Been here for 11 years and I am just so sick of all of it. I grew up outside of a city so maybe it’s just how cities are but the other day I’m riding my bike, in the bike lane, with a child sitting in the back and this car starts to inch out of a parking lot… then suddenly jumps out in front of me!
I couldn’t stop in time so i had to twist around in front of him and all the driver did was do the whole sorry sorry hand thing. And if this were the only incident I wouldn’t care but it happens constantly!
1. When I first got here over a decade ago a taxi bumped me in a crosswalk
2. I almost got hit by a guy pulling out into a crosswalk (I had good reflexes then and hopped out of the way)
3. Multiple occasions of me almost getting hit by people pulling out into crosswalks just constantly
4. Almost getting hit by people pulling their cars into bike lanes to park
5. Motorcycles/mopeds driving so close to me that if i scratched my head I’d elbow the driver in the face
And don’t get me started on bicycles! I turn into my house just yesterday and run smack dab into some woman on a bike who tried to squeeze in between me and the edge of the sidewalk, even though there was no room. A couple months ago a lady almost ran my kid over trying to get between me and another guy on the sidewalk. Despite having a massive, beautiful bike lane in my neighborhood people go flying down the sidewalk swerving between people and children (often not without bumping people). I walk out onto the sidewalk and constantly almost get hit by people on bicycles.
I have a hundred more stories about asshole cyclists but my point is jus that I am seriously, seriously losing my patience. I’m afraid I’m going to snap at this rate. When my mom came to visit last year she saw a big sign at the airport for insurance in case you get hit by a bicycle! What is that about?? They say you can let 5 year olds walk around tokyo on their own but that is BS, because if you do, they’ll get hit by a bike!
I dunno, I’m just really frustrated after 2 days of this shit. Any one else?
40 comments
I can’t stand driving in Tokyo. Walking is fine. Driving in Tokyo feels like you’re playing frogger.
All I can recommend is ensuring you’re practicing defensive riding, and say しょうがない to yourself a lot
I decided to stop cycling 😖 the rules to use a bicycle and the danger of doing it just make it not worth the bloody hassle.
I practice defensive everything. Defensive walking, defensive biking, defensive standing… I’m constantly checking over my shoulder because I know that whoever’s behind me probably isn’t paying attention. Even pedestrians are liable to smash into you with their noses in their phones.
didn’t you know ? as long as you have a hazard lights button and master the “sorry not sorry” hand wave thing, road rules don’t apply to you 😉
Gotta admit, I’ve been here for more than 15 years but I do not have a hundred stories to tell in this regard. I’ve felt uncomfortable on occasion when biking but as a pedestrian nothing beyond a couple of close calls when I wasn’t being attentive. In fact the only time I was hit by a vehicle was in Canada, not Japan.
What’s interesting is I often see the dichotomy on this sub with a group of people saying they’ve felt safe and the other saying that it’s a constant danger they are dealing with. It makes me wonder if there any fundamental differences in how people approach things either consciously or subconsciously
As someone already mentioned, you just gotta keep your guard up and practice defensive driving, cycling, walking at all times. Too many elderly people have a death wish when they are driving or cycling, too many teenagers ride their bikes without a care in the world when it comes to riding safely, acting like they are untouchable. Then you have the guys in their 30s and 40s driving their Toyota HiAces thinking they always have the right-of-way and get annoyed at anybody that gets in their way. Anyways, stay safe out there!
Taxi drivers are psychos. They love to stop on crossings even when they have a red light and I’m walking across. It’s crazy.
I love this place, but some stuff drives me up the wall too..let’s see
*Things that are apparently okay for drivers to do in Tokyo :*
-Running red lights deliberately, often in front of police *(curious as to what their job is)*
-Watching TV while driving
-Texting while driving
-Parking and stopping anywhere, often under no stopping/parking signs and always on the bike lane
-Swerving on cyclists
*Things that are apparently okay for cyclists to do in Tokyo :*
-Riding on the wrong side of the road, or on sidewalks at full speed with a 70kg mamachari, often in front of police
-Watching a movie while cycling
-Texting/Playing games on your phone while cycling
-Jumping on pavement without braking or checking
-Suddenly turning left or right, or storming out of a side street without any safety check
*Things that are apparently okay for pedestrians to do in Tokyo :*
-Jaywalking suddenly, often while using phone *(unsure why us foreigners still get blamed for this one)*
-Being absolutely oblivious to surroundings, face glued to phone(s) or tablet(s) watching a movie, playing a game, sometime both, while walking through a busy area *(what happened to the JP manners we get told to respect?)*
-hailing a cab from the middle of the road, or on a pedestrian crossing *(cab will happily swerve on everybody to pick that person up)*
and so on.. oh that felt good
im just playing tokyo you know i love you
People here live in their own little bubble, especially when on bycicles. Best thing to do keep it in mind and cycle expecting somebody is going to fuck up.
In Tokyo I gave up cycling because parking lane don’t make good bicycling lane. You constantly have to look over your shoulder before going towards the middle of the road, etc… and even if you don’t force a slow down, a taxi will klaxon you because you don’t belong on his road
I had taxis fish tail me (swerving and stopping 1m in front of me) to stop for a customer. Another stopped in the middle of an intersection right in front of me to take a passenger (who was himself waiting in the middle of the road wtf).
Also taxis never stop at red light unless they are red for more than 3-4 seconds. They usually accelerate at yellow light. In front of the koban I had to step away from a taxi accelerating while me Japanese woman were already engaged. He had gone right through the red light and kept going 45 in a 30 zone. He came so close I managed to kick his door. I also walked to the station and gave him the finger when I saw hi queuing with all the other cars there because there is ALWAYS a queue there so why would you hurry anyway. The next day the Koban was screaming at me for crossing when there was no car on the horizon.
Now in Saitama I have my good bicycle lane. The occasional Japanese asshole with an umbrella, the 1% driving on the right in the 2 lane path despite everyone else being left, and the cars stopping across the bicycle lane when they don’t need to when they get out of parking lots. But all of it is manageable compared to Tokyo.
I just ride as a hobby, not for commuting, so basically I pick where I want to ride. There is a larger road I partially use that has a bike lane but trucks continuously park in it which tbh pisses me off. I don’t know the legality of it, I just don’t like it.
Don’t expect much of the casual bikers. They are often not even on the proper side of the road. Other than that, not too many issues. I am very much in the defensive driving camp though.
mount one of those canned air horns.
As much as I hate the shitty drivers in town and brain dead cyclist going against traffic on the road, I feel like I have to chalk it up to being in a big city.
Yes I generally feel that drivers and cyclists here are less competent than in countries I grew up in, but at the same time, any large city is a shit show for cyclists and pedestrians because there’s simply too many people, no way to crack down on everyone, and constantly having new/inexperienced drivers and riders on the road.
Even in Copenhagen which has awesome bike infrastructure, rush hour can still be stressful when there’s a fuckton of people blasting down the bike lane.
TLDR yeah Tokyo cyclists and drivers suck, but also big city cycling and walking sucks in general.
In my experience, Tokyo is much more laid back than Kyoto, which (in my experience) has the worst drivers. Kyoto drivers are, on average, extremely selfish. Cyclists and pedestrians are crazy everywhere.
All I can say is, do what you can do to protect yourself and your family. The population doesn’t give a shit about safety until something catastrophic event happens.. look at the roll out process of the helmet rule and you can count how many people are wearing helmets 🤣
Honestly if you can’t survive in tokyo, you can’t survive in any major city across the globe.
This post made my day.
Don’t forget pedestrians.
The ones who walk down narrow busy roads and walk around the denchu into the middle of the road without even checking a bike or car is coming.
Or in Tokyo station dragging their suitcases and suddenly veering in random directions causing others to trip over them
as a counterpoint, maybe you aren’t cycling enough. i’ve lived here decades but only in the last few years i’ve been cycling regularly as a hobby.
> this car starts to inch out of a parking lot… then suddenly jumps out in front of me!
a couple of years ago I might have been caught out by this but not now. Now I assume they will jump out unless they are stationary and I make lengthy eye contact with them. Even then I’ve reduced my speed to allow for evasive action/emergency stop. I’ve probably looked behind and if safe positioned myself more to the middle of the road, sat up straighter, etc.
I’m amazed how much my approach to riding and situational awareness has changed. it’s my job to check 360 degrees and assume everyone is actively trying to hit me.
It used to be that in a 50km ride I was guaranteed to be shouting at some idiot that walked out in front of me. now I can do 100km+ without an event. The idiots are still there but I’m not allowing them to pull that kind of stuff on me anymore.
it does take real concentration though. cycling to the station I take a shortcut down an alley with a blind corner. it 20 years I’ve never seen a car on it. until 8:45am the other morning when we nearly hit each other.
If you think I’m blaming you. I’m not. Just saying there is another solution to your problem. The same applies when I’m a pedestrian. it’s basically just assuming the worst and behaving accordingly.
I find the opposite. Japanese drivers compared to back home are way more respectful and attentive, especially for bikes.
Instead of caring who is right and who is wrong, maybe consider what common errors are happening and keep yourself out of those situations. Drive more cautiously, bike slower and shoulder check, be aware of ever human around you and what idiocy they might partake in. I’ve been here for 17 years and have not one incident compared to your… hundreds? I also bike, scoot, or drive 7 days a week.
When out around bikes and cars, you need to be mindful of yourself and all the errors others will make.
As a regular driver and daily pedestrian in Tokyo I couldn’t agree more with OP. It always astounds me how people seem to think that red lights are optional, that stopping at a zebra crossing is the pedestrian’s responsibility and how cyclists seem to think they have the right of way whether they are cruising down a busy sidewalk or swerving in and out of traffic lanes to avoid parked cars. None of which are acceptable, none of which are within the law.
Speaking of parked cars, what the flying fuck is with the mass of people parking near corners, crossings, lights and just about any place that directly inconveniences traffic? There is absolutely no point in using the far left lane unless you are immediately making a turn.
Oh, and Tokyo’s taxi drivers are absolute arseholes. They’ve clearly read the rules of the road but have willfully decided to ignore as many of them as possible.
There’s a huge portion of drivers and riders here whose entire approach to getting around is that other people will be looking out so they don’t have to. It’s infuriating.
A horrible city for pedestrians.
Just hop on a bicycle or jump in a car, go ahead and act like you’re king of the streets with zero regard for those who are walking from A to B. Pedestrians themselves can be oblivious at the best of times, but at least they won’t injure you.
Believe me, it’s worse outside of Tokyo.
Lol I just had someone biking go past me holding her umbrella horizontally like a spear only to yell ‘Abunai’ at me like I was in her way and about to be clotheslined
All she had to do was put the umbrella any normal human way
You gotta belt out ‘おい！ポンコツー！’ from time to time
I don’t understand how everyone has not collectively died in traffic accidents here over the years. I’m on my bike maybe 20 minutes a day going to and from work. I’m not even in the city, and it’s like every week I prevent an accident, where if I had just kept going straight, or turned when I had right of way someone would have crashed into me somehow. I’ve been in two accidents so far. 1st was an old lady in a car passing in front of me on a crosswalk, only to throw it in reverse and run my bike over. 2nd was a guy whizzing out into the bike lane to check if any cars were coming at the bottom of a massive hill.
Spacial awareness here seems to be the biggest problem here, when out and about.
In and out of the city is stressful to cycle here, I was cycling behind someone last night playing a game on his phone and then suddenly decides to turn left without any warning.
2 things have hit so hard about this post. One is all the bicycle moms, cycling so slowly down a busy sidewalk that they can barely keep the bike upright trying to swerve between hundreds of people. Meanwhile there is a designated bike lane 2 feet to her left.
I always walk close into the wall/ buildings because I don’t want to deal with this. With Tokyo’s population density it is astounding that it’s people are so spacially unaware! Walking back back from my supermarket I always walk so close to this flower bed that my shins are dangerously close to grinding on the stone of it, but I still see Japanese people walking to that side of me to pass by!!
I live in the rural north, I’ve had only a few issues while cycling but never big enough for me to remember.
When I was running that’s another story. People cutting you off and the big one was when I was hit by a car.
One morning I was running and saw a car poke out of a driveway, normally I slow down until they gesture or something but this time the person looked right at me about 3 or 4 meters away and looked to wait. Since they had multiple seconds to to go (no traffic here) I start to go infront of them, they look away from me and started to drive when I was there. Luckily I did some cool parkour like move (more like I got lucky) and made it over the car with minor scrapes.
I feel like this is anywhere they actually have bikers or pedestrians.
Bicycles pulling out of side streets without looking whatsoever and taxis cutting you off to stop right in front and pick up a passenger when they could have just stayed behind you few extra seconds are two of my biggest peeves
There is a general lack of spatial awareness and vehicle operating and pedestrian skill across the board, especially in Tokyo. Like others mentioned you need to be overly alert and defensive, assuming the most bonehead maneuvers by those around you, and maybe pleasantly surprised by competence.
This isn’t the main reason that I don’t like Tokyo or big cities, but it’s up there.
Out in the countryside, the only thing I need to really worry about is the takyubin guy being parked on the side of the road exactly in the blind spot of a turn. It’s okay, though, he has his winkers on. Sigh…
Oh! And tractors! That’s not really a worry, more of a piss me off thing.
But I do remember living in Tokyo and having bruises as a pedestrian because people just look at… well, something other than the road.
I’m in the countryside and I’m scared of walking on roads without pavements.
People go too fast on roads that are tiny, and have felt a few times they were far too close to me.
2 weeks ago a car beeped at me (long one, not short warning/thanking one) because I was walking with my pram and was too ‘slow’ to cross an exit of a supermarket. You bet I became even slower after that honk lol!
I’ve said it before, it’s a “me first” mentality. Japan has a serious issue with everyone thinking whatever they are doing is the most important thing going on in their own little universe and everyone else needs to be subservient to their needs.
Walkable cities translate to the death of motorists and cyclists, and under MY dictatorship, this will happen
The bicycle thing on the side walk confuses me. With e-bikes it’s bizarre how this is an accepted social norm.
Lady with a kid both in the front and back, swerving through people on the sidewalk who if they made the slightest deviation from their path would take a collision with 100kg+ machine hurtling at 20 miles an hour? Totally acceptable.
Sometimes I feel as if the cyclists intentionally try to go for a gap that doesn’t exist.
Not in Tokyo, but I was hit by a car while walking on the foot path here. Just.. what.
Yes, Japanese driving/riding is not great. I can deal with all of this, but the thing I cannot agree on is how much fault a car driver gets when he collides with a bicycle.
Bicycle riding in Japan is essentially lawless, they can do anything anywhere at any time so even the most defensive driver can be liable for some fuckwit flying out of nowhere.
Pedestrians I can understand, but if they don’t want to enforce licenses and education for bicycles in this country, culpability in cases with collisions between cars and bicycles need some serious reconsideration.
I feel ya and I have only been here a year haha. There are rarely bike lanes in my town which mean bikers and pedestrians have to use the smallll sidewalk. I always get a small panic attack when I see a biker coming at me or worse, multiple (you know those high school kids that have to ride with each other next to each other…taking up the whole lane).