Bicycle helmets are now 'mandatory' in Japan. Here's how people feel about that.

Millions of cyclists zip around Japan for a range of daily needs. Work, carrying children and picking up groceries are just a few.

But while they go about their routines on two wheels, most don’t wear helmets.

That might change thanks to a revised section of the Road Traffic Act that makes wearing a helmet a duty-driven effort for people of all ages. In Japanese, the policy is called a matter of doryoku-gimu, which roughly translates to “duty of effort.”

Until now, parents were bound by a "duty of effort" to ensure that children under the age of 13 wore helmets.

There have been similar attempts to make casual bicycle riding safer, like in the late 2000s when the National Police Agency introduced a nonpenalty ban on carrying two children at once on a bicycle. The ban was protested, mainly by mothers, and eventually lifted, with the NPA shifting its focus to setting up new safety standards for the bicycles.

“I was quite proud of the Japanese mothers who just stood up in the face of the rule and said, ‘We’re not going to stand for this. We're going to continue to cycle,’” said Byron Kidd, a longtime Tokyo resident and cycling advocate. “And I really hope with this helmet rule that the same thing happens.”

Kidd, the editor and author of the blog “Tokyo By Bike,” worries that the move to obligate wearing a helmet could lead to a decrease in bicycle users.

“Cycling is a convenience for everybody in Japan and if you put the helmet laws or number plate laws or something in the way, then you've reduced the convenience and that has a huge impact on people's lives,” he said.

Like Kidd, author and longtime bike advocate Satoshi Hikita believes the number of helmet-wearers isn’t likely to rise. But he doesn’t expect the number of bikers to change either, as long as there are no penalties.

“All police will be able to say is ‘wear a helmet from now on,’ so I don’t think people will follow the mandate,” he said. “Japanese people have a history of not following bicycle regulations. ... For example, many bicyclists ride on the right-hand side of road.” Hikita added that this tendency is most dangerous at intersections because bikers can easily enter a car's blindspot.

Even though the law revision doesn't have any penalties, Hikita said it's a necessary move for the police to combat a rise in head injuries, while also assisting in fault liability in bike accidents, especially in a country where government-led bike infrastructure updates aren’t likely to happen anytime soon due to cost and time.

According to the National Police Agency, 56% of fatal bicycle accidents in Japan between 2018 and 2022 came as a result of a head injury. In 2022, 339 bicyclists died in traffic accidents, almost 52.8% of which were caused by head injuries.

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the fatality rate is 2.3 times higher for those not wearing helmets versus those who do.

In light of the revision, some municipalities, including the Tokyo wards of Meguro and Adachi, have moved so far as to reduce the financial burden of purchasing helmets.

However, opposition to blanket helmet-wearing rules seems strong.

In collaboration with Kidd, graphic designer and bike tour leader Chad Feyen co-founded grassroots cycling advocacy group Cycling Embassy of Japan after turning to commuting by bike following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Feyen said that while he isn’t against helmets and understands that they could serve people well in certain situations, like when riding at high speeds, down steep inclines or when participating in extreme sports, he believes a blanket mandate is not a solution. He also advocates for better infrastructure similar to other countries where biking is popular like Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as safer driving.

“It's very sad that they've gone to such extremes, to say that 'Our streets are so unsafe and we're not going to do anything about that, but we're going to force you all to deal with it,'” he said.

Like Kidd, Feyen fears that the number of cyclists will decline even though people could be turning to bikes instead of cars for health, environmental and financial benefits.

Feyen’s wife, Megumi, reflected on the days when she would take her now-teenage daughter on her mamachari or "mom-bike" to kindergarten just five minutes from home.

In the past, Megumi would commute roughly 40 minutes from her home in Setagaya Ward to Shibuya Ward. Although Shibuya’s intersections and major streets felt dangerous, she didn’t wear a helmet. Nor did she think much about wearing one, she said. Now she rides her bike mostly for short trips, like going to a nearby grocery store on weekends.

“It’s demanding to wear a helmet just to go grocery shopping as I'll be carrying a lot of groceries,” she said. “Do I want to carry a big helmet too? And what should I do once I get to the store? Should I take it off and put it in a basket? Or should I keep it on?

“I’m not against them, but I'm not sure if I would be wearing them and I think a lot of people are like that. Sure, the laws changed and we are encouraged to wear it but I'm not sure if a lot of people are actually going to buy and wear it every time they go out,” she said.