Cycling has enjoyed a renewed boom in popularity in recent years as an eco-friendly means of transportation and for its health benefits. Reflecting this trend, more and more helmet-donning businesspeople are seen cycling to work on their glimmering sports bikes these days, often gliding past cars on busy roads around Tokyo.
But Eric Ossing, a longtime Japan resident who works for a European IT company in Tokyo as a translator, has lately been fascinated with bikes of a completely different nature: Japanese utility bicycles from the 1950s.
The 49-year-old American, who lives in a residential neighborhood of Kawasaki with his Japanese wife, first came into contact with these old Japanese bikes five years ago. Before that, Ossing was a fan of contemporary lightweight models, touring around the nation with his custom-made 27-gear road bike. But then one day, the frame of his bike cracked.