Tokyo

Japan's infrastructure in support of cycling is far from perfect, but they have put considerable effort into it. In Tokyo, bicycles are permitted on both the sidewalk and on the street; the former is obviously safer (for the biker) but pretty slow if there are many pedestrians (which there often are); the latter can be a bit risky but is better if you want to really cover some distance. Some drivers here are under the mistaken impression that bicycles are not allowed on the street, but this is not true. Still, as anywhere, the prudent rider assumes that everybody behind the wheel of a four-wheeled vehicle is a homicidal maniac. When I began wearing a helmet while riding here years ago it elicited a lot of stares; it is now commonplace, though still far from the norm. Happily, many kids in carriers are now wearing helmets.
When we left Tokyo a decade ago, bicycle couriers were just starting to appear and are now fairly common, though the bulk of courier work is still done on motorcycles. The motorcycle couriers are all amazing riders; natural selection takes care of those that aren't - it's a hazardous profession. During the dozen years in Tokyo that I rode a motorcycle on a daily basis, I figured that if you didn't die in some spectacular crash, breathing the air on the street would eventually kill you. Still, if you're the kind of person that likes an adrenalin rush on your way home from work, you can't beat it.

Crosswalks in Tokyo all have bike lanes.

Bicycle couriers are becoming more common on the streets of Tokyo. I wonder if they've developed their own subculture like their counterparts in Vancouver?

I still haven't got any really good pictures of motorcycle couriers - it's kind of hard because they tend to move fast and are often obscured by traffic - but I'll keep trying. The real pros used to favour four-cylinder bikes in the 400cc range - if you're sitting on that thing for hours at a time, smooth is good, and it's nice to have a zippy, high-revving engine that will get you between the lights fast. But they ride all kinds; my cousin Yasumasa who used to be an elite courier rushing film for Fuji Television did it on a 750 Norton and a 900 Ducati, amongst other bikes.

You see more Vespas these days in oh-so-fashion-conscious Tokyo.

A retro Honda 50 Benly in Shinjuku - this is a replica version of the old Honda Benly 50 from the sixties.

Bicycle parking lot outside an apartment building. There's getting to be more of these around train stations too, which should help to deal with the sidewalks that are clogged with bikes around many stations. My friend Sue reports that around Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo they actually have valet parking for bicycles to discourage people from parking their bicycles too close to the station.