I haven’t met too many people similing on the street – a couple of old men metaphoring, but that’s about it…. Simile, it’s just a joke….

That you are trying to invalidate the law because you think it’s superfluous isn’t necessary, just as I don’t try to refute the idea of not being able to make a left-turn in Japan on a red light. I could go on and on about how many right-turns I made in California on red lights, and prove with my driving history that I never got in an accident doing so, and even point out that it’s completely legal there. But this doesn’t change the law in Japan. You can’t turn left on a red light, no matter how clear the road is or how safe you feel it would be to do so. You’re going to get ticketed. It’s the law.

I don’t know if you are forgetting what you wrote in your previous comments, or if you just aren’t very articulate and therefore your comments are coming off as ambiguous, but you seem to be tripping over your own feet on the issue. Case in point,

John K: “Just because you may know the rule/law doesn’t mean everyone does”

Me: “I didn’t know the law until I looked it up using google after having read this article here. So, I’ve known about it for a whopping 24 hours.”

John K: “I seem to be repeating myself here, where do I say this??”

What I was saying was that I didn’t know the law at all, but that I could find it easily enough, just as anyone (including yourself) could have. And not knowing the law doesn’t make it inapplicable. It’s an obligation of citizens to know the laws. If you own a bike, you are required to know the laws that govern their operation.

How is this relevant to its existence as a law, however? I get the impression that you don’t want this law to be real as you don’t agree with it. The Japanese state is very fond of “nanny state” control, as you should know by now after complaining about the restrictions on your house, if nothing else. However, even countries that I would have thought of as freer are moving towards increasing nanny state control, either in the name of protecting children, the environment, corporations from lawsuits, or terrorists. How long, I wonder, before helmet laws are introduced here? Many schools already require helmets – how long before the housewife cycling on her mama-chari to the local supermarket needs one?

The key difference here is that while I do not claim to know everything about Japan, when presented with a new fact I don’t sit back and say stuff like “but so far I’ve only seen local Tokyo laws presented” and not attempt to research them myself. This stance is a challenge – “prove it! Or it’s just anecdote!” type stuff – and does not indicate sincerity. You’ve settled in Japan well enough to be building a house, so presumably you can read the language. I found the relevant quote just by a quick Google search.

“Your implication is that, you know the rule, so why doesn’t everyone else?? And when someone simply enquires and asks questions or even questions the statement your assumption is that one is not doing research or one is deviant, because they do not live their lives they way you do.”

My implication is nothing of the kind. My implication, and it is more than a mere implication, is that getting off your arse and looking it up for yourself rather than going on about “(not that Im saying they don’t exist..just haven’t seen them cited).
Unless an amusing story made into a newspaper article is law, oopps that’s an anecdote!” is lazy. You don’t know of them – fine. Where did I say you should *know* them, as opposed to look them up? You are told something you have not heard of. Fine. You find it potentially suspicious. Great. What’s the next step? Demand more and more proof and complain that it’s not national-level when offered, or take a look for yourself? Now, unless you assume that I actually typed in that quote from the Cabinet Office from memory, you can see that I did some research to clarify the letter of the law. Why waste time asking questions when the answer is so easy to find?

It’s not an issue of personal freedom to do risky things by yourself. The presence of such bicyclists is a hazard to pedestrians and drivers, so it is illegal. I imagine that drunk biking is also banned for this reason.

While the rule against double-biking is one taught to Japanese people in elementary school traffic safety classes and can be considered common knowledge, it is not strictly enforced. Just like in cases of jaywalking, police usually only go after blatant offenders who are causing trouble for drivers and pedestrians.

The Overthinker was confused by the claim that you had to register with “town hall”, when really it’s just the local koban, which he knew about.

I didn’t compare riding a bike to playing with knives and guns, I simply pointed out your argument as being a fallacy; that you weren’t hurt doing something as a child does not mean that it’s safe to do.

Bungy jumping, skydiving, and motor racing involve designated areas where the only person who could get hurt is the person who chooses to do the activity, or the spectators who make a conscience decision to attend the event. Riding a bike double on the street can result in the injury of an innocent third-party. It’s the same reason that in motor sports you can break the speed limit, while driving on a public street you can’t.

Don’t call a gust of wind a typhoon.

Sure they do. But seriously, does anyone think for a minute that the number of cyclists in the US is anywhere near that of Japan?

Anyway, John, if you truly insist on being picky and not doing any research yourself, would the Cabinet Office of Japan be an authoritative enough source for you?
http://www.cao.go.jp/
See the law here:
二人乗りの禁止
　自転車の二人乗りは、各都道府県公安委員会規則に基づき、６歳未満の子供を乗せるなどの場合を除き、原則として禁止されている。
【該当規定】道路交通法第55条第１項／第57条第２項
【罰則】５万円以下の罰金／２万円以下の罰金又は科料
http://www8.cao.go.jp/koutu/taisaku/bicycle/bicycle_h19.html

And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tandem in Japan, come to think of it….

Just because you are unaware of something doesn’t invalidate its existence.

For the record,

http://www.reiki.metro.tokyo.jp/reiki_honbun/g1012199001.html

(1)　乗車人員の制限は、次のとおりとする。
　ア　二輪の自転車には、運転者以外の者を乗車させないこと。
　イ　二輪の自転車以外の軽車両には、その軽車両に本来設けられている乗車装置に応じた人員を超える人員を乗車させないこと。

Incidentally, John – you can get done for riding a bike drunk, technically. There was a recent crackdown on it. But most times the cops don’t care what people do on bikes.

*You might need the vehicle licensing centre.

At any rate, there’s no doubt it’s illegal, but it’s one of those crimes that everyone does and the cops seldom fuss about.

John K – You’re so insistent that riding double is not a crime, when it very much is defined as one. Are you simply rejecting reality and substituting your own?

“I used to ride with no helmet all the time as a child on my friend’s bike and on mine, as did all my freinds. It wasn’t dangerous, it was fun…”

“I used to fire pistols straight up into the air all the time as a child with my friend’s gun and with mine, as did all my freinds. It wasn’t dangerous, it was fun…”

“I used to juggle knives all the time as a child with my friend’s knives and with mine, as did all my freinds. It wasn’t dangerous, it was fun…”

Never having seen people double-riding bikes in America, I’d assume there are probably traffic laws against it there as well.

In order to be able to ride a bicycle in Japan you first have to pass a five-hour written test on the Chinese Classics (in classical Chinese of course), then demonstrate that you can handle a bicycle properly (you may have seen YouTube clips of these tests: they show people trying to ride bikes along narrow planks over mud-filled pools and the like), and then provide the police with the names and addresses since birth of all persons who will ever ride it, as well as a map of all routes you intend to use it on. Plus there is of course compulsory tenth-party insurance and the biannual ‘shaken’ inspection where they apply rust to your brakes to ensure the correct decibel level of screeching. And finally you need to be able to realise that all the above is utter crap. Actually Japan is one of the freest countries for bikes – no helmet laws, no fussing about riding on footpaths, and not a lot of parking restrictions either.