Stealing A Bicycle in Japan

Shas · 23 Apr 2005

That used to be the way it was in the states. But since 911 and the new "Patriot Act" the police can stop you anytime, anywhere, for any reason and search you. All they need is "just cause." Does anyone know thier history and remember Nazi Germany? It was the same way.

i dont like the trend that everybody allways compares everything with nazi germany. that a policeofficer can check you is so far away from nazi germany and the comparison with nazi germany should be made careful

@ maciamo: you mean if a policeofficer stops you because you do something suspicious you want to get him fired?

i dont like that either he has a job and maybe a family and its allright to stop people for riding bikes late after night or driving fast or so

well

the story is gooood

by the way i have found out that in every major european city a bycycle is the best you can get ... in crowded areas like new york (where people also drive like crazy!) it might not be a good idea but i recommend using your bike ! its awesome how easy you get to places

Chipperprime · 24 Apr 2005

Once (in Japan) my bicycle was stolen from where I kept it.

The next day (as I was walking to work) I found it again. The handlebars were broken, but at least it was mine.

**By the way: This is my first post!

Pachipro · 25 Apr 2005

Chipperprime said:
**By the way: This is my first post!

Hello and welcome to the forums. Looking forward to hearing some of your experiences.

Doc · 25 Apr 2005

The Patriot Act can kiss my ***. This is another reason why I don't like living in this country is because of that damn thing. >____>

Doc:ramen:

Sody · 25 Apr 2005

Great story, thanks for sharing your experience.

Sody

life · 14 May 2005

my jitensha was stolen about four months after i bought it. i went to my friend's apartment to help her finish her paper but the next day when we were about to go to the university my white chevy was gone already. If I had a choice then, i wouldn't have bought a chevrolet because it's quite expensive for a gaijin like me but it was the only bike I could get to ride on because it was light and very easy to maneuver. i felt so sad because i never thought somebody would do that here in japan. it was locked but maybe because it was so light, the culprit loaded it into his/her car. i reported it to the police but so far no develpments yet.it's been 5 months now and i don't expect it will be returned. whoever took it, i hope it has served him a good purpose. but i feel sad, judgment is not for me to make but i feel there are better options to take when one is in a critical situation than causing harm or hurt to others.

Pachipro · 16 May 2005

life said:
whoever took it, i hope it has served him a good purpose. but i feel sad, judgment is not for me to make but i feel there are better options to take when one is in a critical situation than causing harm or hurt to others.

It is for resasons like this that I still feel regret and remorse to this day, some 24 years later for taking that bicycle!

life · 18 May 2005

oh i am so sorry sir. i didn't mean to remind u of it. i know u'r a good man because who would have the courage to admit what wrong he has done and regret doing it but a man of noble virtue. honestly, i think this world needs more of people like you. and besides, your situation was quite different or should i say more understandable.

Pachipro · 20 May 2005

life said:
oh i am so sorry sir. i didn't mean to remind u of it.

No need to apologize as I myself think about it more often than I want to.

epigene · 20 May 2005

It's too bad people are stealing bikes for fun (mostly) or for gain.

My son's bike was never found...
It was a popular model--popular because it was supposed to be burglarproof! See this:
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/jcm/N-gatyarinko.htm

My advice to anyone who plans to ride bicycles in Japan:
Don't get the really expensive bikes (like Mercedes-Benz or Peugot models) or the ones with electric motors (from Yamaha, I think) which is absolutely outstanding if you live in an area with many slopes. If you do, get double or triple locks and storage place that keeps the bike away from public view.

Buy the cheap, used bikes available at many bicycle shops, sold at around 4,000 or 5,000 yen.

My son is considering moving up to driving a car....

Kara_Nari · 21 May 2005

I can symapthise with the whole last train/bus home and not being able to get a taxi (luckily I always do in the end). Im thinking that perhaps if I was in the same situration I might take a bike too if its just sitting there with no lock and no name. Its not like you didnt think twice or break any locks.... its kinda just asking to happen. Oh dear im thinking bad thoughts, but if I was drunk and couldnt walk in a very straight line let alone 2 hours I would probably either fall asleep somewhere or do as you did and take a bike... maybe a skateboard would be easier for me though im a bit scared to ride on the road in Korea. Being inside the taxi is bad enough! I now can understand why my boyfriend is such a BAD driver. Why do buses and trains finish so early in Japan and Korea? All the bars stay open so why not have adequate transport? Sleeping in a stinky pc room isnt so much fun. Even 'back in the days' New Zealand has night rider buses where the last one leaves at 3am. Actually I still dont know what time the last bus or train leave, but Im guessing that its way before im ready to go home

Maciamo · 13 Jul 2005

Little update. I had missed this 3 year-old article of Arudo Debito in the Japan Time : Pedal pushers cop a load on Yasukuni Dori.

He exlpains how he was stopped three times in one hour while cycling around Kanda and Yasukuni-dori in East Tokyo. Apparently he had never been checked in Hokkaido where he lives, and he hasn't been checked in other areas of Tokyo. I think I am starting to understand my misfortune and irritation, as I live only 15min away by bicycle from Kanda, and was always stopped in the adjacent Nihombashi-Otemachi area.

This still does not explains why my wife or her mother, or most of my Japanese friends using a bicycle everyday have never been checked, or why I was once stopped by a police car in day time and not by one of those bicycle checkpoints.

thomas · 13 Jul 2005

Sorry Maciamo, edited your post accidentally.

Debito's article is linked in the Japan Directory: Tokyo Police Bike Checkpoints.

I ride the bike for at least 2 hours each day in Tokyo, passing through the Kanda area daily, as well as Minato-ku and Tsukiji. I disregard traffic lights and other rules stipulated by road traffic laws, I overtake cops on their bikes, but have never managed to make them to stop me. What am I doing wrong?

Maciamo · 13 Jul 2005

thomas said:
I ride the bike for at least 2 hours each day in Tokyo, passing through the Kanda area daily, as well as Minato-ku and Tsukiji. I disregard traffic lights and other rules stipulated by road traffic laws, I overtake cops on their bikes, but have never managed to make them to stop me. What am I doing wrong?

I think it is because you are too fast and they don't even try going after you. Maybe it is true having an expensive "European-looking" bike may help not being checked. You also have two chains proudly displayed on your bike, so if they see it they will suppose that it cannot possibly have been stolden. My bike is old, has the front basket broken, the light that sometimes stop working after I pass on a hump or pass from the road to the pavement... Maybe it doesn't fit with my apperance while wearing a suit and necktie ? I don't know.

Anyway, it seems that you are the lucky one and the exception. How could have Debito been checked 3x in a single day ?! I would be seriously pissed if that happned to me.

Mars Man · 7 Aug 2005

pachipro, dude, I know where you're coming from although I've never been in the same stiuation. If it had been me, crazy me, well, I grew up in pretty much the same neck of the woods (Muscle Shoals, Alabama--35 min. of fast peddling to the ole Volunteer State line) I would've walked. Done it before in a stupor (sp?) and would probably do it again, if I had too. BUT I know where you're coming from.

I ain't never been stopped, I anin't never been checked 'bout any bikes, or whatnot, but I did get real cozy with the cops in the Matsumoto area, yo. I mean, like, on one speed trap set up, after they flashed my over, they greeted me like one of their old drinking buddies--yes, I went to that school and took that test TWO ffff times !!

Now these stolen bicycles, and there is a problem with this in Japan, where do they all eventually end up at? I'll tell you, they all end up here in the rivers in Nagano. So if you're looking for your stolen two-wheeled friend, maybe you should come check out these river bed machines that so often look shockingly new. Maybe I'm lucky, or what, I don't know, but I've never been harrassed by the law protector/abusers here in Jpn.

Shas !! Do you live anywhere near Hiedelburg?
Doc !! I hope all goes better for you in the old going, going, GONE US of A. MY aunt married a guy from Romania in the early '70s in order to help him become a citizen. We had some good times together--he was just a little older than myself.

soltanto mia · 24 Aug 2005

Well, Kyoto City will steal your bicycle and then make you pay to get it back!
now THAT'S robbery!

thomas · 25 Aug 2005

soltanto mia said:
Well, Kyoto City will steal your bicycle and then make you pay to get it back!
now THAT'S robbery!

That's not restricted to Kyoto. Most of the municipalities sweep the areas around larger stations clean of mama charries at least once a month. Happened to me too, felt like extortion, lolol.

MajideSaiaku · 17 Jan 2006

I am the kind of person who would never steal even a pen, but it irritates me at the petty behaviour of Japanese policemen (never had problem with policewomen though). Don't they have anything better to do than annoying people with their bicycles ? So what even if somebody had stolen a bicyle ? Most bikes in Japan only cost about 10,000yen (new, but many are not even worth 1,000 yen in the state they are after a few years). Why does it have to be bicycle they check and not wallets. credit cards, brand watches, handbags or whatever that cost 10 or 100x more than a **** bicycle ? I think this ingrained organised pettiness makes me as angry as the feeling of discrimination or embarassment caused by their checking my registration.

I agree, it is pretty darn stupid to be so competent protecting against bike theft, while ignoring gaijin driving expensive cars or you know more important things.
I think its just because japanese cops have feck all to do law enforcement wise without their obsession on bikes, its no secret the japanese society is good at policing itself, crime may rise or fall but its still sweet compared to western countries, i worry for my mum walking about at night in my home town, and thats one of the safer parts of britain.

This is something quite particular to Japan maybe. I have never heard of bicycles being stolen to often in Europe. But some Japanese people I met told me they sometime "borrow" a bicycle or umbrella. They think it's ok as they don't keep it, and... (magic words) "everybody does it" (which means one is allowed to do it, according to the Japanese mindset).

Thats because theres hardly any bikes to steal, because nobody wants one because they know itll get stolen, so bikes have become mere childhood playthings that they grow out of.

my last bike i had when i was 14 was stolen, i couldnt even report it because the police would do feck all, and even if they tried they would probably not find it.

Suffice to say the car commands western commuting, so our police concentrate on car crime.

Mitsuo · 9 Feb 2006

Stealings baad, mmmmkayy??-Mr. Macky

Yeah it happened to me too. But I was planning on getting a new bike, and I was going to give it to good will..Meh, mine doesn't count.

Uchite · 20 Jul 2006

Pachipro said:
You are right on. I see it everynight on the interstate. Here in Tennessee if you see a white car in the median with his spotlight on they are what we truckers call "cocaine cowboys." They are not looking for speeders. They will pull over an out of state car and rip it apart completely with their dogs in tow and everything, looking for drugs just because the driver looked "suspicious".

It is the same here in Louisiana. You don't have to be doing anything wrong. Not even speeding. Whenever I rent a car if I go out of town, I ALWAYS make certain it has the license plate of the state I am in.

Pachipro said:
Now with the so called "Patriot Act" they don't need a search warrant. And after 9pm you are a moving target in any small town. I know. I live in one! All they need is a belief that the person may be doing something wrong and you are pulled over for no reason whatsoever. According to a police friend of mine, "cross the center line twice and you are pulled over. Sometimes only once!" Much like the Japanese police.

Yep!

And the thing is, again you don't have to be doing ANYTHING wrong! Call me paranoid, but I don't even like being out on the street on a weeknight after 11:00 if possible, and sometimes even on weekends! Especially after Katrina! The less people out, the more of a "target" you are for some bored cop looking to make a bust, or just hassle some innocent person because he is bored.

But at the same time since Katrina, we have had a lot of riff-raff come into town, bringing lots of crime and general mayhem into our once wonderful and beautiful city. The problem is you can never find a cop when you need one because they are too busy harrassing innocent people!!

Stealing A Bicycle in Japan

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