Tokyo cafes serve up coffee with a side of cyclo-tourism
Although Tokyo's nascent cycling tourism sector is ostensibly aimed at inbound tourists, "cycle cafes" are designed to create sustainable communities by combining coffee and culture.
Uber agrees to buy electric bicycle rental company Jump Bikes
Uber Technologies Inc. is leaping into the bicycle-rental industry with the purchase of Jump Bikes, as CEO Dara Khosrowshahi seeks out new growth areas with his first acquisition. The ride-hailing giant agreed to pay more than $100 million in cash and stock to buy the ...
Demand for electric bikes in Japan still brisk 25 years after Yamaha Motor's first model
Electric bicycles are enjoying brisk demand as they mark the 25th anniversary this year since the first model was released in 1993. According to government data, sales of electric bicycles in Japan in 2016 grew 15.3 percent from the previous year to 539,529 units, breaking ...
Deaths related to cycling accidents have declined 14.7 percent since the road traffic law was revised a year ago, the National Police Agency said Thursday. During the one-year period through May, 517 cyclists died in accidents, down 89 from a year earlier, as the number ...
Tanigaki has spinal surgery, may not retain post in looming LDP shake-up
Sadakazu Tanigaki, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, has undergone surgery for a spinal injury that was much more serious than originally let on.
Hokkaido woman on track for professional cycling career
Nozomi Ito is swapping her nurse's uniform for Lycra as part of an intensive training regime to reach her goal of becoming a professional track cyclist. Ito, 28, who works at an ophthalmic clinic in Hakodate, Hokkaido, is one of three people to have been ...
Nagano ski resort tries out downhill snow biking
Faced with dwindling numbers of skiers, a Japanese ski resort is pointing people toward downhill mountain biking. A nighttime event showcasing the slippery sport on New Year's Eve at the Togari Onsen ski resort in Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture, drew 55 participants. The spectators ranged in ...
Rider of brakeless bike is first to get safety course summons
Osaka's public safety commission will order a 29-year-old man to attend a bicycle safety lecture after repeated road violations, in the first such case following a legal revision last month, police said Wednesday. The man, a resident of Osaka's Taisho Ward, was given traffic tickets ...
Cycling the Kyoto maze could get easier
As Kyoto residents know, bicycles are the best way to get around the congested city, which is taking steps to make it more amenable to foreign cyclists.
Junji Nagayama, the head of a heavy equipment delivery company in Nagoya, has developed a bicycle that, in just a few minutes, can be transformed into a wheelchair. Named Qjo, which literally means to rescue, the idea is to use the wheelchair for emergency purposes. Cyclists ...
Racer-turned-mechanic makes top-grade bikes
Yoshiaki Nagasawa has a list of customers who favor bicycles handmade for them, including Koichi Nakano, a former professional bicycle racer and 10-time world champion track sprinter. While bicycles made by Nagasawa cost ¥200,000 to ¥300,000, he says, "I don't think even ¥500,000 is expensive ...
Cyclists warned on new left side rule
Many cyclists may be unaware that a ban on riding against the flow of traffic will take effect by the end of the year to curb an increasing number of bicycle-related accidents, police warned Friday. Under the revised Road Traffic Law, which will take effect ...
