What’s the deal with bike parking in Osaka?
If you’re in Osaka you might have noticed how bicycles are parked everywhere regardless of whether it is a parking area or a “NO PARKING” area. What’s up with this?
There are two main reasons for this willy-nilly parking of bikes. One is that there simply are too many bikes and not enough official parking spaces. And two, because the authorities secretly admit the first, the parking restrictions are only occasionally enforced. They even put down notices in advance telling you when there will be checks in the area, and you should definitely avoid parking your bike on that day.
That’s not to say that your bike won’t be hauled off if you park it when there aren’t any notices but it is rare esp. if you are parking it for a short while. The lax attitude also varies according to area, so look at what other people living in your area are doing. If you see bikes being parked under no-parking signs day-in and day-out then you’re probably safe.
DISCLAIMER: I will NOT be held responsible if your bike does get taken away. And this information most certainly doesn’t apply in Kobe or Kyoto areas. There they take away bikes for fun.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Slivie // May 4, 2009 at 11:29 am
Hi,
What’s it take to get a biking permit in Osaka? I’m going there in a year for school, and so you’re blog is being very helpful to me.
2 Kam // Aug 23, 2011 at 5:41 pm
They will take your bike from wherever they please. My bikes have been removed from places everyone puts their bike, or from right next a packed parking space – they know I had no other choice. Basically like most of Osaka, it’s all about money, and this is their chance to make easy money by stea…. Taking bikes away & charging you 2,500 to get it back. This city blows chunks.
3 Ian // Sep 17, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Kam,
You’re right my friend! The city has been clamping down on bike parking a lot recently. They’ve introduced paid parking spots and increased the patrols to remove illegal bicycle parking. They still leave the notices but the chances of missing them gets a lot higher.
In one sense it is a pity as it makes using the most eco-friendly transportation more expensive.
I should update the post or write a new one to address this.
4 Ron Vanden // Dec 9, 2011 at 4:34 pm
Does anybody have information on how many bike pounds there are in Osaka, what are there hours of operation, etc?
Thanks
5 Ron Vanden // Dec 9, 2011 at 4:35 pm
And I forgot to add, where these pound(s) are?
Leave a Comment