An ode to Tangerine Dream (and bicycles in Japan)

What has become clear is that nearly every aspect of life in Japan is simply dialed in. Things just work and are efficient and beautiful and deeply satisfying in their function. Public transportation, urban infrastructure, cuisine, architecture, toilets, hand tools, landscaping, waste management, you name it. A result of thousands of years of refinement on a densely inhabited island nation? Probably something to do with it. So much could be written about any of these, but for now let's just appreciate the BIKES (jitensha), shall we?

Kyoto is an eminently bikeable city, being relatively flat with wide sidewalks, orderly traffic, and helpful little bike shops around every corner (need some air? a quick tune-up?).  

 

A typical mass of bikes, this one outside a local Chinese food joint.

After slowly plodding around by foot for a few weeks, exploring our immediate neighborhood, we decided we needed bikes to expand our range and so stopped in at a little bike shop we happened upon. Success! Used bikes for a little less than $60 each.

 

 

Mine is this little beauty here:

 

 

Oh, Tangerine Dream, how sad I'll be to leave you here.

Things to appreciate: When you buy a bike in Japan, new or used, the shop automatically registers it for you with the city -- how very civilized.

 

Official!

And the bikes themselves come already equipped, standard, with the basic things one needs but would be considered add-ons back home (and time-consuming to install):
 

Sturdy basket for carting stuff around

 

 

Built-in rear bike lock

 

Just a quick slide of the pin, and locked!

A front headlight, cleverly powered by your own pedaling via a small wheel turned by the sidewall of the front tire:

 

The small gear wheel of the light generator, seen from above... 

Add to that the comfortable seat, the rain fenders, the tool-less seat adjustment, the merry bell, and the ravishing color...what's not to love? We've had so much fun bopping around town on these machines. And now with bikes of our own, we've come to appreciate some of the systems in place for them around town. For example, check out this public parking garage for bikes underneath the nearby mall at Kitaoji Station:

 

 

The whole thing is so slick. Just pull your front wheel into an open parking spot, where two metal tabs lock on.

 

T-Dream in position.

 

Then go to the automated station and type in your space number. When you return, just input the number again...if you were there less than two hours, it's free and the thing releases your bike. If more than two, drop in some nominal quantity of Yen (~$1) to have it released. There are numerous variations of this system throughout the city.

It's almost like someone really thought all this through.

The full line-up, left to right: Old Green, Midnightpalooza, Devil's Hotcakes, and Tangerine Dream