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Bike messenger job in Tokyo

Then I would suggest you start your actual search, rirekisho preparation, and interviewing immediately.
 
Might have missed the boat - its summer so anything like that is going to be full of young, time rich students on holidays, and then the stragglers for a few months after.
 
Bump.....After the typhoon passes it will still be perfect September.

How is the job search going? Well, I hope. We'd love an update.
 
I heard NY cabbies would go on strike against the newly introduced GPS.
But you cannot get the bike messenger job in Tokyo, if you feel sorry for them.
 
June 18
I know only one thing. I'll try my best getting this job!! Whatever it takes to.


July 27
Later. September would be perfect.


To quote an old country song in part...."There's nothing as cold as ashes after the fire is gone"
 
June 18



July 27



To quote an old country song in part...."There's nothing as cold as ashes after the fire is gone"
Yes, and then comes the understanding. Bike messenging is too dangerous and too stupid to devote the life to. And it's not a good cycling training either. How could you train in a mess of cars, narrow streets and traffic lights?

I'll just stick to my training along Arakawa river.

It's interesting though that you decided to track this topic.
 
I was just curious if someone was finally going to break the streak.
 
How about I hop in my time machine and go back a few years? :p

It wouldn't change anything.

I know there are foreigners who work outside the traditional box, or at least on the edges of it. But they tend to be the types who just go do it. My point was that I have yet to see one who made internet inquiries about it actually do anything other than talk about it on the internet.
 
Bike messenging is too dangerous

How is it any more dangerous than plain old cycling? Mike will have you believe that Tokyo drivers are the worst in the world, but I can speak from experience that cycling through the city is a piece of cake. Just turn your peripheral vision on.
 
How is it any more dangerous than plain old cycling? Mike will have you believe that Tokyo drivers are the worst in the world, but I can speak from experience that cycling through the city is a piece of cake. Just turn your peripheral vision on.

And your i-pod off would be nice, although it would make you unique among cyclists in Japan.

Actually, I wouldn't have him believe that Tokyo drivers are the worst in the world. I reserve that distinction for Kyoto/Osaka drivers.
 
And your i-pod off would be nice

I compromise by turning it down. But, I'm one of the few that's allowed to have it on: I cycle with more control than most people walk with. I also pay way more attention. I've also had plenty of practice driving in the most bicycle unfriendly place on Earth: Honolulu.
 
Seriously it's not the bike who s making the rider. Even you buy a 500000 bike with all gear that you want, and you are unable to pedalling correctly I don't think that you will go faster than a mamachari.

But to answer your question, I don't think to be very fast like Takashi like to say, but I go faster than road bike on Yasukuni dori, Meiji dori, Roppongi dori. Generally, I go faster than some messenger too(ok it s generally late and they maybe are tired). Still, the point is then it's not because you have a road bike than an FG cannot go faster than you go anywhere every day I see a fixed-gear rider going faster than guys with an expensive road bike and nice tour de France cosplay.

You know in french we said, "l habit ne fait pas le moine" (the cloth don t make the monk) it's also real for a bike.

Seriously I love a bike (in reality I only love FG or single in the worst case. road bike with 21 gear or more are for 50 y.o or lazy people) but I don t think that messenger at Tokyo is really funny and safe as work.
 
Please keep us informed if you get a job as bike messenger because it really sounds like a job in which you will learn a lot about Japan.
 
Reviving thread?

Hey there. I know I'm showing up wayyyyyyy late to the party on this post. Still, I decided to register and write for two reasons: I myself am also looking for a courier job, and this is one of the first results to pop up for a google search on "bicycle messenger Tokyo", so I imagine a lot of people with the same issue/interest will stumble on this in the future.
Anyway, if the original poster is still looking for a courier job after 3 years, I feel like I can input my two cents:
I moved to Tokyo last year after living up in Tochigi, in the boonies, where infrequent bus service meant it was far more convenient and way less costly to ride a bike an hour to work each way, every day. I joined an enthusiast's club afterwards and ended up meeting a guy who used to work as a bicycle messenger in Tokyo.
Unfortunately, before I could take advantage of his connections to get myself a job, the guy moved back to the states. But, here's what I learned from him:
1) Your Japanese ability does not necessarily have to be that great. Bicycle messenger-ing is not a common job for foreigners, but it isn't that rare either. Some managers can speak enough English to at least interview you if your Japanese skills aren't super great. After that, my friend says, it's more about learning a few dozen set phrases required for the job, and then you're golden.
2) Pay is commission-based. Packages are distributed to couriers based on area, with groups of couriers operating out of a base and each courier operating in a specific area full-time - So let's say you work out of a base in Minato-ku. Maybe your operating area is Nishi-Azabu or something. You get packages for that area, shared equally with other bikers who operate in that area, and you take home a commission based on several packages. So basically, it's like dock work - if there are no packages, you sit in the base not getting paid. The plus side is you don't have to know the entirety of Tokyo like the back of your hand. Just knowing one popular area really well should do the trick.
3) You, of course, supply your own bike.
4) Days are about 9 hours long.
Bear in mind this information is all second hand, so it may not be 100% accurate. Also, not all the guys you see on the street on a road bike are couriers. According to some info I looked at, there is about 500 couriers total in Tokyo. This is a minimal number, of course, compared to total population so I would conclude that the reason foreigners can get this job at all is that it is low paying and dangerous and Japanese people in general really don't want to do it.
I'll try it anyway to get some cardio in on the clock a few days a week.
My friend from the bike club said many of his coworkers were foreigners so I'm also guessing there may be one specific company that specializes in hiring foreigners for this job. Anybody got any ideas on who it might be?
 
I also registered to answer this thread. I'm 16 years old, and I love traffic biking. I'm really not scared of it, even if it seems dangerous. I don't know if you still want to do this but, for sure, when I'll get a college degree, I'll be there in Tokyo street with my bike. I think it's the best way to see Tokyo too. You're on your bike, getting paid and you see the city. What else do you want more? If you think it's dangerous well, then you'll never make it.
 
I also registred to answer this tread. I'm 16 years old and I love traffic biking. I'm really not scared of it, even if it seems dangerous.

Saying you're 16 and not scared of dangerous things is a tautology.

The problem with people riding bicycles in traffic is that they tend to be so incredibly self-absorbed that not only are they not concerned with the danger to themselves they are oblivious to the dangers they create for others.

The only traffic law many of them give a damn about is, "Bicycles are vehicles and can be on the road, so there! Nyah nyah nyah!" Each and every other rule of the road and dictum of plain old-fashioned common sense they blithely ignore.
 
I more think they make danger for themselves, if a bike hit a car, it's only the biker that will have injuries. But I have to admit that if some bikers cut a car, the car could break and get hit by another car or something. But riding in traffic doesn't mean going straight without looking before crossing.
 
I more think they make danger for themselves, if a bike hit a car, it's only the biker that will have injuries. But I have to admit that if some bikers cut a car, the car could break and get hit by another car or something. But riding in traffic doesn't mean going straight without looking before crossing.

You speak from the position of the theoretical/ideal, which is not what what one encounters in the real world. Trust me; I've been driving professionally since before you were born and I have very extensive experience observing idiots on bicycles. The very worst offenders are not who you might expect.....people casually riding mama-chari to school or work.....the very worst are the serious cyclists all tricked out in their kewl cycling gear and riding their kewl high-end machines.

That statement about it only being the bike rider who will sustain injuries is uninformed, irresponsible, and cavalier and reflects a large part of the problem with the social nuisance many cyclists constitute.
 
Hi,

I heard a lot about bike messengers in Tokyo, saw some of them in the streets. I think it could be good training for my skills. I want to work as a bike messenger as a part-time job. I ride single speed/fixed gear bike; I'm pretty fast. I live in Tokyo for more than a year, so I know the city. My Japanese is around the 2nd level of JLPT (I passed the 3rd level, planning to take the 2nd level this year). What do you think?
Yes, I agree with you. I will work I japan?
Now I live in Dubai. I have a bike licence in Dubai.
 
I more think they make danger for themselves, if a bike hit a car, it's only the biker that will have injuries. But I have to admit that if some bikers cut a car, the car could break and get hit by another car or something. But riding in traffic doesn't mean going straight without looking before crossing.
Yes sure but I have a licence for the bike now I also have 6-year experience.
 
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