moving slowly from house to house dropping off new year's cards.

He smiled and yelled out a greeting as he whizzed by.

The snow is now gone, and cyclists have returned to the streets.

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Bicycle Parking Sign Tenryuji Temple Kyoto

天龍寺駐輪場看板

Just off the main drag in Arashiyama, the temple-filled area in western Kyoto, is the World Heritage site Tenryuji Temple.

To the left, or south, of the main entrance is a lot for bicycles and motorcycles.

It is noted with a monolingual sign that, thanks to the image at the bottom, is clear enough.

On a geeky linguistic note, the sign reads: 駐輪場 (churinba). This is instead of the more common 駐輪所 (churinjo). The bike lots in town tend toward the latter, perhaps more modern, reading.

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Snow in Kyoto

京都年末雪景色

The end of 2010 brought heavy snow to western Japan.

Even Kyoto city, which rarely sees much accumulation, awoke to 15 cm on January 1st.

For about a day, this made cycling all but impossible in the areas of the city that hug the mountains that encircle it.

This bike is in front of a house not far from Ninnaji Temple.

By January 2nd, the roads in most of the city were clear, and life was back to normal.

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Happy New Year from CycleKyoto

あけましておめでとうございます！良いお年を！

CycleKyoto.com debuted on June 1 of 2010, so today marks exactly our six month anniversary.

This blog predated the site by a few weeks, and is going strong.

Kyoto appears to be serious about embracing - and shaping - its bike culture and the sometimes testy relationship between pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles.

The woman pictured here - on a beater of a bike, wearing expensive boots lined with fake fur, talking on her phone - embodies much of what is great and troubling about cycling culture in Kyoto.

She is oblivious to the world around her. Yet, she has chosen to use the most practical form of transportation - and on the simplest version thereof.

We remain hopeful.

Best wishes and happy riding in 2011.

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