What happens when you park your bike in the wrong place

Although Kyoto used to be a city-wide bicycle free for all, in the past couple years they have begun cracking down on where you ride and park your bike. The city has signs all over noting if you can park or not. Mainly in Japanese, the signs tell you dates on which bicycles were be picked up and impounded. So if you go outside and your bike is gone, you will know it was taken by the city.

We have also recently seen people checking the registration on bicycles, so they may do the equivalent of a "chalk mark on your tire." We think, as long as you are careful, you can temporarily park wherever you want. Do heed the signs though; if you cannot read Japanese or have a rental bike, follow the rules and park elsewhere. It is a bit of a pain in the butt to get your bike back if it is impounded.

Having been here for a couple months now, and owning our own bikes, we agreed to risk it and park our bikes even in the "don't park" areas. As we have been doing work at Starbucks, thanks to the killer internet available (yes they do have "free" internet at Starbucks), we have been doing a lot of parking along major streets that are all no-park.

The other day we spent a solid 8 hours in Starbucks, and upon going to leave, found our bikes no where to be found. We high fived, thinking our overly heavy bikes had been stolen (giving us reason to buy better, light weight bikes), and then as we looked around, the joy on our faces slipped away. We realized there were suddenly no bikes parked anywhere. The city had impounded our bikes.

The signs have little maps telling you where to go get your bike, but there are multiple impound lots, so you will need to be able to read Japanese or have a good sense of the city.

Here are some shots of the impound lot. They do an impressive job of organizing the bikes by date and pickup location.

Just like New York!

Although not a lot of options exist in Kyoto for bagels ("almost non-existent" may be a better way to put it), we have been in search of a good New York-style bagel. You know that dense, chewy bagel that puts the store bought fluffy bagel to shame? We want that bagel and we are willing to do just about anything to do it.

We did some internet searching and found there are or were two options in Kyoto for bagels: Bagel & Bagel and Radio Bagel. On further research, by foot and Chrome translate, we found out that Bagel & Bagel is no longer in business in Kyoto (at least they don't have a shop).

Radio Bagel on the other hand is definitely in business! Located in the very north part of Kyoto, it's about a 50 minute bike ride up the river and a few blocks west. It's a super cute, little shop with no more than 6 seats.

They serve both in house, delivery, and pre-order pick-up. If you want more than about 10 bagels they request you order at least 24 hours in advance, but day-off orders for pick-up can be up to ten bagels. We arrived a little after noon and they were already sold out of most of their bagels (so a call-in to dine-in isn't a bad idea). On a scale of 1 to Jewish, these bagels get a solid 9! The owner's wife is from Tokyo and speaks very good English, so it is possible with a little bit of Japanese to get yourself one heck of a bagel!

Check out a couple pictures that we took. There was an odd sign with a camera on it, so we weren't sure if it was a "no photos" sign or a "you are on camera" or a "please take pictures" sign. Regardless, no one said anything and we tried to keep it to a minimum.

(those are our matchy-matchy bikes!!)

They have every flavor of cream cheese and 13 types of bagels. If you order in plan to get your fill on cream cheese. They pack it on!! 

Kamo River -Best place to decompress

I'll admit I had my first Gaikoko-jin (foreigner) freakout today. Kev is out of town and I went downstairs to leave for language class only to find the following note left on our bikes. I'll admit we knew parking there was risky as we are subleasing and don't have stickers for our bikes, but gave it a shot anyway.

I figured the sign said something like, "move your bikes, you F*cking foreigners, or we will remove them for you."  -You know classic Japanese rude behavior- I joke; Japanese people are always polite, but the all black and red notice had me freaked out none the less. Since I can't read Japanese, and definitely can't read Kanji, I knew I needed to move the bikes ASAP before something happened.

I took the first bike upstairs (all three flights) and then went back for the other, only to realize I didn't have the key for the bike lock. I ran back upstairs, and began tearing apart the apartment. They weren't in either place Kev had said they were going to be, and I started to freak out. "I don't speak Japanese, Kev is gone, I can't find the keys, our bikes are going to be gone, Kev will be upset, who knows when they will come to remove the bikes, I'm likely to be yelled at in Japanese, can I move the bike with the back tire locked? doubtful, I gotta find that FREAKING key!!!!!" was all I could think about. It doesn't help I had terrible dreams last night about being kidnapped, so I was a little on edge today.

Regardless I emailed everyone I knew who might have Kev's international cell phone's number, and sent Kev a million "I need you to call me" g-chat messages. Breaking down into an absolute mess when he finally answered, we figured out where he had stashed the keys and I was able to get the second bike upstairs.

(We later found out that the sign is a very polite note saying to move our bikes or put resident stickers on them...thank you to the reddit/r/japanlife crew for translating for us!

Of course at this point I was too late to make it to class, and don't know enough Japanese to explain to Sensei why I was late (and red faced). So instead I decided to decompress over a small lunch, a bike ride, and some time at my favorite place in Kyoto: Kamo river.

If you are unfamiliar with the Kamo river, it runs down the center of the city and is a popular hang out among Kansai area people. As you will see in the photos below there are all kinds of things you can do here. We mentioned in a previous post that you can drink along the river, and although this remains true, I refrained today instead opting for a all-veggie sandwich and Starbucks refresher. After lunch at Shijo Dori (dori = street, I think?), I rode a bit father north along the river.

As is the case with most of Kyoto, there are feral cats everywhere. This little cutie lives in the tall grass on the edge of the river. He or she may either have kittens with them or have been hunting mice, as he/she kept ducking her head into the grass as if looking at something. 

The last signs of the paper crane float-trip -there were a few stragglers left in the rocks. 

Each large stone crossing has its own set of non-bridge extra rocks/statues. At this crossing the sitting stones are boats. 

The largest stone "bridge" we have found is at the point where the two rivers merge, north of Sanjo Dori in Kamigyo (upper Kyoto ward, which really isn't that far). 

One of the bikes! 

If we were to ever have children it would be in Japan. Kids here are so happy and at ease here. The couple trips I have taken up the river, there always seems to be families playing in the river. Parents here (from my very limited knowledge) seem to have a good grasp of how to balance technology and city life while still making sure their kids get some "nature" time, even if just at the river.

I'm really not sure why this guy fishes with such a long pole. If you can't tell his pole ends about an inch diagonal from the sign's left top corner. He unfortunately didn't catch anything while I was watching.  

Another fisherman of the Kamo River. These tall birds are all over the place! 

Too many bikes, too little parking

Although Japan is known for having lots of great public transit, many people choose to ride bicycles. So many in fact that apparently parking bikes has become a bit of an issue. We recently ran across this video of the Japanese solution to too many bikes and not enough parking.



From what we hear, biking is extremely popular in Kyoto. Here is a link to a website with lots of great information regarding biking in Kyoto, where to park your bike, and how to not rack up major fines for poor bicycle etiquette.