PHOTO ESSAY: Romancing the bicycle in Sakai

In Sakai City, there is an unwritten love affair between the city’s residents and the two-wheeled mechanical contraption called the bicycle, or in Japanese, the "jitensha." There are more than 800,000 people living in Sakai, one of the oldest cities in Japan and located just 15 minutes by train from bustling Osaka. Yet, there are more than a million bicycles of all sorts in the city alone. Bicycles have become part of their lives, thus, making the city the unofficial biking capital of Japan. World-famous bicycle maker Shimano is headquartered in Sakai. A Sakai resident can own as many bicycles as he or she wishes. They may be toddlers, septuagenarians, executives, students, housewives or hotel clerks. Almost everyone in Sakai owns a bike or two or three. The city government of Sakai built and maintains an intricate user-friendly network of tiled bicycle lanes and overpasses that cross-stretch for miles even outside the city’s boundaries. In fact, bicycle lanes in Sakai are one of the safest in world. It is not mandatory for cyclists to wear helmets on bicycle lanes. Despite the conveniences of having such a modern automated city with all the latest hybrid cars cris-crossing the elevated speedways and intricate narrow streets, Sakai residents just can't take their hands off the bicycle. Call it way of life or tradition. In Sakai, to part ways with a bicycle is like leaving behind a loved one.