Just a little blog today about mirrors. They're everywhere here in Japan. So, it begs the question, are Japanese people vain? In part, yes. They are forever looking at themselves in mirrors. You find mirrors at train stations, in department stores, in restaurants, all over the place and there are always people using them. But the mirrors I want to rant a little about are the ones in the streets, the ones that have nothing to do with vanity and everything to do with safety.
Japanese streets, well, at least here in Wakayama (out in the provinces) are pretty narrow. The buildings tend to be built right next to the roads and to have high walls. There are few front gardens and when there are they tend to have a wall around them. This makes for a large number of blind turns. You're driving (or cycling) down the road and want to turn left or right but can't see a thing. Is there are car coming? A bicycle? A pedestrian? A cat? To make matters worse, many of these roads are so narrow that two cars can only pass in certain passing places or can't pass at all and need to reverse back to the beginning of the street. As a cyclist this is quite a daunting prospect - only just being able to fit past a car - as long as it slows down and is careful. On top of that, the best way to take a corner is wide but not straight into the front of an oncoming vehicle! The answer? Mirrors strategically placed on street corners so you can see if there is something coming and take appropriate action. They are everywhere: on street corners, on blind turns in the street, outside houses so cars pulling out of garages don't crash. They are great! (though I do wonder how much I am relying on them and getting into the habit of using them at corners. How will this effect me when I go back to Mexico or the UK? We'll see.)
So, with all the mirrors all over you'd expect bicycles to have them too, I mean, cars have them as do motorbikes and mopeds. But bicycles? Believe it or not there are very few Japanese people who have mirrors on their bicycles. Fair enough, you say, you just look over your shoulder before pulling out or turning or whatever. Right. I wish. The Japanese people I have come into contact with are terrible terrible cyclists and have absolutely no idea about cycling safely. They just pull out whenever and wherever. How there aren't a huge number of fatalities every year is beyond me. I guess it's just that motorists are extremely careful when coming into contact with cyclists, which is all the time here in Wakayama as there are just so many of us.
On top of this lack of looking over their shoulders, the other thing that gets me about cycling in Japan is the fact that you can cycle on the path or on the road. This is quite convenient but what does me in is that you can cycle either with the traffic or against it. This is just a little insane, especially when you are cycling along a main road with the traffic only to see a cyclist (or 2) coming towards you. Who should go into the traffic? Who knows? And the Japanese often cycle 2 or 3 abreast so how do you get past - as well as you can. Chaos.
And what about umbrellas and parasols? The Japanese are masters of carrying things on their bikes. When it rains they have their umbrellas up. If it's sunny they've got their parasols. (Some bikes have special clips for the umbrella but most people just carry them and cycle one-handed.) It's amazing to see how many people have baby seats in front of them and then an extra child on the back! And then there are all the elderly people cycling around too. I don't remember seeing anyone over the age of 18 cycling unless they are doing it for pleasure, mountain biking or whatever. Here people of all ages cycle - from young children to old old people. It's amazing - these elderly people are so fit, often carrying heavy loads or children on their bikes too. Of course if you are young then giving your friend (or friends) a lift is no problem at all (except for the fact that the weight is too much and you will have problems moving forward and will wobble all over the street. And of course you have to work out how to balance but anything is possible. Where there's a will there's a way!)
I love using my bike. It's liberating. It's healthy and it's fun. I don't like getting wet but at least it's not rained that much recently! I just wish that I understood how the Japanese think when it comes to cycling etiquette.
P.S. I forgot to mention how people "walk" the dog while riding their bikes!!
Originally blogged on 25th July 2004.
