"The freeways there are jammed with all kind of folks on their bikes." - Beach Boys, It's a Beautiful Day

One of the first things that just amazed me when I arrived in Japan were how many bicycles there are! I think every single person must have 3 personal bicycles here in Japan to account for how many I have seen on the road, sidewalk and all over.

I thought I would dedicate a post to the Japanese bicycle culture. It's not so much a culture, I guess, as a necessity here, but still.

Parked at our train station. They all look like this!

Busy street in Tokyo

Foldable bikes. They are pretty common here and I can understand why. They can go on the train, in  a car and all over.

Business women ride bikes to work....in HEELS

Bike lane to cross the street. Not big enough. Bikes cross all over and you nearly get run over.

The guy on the left was picking up a bike that had tipped over because of the wind. Notice, none of them are locked up. Bikes don't get locked up and they don't get stolen.

Every few feet you see a bike parked on the sidewalk.

In the US, when a woman has a kid, they buy a bigger car usually. Here, they exchange their bike basket for a kid seat. I LOVE it.

Many have two seats! Having another kid?? Just add a seat in the back! Or, they will strap them on their back and ride. I think it is so awesome. i hope it's something I can do when I have kids.

There's one now! Sorry it's a bad pic. I couldn't get the camera out fast enough when one would ride by. She has the kid strapped to her back and she's riding with stuff in the basket. Just running to the store.

I have my cool Schwinn here, but it's not one I want to ride rough on with the hills, etc around our house. I need to get one that I can ride up and down hills so I can start using it to and from the train station.

There is so much going on when you're driving. Hundreds of pedestrians, bicyclists, scooters, motorcycles. It amazes me more people don't get hit.

They will ride in heels, skirts, in the rain, wind, heat. The culture here impresses me on how they just do what they need to do in order for all these thousands of people to live in harmony so close together.