Since the last entry (in Japan)

Wow, as I started to write this, I checked to see when the last update was and it was like 3 weeks ago before the new year, in fact.

I am back in Portland now. Our house hunting in Japan so far hasn't met success. So now Kao will have to continue on that task without me and that might take a while, so I might still be in Portland for a bit longer.

We had a great new year's at Kao's parents' in Ibaraki.



We rode the mamachari to the nearby Kitaura Lake.



With a thermos full of hot tea!



On new year's day, we didn't ride the bikes, but we went to watch the first sunrise come up over the Pacific Ocean. It was super cold, but there were lots of people who had the same idea.



Kao at the same beach during the day.



Back in Kawaski, I saw these two bikes and hula hoops. So colorful and pretty!



We also visited the Cycle Square Kitasando which Kao wrote about here and Gary Fisher raved about on his visit. It was a temporary project by the Bicycling Popularization Association of Japan as a space which aimed to "popularize" bicycling. I had read and heard about it, but I wanted to check it out before it closed. (it closed on January 17th) They often had events like panel discussions and rides, but for the most part it's a cafe with expensive road bikes on display and all the latest bike magazines. There is corner where you can bring your bike in and use tools there and there is a "concierge" who you can go talk to about anything that is bicycle related. This is also the place where they held seminars about the Bicycle Citizenship Manifest. I still don't quite agree with that and also I found that the way Cycle Square Kitasando could have done things differently to appeal to a wider portion of the public.



When you first enter, there are these vintage bikes on display. (I think that's a vintage Pashley on the front) But the rest of the bikes on display in the space are all road bikes. I like looking at road bikes as much as anyone, but I think if they were aiming to get non-enthusiasts to become interested in riding bikes, they should really have had more variety of bikes. They had video monitors throughout the space and they were all showing videos of road racing too. I think road bikes and racing is definitely appealing, but there is so much more different kind of bicycling which they simply ignored. One thing that this space achieved though is that they got tons of media exposure. I think the Bicycling Popularization Association of Japan is mostly funded by Keirin and so this whole thing seemed very official, well organized, but a bit boring. That's a totally different approach from the grassroots stuff that happen here in Portland.



The food was pretty good although the portions were too small and over priced!



Lastly, this photo of a poster has been getting some attention on my flickr. It's a poster which tells you how (or how not) to bring your bike on the train.



You are supposed to disassemble your bike and put it in a bag or case so as not to get in the way of fellow train passengers. I think there are some trains in rural areas that allow bikes on board without disassembly, but for the most part these rules apply throughout Japan. It may be a while before multi-modal communting with bikes on trains become regular normal activity.

Magazine: Jitensha Seikatsu

Japan is the land of magazines. There are magazines of all types for any kind of niche you can imagine. And there are quite a number of bicycle related magazines. There are the usual sport cycling magazines, but I've noticed in the last few years the number of magazines about bicycle life style for the more casual riders have been steadily growing. I love going to the book stores and thumbing through all these magazines. Yesterday, I picked up this magazine "Jitensha Seikatsu" which roughly translates as "Bicycle Life" or "Bicycle Living".

This issue's main feature is "Fall Winter Bicycle Ride Best Coordinating" which is basically a fashion feature.



Other than the helmet and the shoes, it's pretty much normal looking clothing. His bike is real nice looking too. Never heard of it before, but it's called Bruno.



I couldn't tell at first, but here she's wearing a Yakkay helmet. Her bike is a Louis Garneau who only seems to sell only clothing in North America, but in Japan they are a successful bike brand.





I think the clothing choices are just fine, but what I notice more by looking at these pictures are the bikes. They are all riding sport bikes and none are like the Dutch upright bikes with high handle bars. I think for a magazine that's geared towards more casual riders, they could have included more casual bikes. Of course, Japan has its version of the upright high hand position bike which is the mamachari. I think they are pretty nice bikes, but they are so common that they are unfortunately not considered fashionable at all.

They did have really nice looking bikes in another section though.





These are vintage bikes. The black one is from 1954 and the red one is from the mid 70's. The black one features a clear plastic chain case. I really love these vintage bikes and I would love to get one.

The magazine included many other articles majority of which seemed to be reports of touring around various places. Japan is a country where there is so much variation on culture from region to region, so there is no shortage of things to be experienced while touring, so it makes pretty good reading.

You can get a pretty good idea about how people are riding bikes in Japan from these magazines, at least the enthusiasts. The non-enthusiasts riding the mamachari all over Japan are not really considered here, but it would be cool if these two groups could become closer. I think knowledge that any kind of bikes even the mamachari could serve more of the role of transportation and you don't need special gear to do so, can make bicycling much more popular and not just something that is for the athletic elite.

Japanese work bikes

There was an interesting post over at Copenhagen Cycle Chic recently called "Top 10 List of Gorgeous Bicycles for Stylish Ladies". It was great to see such an assortment of gorgeous bikes. The bikes were mostly European except for one bike from the US and one from Japan. The bike from Japan, Arrow Barkley is a stylish and minimalist bike, but I wasn't really sure it was the best Japan offered.

My personal preference of a stylish Japanese bike is the Japanese work bike.
As it is really made for actual work, it's not thought to be something stylish to ride around town on, but I like their old school looks and ruggedness. I'm not sure if these bikes meet the criteria of being "Gorgeous Bicycles for Stylish Ladies", but I thought I'd show a few of them as I'm not sure people outside Japan know about these kinds of bikes.


Bridgestone Jupiter


Bridgestone is world famous for their car tires, but they make bicycles as well. Their bicycle division in Japan is over a half century old (since 1949) and they had a US division directed by Grant Peterson (who now runs Rivendell Bicycle Works) from mid 80's to mid 90's. The Bridgestone Jupiter is typical of Japanese bikes which is made for carrying heavy loads. The rear rack and stand is different than those of European bikes. The rear rack is not made for pannier bags, but is made to carry things on top of it which is why it's so wide. You will see working people carrying all kinds of things on a bike like this in Japan from Sake, fish, tofu, etc. The stand which is attached near the rear spindle is bulky, but will stand the bike upright perfectly, so there is no worry about the bike falling over with a heavy load.


Panasonic Regular


Panasonic, the electronics giant makes bicycles as well although compared to Bridgestone, I'm not sure if they are as serious as a bicycle manufacturer. The
Panasonic Regular is very much similar to the Bridgestone Jupiter, but I think the Jupiter looks a bit classier than the Regular.

These two bikes are ones that are currently still available, but I really like older bikes of this type like this one I spotted in front of Inoda Coffee in Kyoto last Winter.



This bike has the good old rod brakes instead of the cable cantilever types. While the cable brakes may be superior in performance, rod brakes look really awesome on these bikes, I think.


Bridgestone News-kuru


This is another bike by Bridgestone which is made specifically for newspaper delivery. As you can see, it has a very large front basket to put newspaper for easy access. Usually a delivery person will carry newspaper both front and on the back. It also has a lever on the handle bar to lock out the front wheel, so that it won't fall over with the weight of a loaded basket when you get off the bike.

Panasonic Business ViVi


This is the Panasonic ViVi which is not really as nice looking as the others and I wouldn't really want to ride it myself, but I thought I would mention it because it's an electrically assisted bike which are becoming increasingly popular in Japan especially as working bikes. I'm not against electric bikes, but it would be nice if they can make them as nice looking as the others. They can start by replacing that chain case.


As I am now in the US and can't just go out and spot old work bikes in the street, but the next time I'm there, I will look for them and document them.

I've been thinking when I move back to Japan and if I could get a second bike, I would love to get a used work bike and fix it up nicely. They are made for work and people don't treat them like they might treat an expensive road bike, but if I get one, I will definitely take great care of it.