Bike Wars and Rent-a-Cycle

Uncontrolled bike parking near a station

This is a typical scene where I feel I'm back in Japan! ha ha... Go to any train station, mainly in the residential areas inside or surrounding big cities, and you'll find a chaotic scattered sidewalk or parking area full of bicycles.

Everyone wants to ride their bike to the closest possible station but most stations were never designed to deal with so many bicycles, since most Japanese train stations were built  long before most people could afford a bike. But the economic development in 1970's made it possible for each member of family to own a bike. Then this easy mode of transportation in the big city showed its problem side: piles of 放置自転車 (houchi jitensha = neglected bicycles) became a huge social problem in Japan in the 80's.

"Neglected" bicycles :'(

Many communities near a station started to form their own enforcement authority (I guess) to forbid bikes to park near the station.  Enforcement was a serious matter.  On the other hand, Japanese love to do things for "authority" and they love to restrict things before happening; the people with the community authority went after and scolded the people right at when they were coming into the area. They chased the bike riders to a park near the station. Even though such intense control, people found a way to park and then neglect their kid, I mean bike.

The scene in the above image was everywhere by busy stations in Japan. It was like the War between the commuters and the community volunteers of anti-parking-a-bike-near-the-station authority.

Controlled bike parking, 100 yen/day

One of earlier solutions of the bike wars was to charge to park bicycles near stations. The image at the right is an example. But the system was inconvenient. Some were run by the municipal government, which means a rider needed to be qualified to rent a bike parking near station. Some were run as a private business; the system varied. And many people found a way to park free anyway and would find the edict saying that the neglected bikes were removed to a neglected bike correction center (you had a certain amount of time to pay a fee and claim your bike).

So it might be fair to say most Japanese people living in big cities have had such an experience with doing something wrong when parking their bike. Rules have varied and there has been no appeal system. No choice, they had to go to one of those places to get their bike back. And obviously, not everyone wanted to.

Meanwhile, Japan had a bubble economy that burst. A new trend arose:  being "eco-friendly" (conscious of ecology and recycling. Communities worked on new solutions. Sharing bikes was put into practice. The  service included bicycle maintenance and parking for a reasonable fee.  This system was easier for residents than visitors, though.  Too many different companies run the train lines in big cities, visitors could hardly figure things out.

As a result, a number of communities started to rent or share bikes for tourists as well.
"Rent-a-cycle" in resort areas has been pretty common for years but now these bike rental services have come into the big cities. People can rent a bike for a long term instead of owning one to commute, which they likely call "share", as well as visitors rent it for a day or by hour. I think it is a great idea that people can ride a bike from one point to another, whether or not you are a resident or visitor, for a reasonable fee. Unless you really want to, you don't have to "own" a bike anymore.  This is progress for the service industry!

Unfortunately, not much information is available in English, but here are some examples.

There are probably a lot more services available at train stations that are near tourist attractions. There should be at least one rent-a-cycle shop somewhere close by. 

Baybike port in Yokohama

YOKOHAMA Baybike
I hear London and Paris have a similar system. Yokohama city currently runs the system as a test case. This service is a combination of contract port-to-port short terms, per day, for a long term contract. A user needs first to register but once you do you can rent a bike from any "port" in the bay area of Yokohama. The user can rent a bike to take from one port to another port (105 yen), or for 24 hours (525 yen), or for a month (1050 or 1550 yen) but you have to get the bike back to the home port in 1 hour from when you first pick up the bike or you will be charged 105 yen/30 min. otherwise. In the bay area, most tourist attractions have the "port", so the user can take the rented bike back to the port instead of parking elsewhere. Users won't get surcharged as long as they ride the rented bike in the area. If they ride it away from any port then they'll pay 105 yen for each extra 30 minutes.

Matsumoto "Sui Sui Town" and "Rikisha" (in Nagano Prefecture)
Two different groups offer FREE rent-a-cycle services in Matsumoto. One group is the association of the local shops and hotels so the shops and hotels rent the bikes. Another is the tourism and convention association whose rental stations are by the tourist attractions. Matsumoto is a city close to the mountainous area called Japan Alps, it has clear air and spring water even inside the city. One of the Japanese national treasures is Matsumoto Castle. It takes only 2.5 hours from Shinjuku (Tokyo) station by JR, 2 hours from Nagoya (Aichi) station. Though many more stations in Japan have a bike rental service,  "for free" is not too common!  Take advantage of this! In Nagano prefecture, places such as Iida, Shimosuwa, Matsushiro, Obuse, etc., offer rent-a-cycle services for minimal fees.

JR Kyushu "Raku Chari" and Other Services in Kyushu
Selected JR stations in Kyushu offer a rent-a-cycle service by 300 yen for 2 hours, 600 yen for 4 hours and 900 yen for longer than 4 hours. The participating stations are: Karatsu (Saga), Sasebo and Nagasaki (Nagasaki), Hitoyoshi and Kumamoto (Kumamoto), Beppu and Yufuin (Oita), Miyazaki (Miyazaki), and Kagoshima Chuo and Ibusuki (Kagoshima).  In Kyushu, Saga city (Saga Station) also provides a renta-cycle service called Kettakuri but the local tourism and convention association provides the service, not JR Kyushu. It seems only private services cover the Hakata (Fukuoka) area.

Hankyu Rent-a-Cycle
This is a commuter service more than just for tourists. The stations of Hankyu Line (runs in Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe area) offers rentals by the month or longer term in addition to regular shorter term contracts like by the hour or day. All stations are not in the central area, it is quite convenient for the long term visitors along the Hankyu Line. JR also has a similar service Ekirinkun. 

Taito-ku / Bunkyo-ku / Setagaya-ku Renta-Cycle
In Tokyo,  three wards offer bike rental services. Taito-ku is near Asakusa aera, Bunkyo-ku is around Korakuen Dome stadium and Tokyo University, Setagaya-ku is in the west edge of Tokyo. These web pages load automatic translation, I just hope they make sense.

Tokyu Line Cycle-Share 
This is a similar service to the one Hankyu Line provides in Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe area. Tokyu Line runs the area around the west of Tokyo and Kanagawa (Yokohama & Kawasaki), they have a bike sharing service near their stations of Futako-tamagawa (Setagaya-ku) and Shinmaruko (Kawasaki city).

Osaka HubChari
This is a sharing bike service in Osaka. They have 10 "ports" in Osaka city. The idea is similar to the Yokohama BayBike mentioned above. This service is run by the NPO Homedoor which aids homeless people by hiring them for the bike share business.

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The services described here are only from the areas I'm familiar with. There are probably a lot more.  . Please contact us if you know of any service you recommend!  We'll try some of the rent-a-cycle services in Japan and report how they are!