Rickshaw service begins at Haneda Airport

Why walk inside an airport terminal when you can ride a rickshaw instead:

All Nippon Airways Co. began a weeklong service Sunday to carry passengers by rickshaw in a retro atmosphere to departure gates after they go through boarding procedures at Tokyo’s Haneda airport.

The man-powered, 1.3-meter wide vehicle will run slowly down about 400 meters of a passage at the airport’s No. 2 terminal to carry passengers chosen by lot.

[hat tip to Shibuya246]

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7 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - August 17, 2009 at 7:10 am

Categories: General Japan Tags: japan, rickshaw

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com Brian

When I see fat Caucasian tourists being pulled around Asia in a rickshaw I die a little inside.

dizzy

In the French sense of the word?

I kid, I kid.

Anyway, it seems like a giant waste of money. I’d rather take the moving sidewalks.
http://dimesfornickels.wordpress.com/ William George

Would fat black or fat asian tourists be okay?

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com Brian

No, wg, they wouldn’t, though they don’t harken back to the image of colonists abusing brown or yellow locals. Do self-respecting white people still let themselves be pulled around on vacation? I guess so, so long as the locals will still pull people around.

http://www.japanprobe.com James

I wouldn’t have a problem with it in Japan. This country was never colonized, so locals don’t associate white people riding in rickshaws with colonial domination. Rickshaws in Japan are for tourists, and the dudes who pull them usually wear 19th century costumes to give it a historical feel as they travel through old neighborhoods. It’s seen much as New Yorkers might see a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park.

Several Japanese tour companies actively market rickshaw rides to international tourists.

The Overthinker

Let me also add that rickshaws in Japan are usually used by Japanese tourists. There is no sense of colonial superiority. It’s about as exploitative as natives punting tourists in gondolas in Venice. Which is why I have never been in one – too expensive.

http://dimesfornickels.wordpress.com/ William George

There is a thriving summer rickshaw business back in my hometown. A wide variety of people use them.

And as long as the locals feel like hauling lazy folks around, then it’s a good way to earn some money.

Rickshaw service begins at Haneda Airport

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