For as long as I can remember, riding a bicycle in Japan has been a matter of navigating sidewalks clogged with throngs of shoppers, grandmothers with carts and the occasional intrepid dog-walker. But a new law may limit our imagination when it comes to cycling in whatever manner we deem fit!

The new regulation, set to take effect in the new year, decrees that bicycles must be ridden on the left side of the road, in the direction of the flow of traffic. Seems logical, doesn't it? But no one has said how this will prevent accidents or make anything safer; we're just presuming it will. How will the thrill-seekers make the morning commute a little more exciting? Are we, perhaps, becoming too soft?

I can understand this new law to a point. But after that point, I wonder if there aren't huge advantages to riding against the flow of traffic so you can see what is coming and avoid an accident (the very reason it is recommended you walk against the traffic). There are few bicycle lanes in Japan and most people ride slow-moving mama-chari clunkers intended as people-movers. Thus they are ill- equipped for road riding, with few reflectors and no mirrors to give you warning of what is coming up behind you. Riding against the traffic serves as the largest rear-view mirror you could ever wish for. And the Japanese have always ridden this way. They're quite used to it.