Bicycling is a big part of the Japanese commute. Ipsos says 27% of people in Japan use cycling as a primary mode of transportation within a 2km radius.
Bikes are also, for many people here, a dangerous pain in the ass.
Most cyclists in Japan, to be blunt, are dirty, dirty rulebreakers. They ride the wrong way on the street. They use narrow sidewalks not built for bikes. They don’t use helmets. They’re absorbed in their smartphones.
Frankly, many here have grown sick and tired of the cavalier attitude many take towards bike commuting. And that’s why Japanese police are (finally) cracking down.
On April 1st, 2026, Japan began enforcing a new “blue ticket” (ao kippu / 青切符) system for bicycle traffic violations. The new law institutes fines for 113 categories of infractions, from riding with an umbrella to using a smartphone while cycling.
As it so happens, on the first day of enforcement, it rained hard in Tokyo. A perfect day to test out the new policy.
Why? Because one of the most common biking infractions in Japan is bicycling while holding an umbrella.
Yes, people do this. (I see it all the time.) Yes, it’s dangerous, stupid, and already illegal.
The problem is that, like other biking infractions, no one’s ever been called to account for it. That changed yesterday, as police in Tokyo doled out 113 tickets for various infractions, according to Sankei.
The biggest infraction? Umbrellas. 70% of tickets were for people riding while sporting an umbrella to protect them from the day’s drizzle. Many protested, claiming they “had no idea” this was against the law.
But does that excuse really fly? What do people think, generally, of the bicycling infraction? To better understand, I looked at what social media users in Japan were saying in reaction to Sankei’s article. The reaction was clear: almost everyone in Japan wants cops to crack down on bad bicyclists yesterday.
