Japan's authorities never set out to make their communities bicycle friendly. Rather, history, climate and population density have contributed to making much of Japan a cyclist's dream.
The other Saturday was a typical night out for me. First, my friend Kevin cycled over to my place for a hour of preliminary snacks and a few rounds of computer gaming. Then we hopped on our bicycles, barreled down the wide sidewalks of Kannana Dori and hung a left on the Omekaido thoroughfare. There we stopped at Shinga, a reggae-inspired izakaya in Tokyo's Nakano Ward about two kilometers from my home, for dinner.
Afterward, we got back on our bikes and headed south down Nakano Dori to Crossroads, a corroded 10-seat bar dedicated to the vintage sounds of Motown and Atlantic. The next destination was about a kilometer away, back in my home ward of Suginami. This was Grass Roots, a cozy DJ club. We pedaled ourselves there sometime after midnight.