Bike Rental in Tokyo: Everything You Need To Know

Biking is a great form of transportation that offers numerous benefits. It gets your blood pumping and gives you a cardio workout. Plus, it gives you a lot of freedom to explore the area where you live.

That said, not everyone has a bike. Having one costs money, and it can come with headaches like figuring out how to store it. Luckily, bike rental services are quite easy to come by in Japan. So in this article, I’ll tell you where and how you can rent bikes with ease.

I’ll also explain the popularity of biking in Tokyo and other places in Japan. How feasible is it to travel by bike? What are some ground rules and tips to keep in mind? Let's take a look.

Is Tokyo Bike Friendly?

First things first, let’s talk about whether Tokyo is worth traveling on a bike in the first place. This has more to do with Tokyo being accommodating to bikers, rather than the popularity of bikes in Tokyo, as biking isn’t the most popular transportation option here.

For the most part, Tokyolites usually prefer to ride the trains, and we can’t blame them. It’s a system that works so well that an alternative has never been a true necessity. That said, with bike rental services and electronic bikes that assist your pedaling becoming popular, both tourists and locals have been using bike rentals more and more.

Tokyo is indeed a biking-friendly city in that it has designated lanes for bikes on most common streets, but whether people respect the bike lanes is an issue on its own. 

Sadly, while biking is fairly common these days, the culture around biking isn’t as commonly established as in European cities such as Amsterdam or Berlin, which results in people parking or walking over bike lanes without noticing.

Still, if you’re the type who wants to get away from the crowds, renting a bike is worth it just to get out of the jam-packed Tokyo subway stations.

Biking in Tokyo: Your Options

Biking may not be Tokyolites’ go-to choice for transportation, but it doesn’t mean that people don’t bike here. Especially among tourists and foreign residents living in the central areas of Tokyo, biking is alive. In fact, in addition to classic bikes, you now have more options.

For one, you have the classic bike rental shops that you see in big cities. You go to a specific store, rent the bike, and return it at the location or at another branch if possible. 

However, recent years also saw a rise in the popularity of bike-sharing services, which are essentially similar to renting out the e-scooters I talked about in another post.

Bike-sharing companies usually have stations throughout the city where you can take and park bikes. To use the services, you need only sign up through a dedicated app. 

In addition to being able to rent the bike for half an hour or a full one, most bike-sharing services also allow you to make monthly or daily memberships to use the services regularly for your commute.

Of course, in both cases where you rent a bike at a shop or pick one up from a station, you also have the option to rent an e-bike. E-bikes have become commonplace and are everywhere these days. These bikes assist you while you drive, allowing for a smoother, effortless ride.

Tokyo Bike Rental Companies: Docomo Community Cycle, Hello Cycling, and More

If you want to start biking in the streets of Tokyo right away, you’ll be glad to know that there are several options available. Let’s look at some of the more popular ones.

Docomo Cycle (Bike Share)

Docomo Cycle, or Docomo Community Cycle, has introduced bike sharing to Japan, and is perhaps the largest bike-sharing service in the country. 

The service operates via a mobile app that helps you find a station near you on the map. The service is the most widespread one, as it covers 11 wards of Tokyo, as well as neighboring cities Sendai, Yokohama, and Nara City. 

Docomo Cycle exclusively offers e-bikes with paddling assistance that are especially great for uphill roads. These bikes also allow you to avoid arriving sweaty at your destination if you’re planning on using them for commuting or running errands. 

You can choose a one-day pass for 1,650 JPY, or pay based on time used. A 30-minute ride costs 165 JPY, and you can pay 110 JPY for additional 30-minute extensions.

Alternatively, those planning to use the service daily can also opt for the monthly pass, which costs 2,200 JPY, and gives you unlimited rides, but each ride is limited by 30 minutes.

GS Astuto Road Bike Rentals

If you’re looking for something that’s a bit more pro-level, GS Astuto will provide you with road bikes that are made for long journeys. Essentially, GS Astuto is a bike rental service that allows you to book your desired bike online.

The carbon-frame bikes are great for riding long distances, and for travelling for multiple days. Sadly, the service is only available in the Tokyo area, and their location is a 2-hour drive from Central Tokyo, but it’s a service for professional athletes and trainers who usually don’t shy away from going the distance.

Hello Cycling

Back to the casual side of biking, Hello Cycling is a great alternative to Docomo Cycles, which is also available all throughout Tokyo. 

In fact, Hello Cycling’s area of coverage is considerably larger, so you’ll have more luck finding a bike near you. While Docomo Cycles only operates in the central 11 out of 23 wards of Tokyo, Hello Cycling also covers the Taito Ward, which is a great place to visit for sightseeing.

Hello Cycling charges 70 JPY for every 15 minutes, and you can also rent a bike for 12 hours, which costs 1,000 JPY.

COGICOGI

COGICOGI may be a smaller operation, but it’s a great service for central Tokyo nonetheless. This popular bike-sharing brand has stations all over the famous Harajuku and Shibuya districts, as well as the Skytree area of Tokyo, where many tourist attractions await.

The bikes offered are small-wheeled e-bikes that provide paddling assistance, but sadly, the service is only available between certain hours. The stations operate between 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM, but the system doesn’t allow you to rent out bikes after 6:00 PM.

You can choose between a daily and a monthly membership, which may be a dealbreaker to some, but the service is well-established in Tokyo and has a large user base.

LUUP

LUUP is currently the most popular e-scooter service in Japan, but some of their stations, called “ports”, also offer e-bikes. Like the scooters, the bikes can also be rented out through the app, on the spot.

Compared to the other bike rental services I introduced, LUUP currently covers a smaller area in terms of bikes. That said, the coverage is expected to extend shortly, as the company is a recent player in the market and already covers several cities in Japan with ports scattered all over. So, it’s only a matter of time before more bikes will be added to the existing stations.

Livelo

Like GS Astuto, Livelo is also for those who take biking more seriously or do it professionally. It’s an international company that’s operational in over 40 cities worldwide in addition to Tokyo.

The company’s carbon-frame road bikes are available to book online, where you can also rent out any additional gear you may require for your ride. 

While the service is available in Tokyo, the best part about Livelo is that they deliver your rental bike to a location of your choice, which can be your hotel or the Airbnb you’re staying at. Alternatively, you can pick up the bike at the company’s location near Narita Airport.

Final Word: Things To Look Out For When Biking in Tokyo

Now that you’re all set up for your first bike ride in Japan, let’s briefly go over some ground rules and tips before I conclude here.

Generally, the rules on biking are mostly the same in Japan as in many other places: be mindful of pedestrians, follow the traffic rules and signs, and don’t ride on the sidewalk. That said, there’s a specific rule that isn’t that common, and it has to do with parking. 

While it may be common to lock up your bike pretty much wherever you deem safe in many bike-centric European cities, parking your bike carelessly on the street in Tokyo is a no-go. 

You must park your bike in designated spaces, unless you’re ending a ride and returning a shared bike to a station. 

Lastly, while there are no license requirements for renting and riding bikes in Japan, it’s still advisable to carry a valid form of identification with you that includes a photo, as some rental shops may require proof of ID to use their services.

 

While this is it for bike sharing in Japan, if you want an alternative for when you’re in a pinch, check out my post on Uber in Japan, where I discuss ride-sharing services in the country. Also, another alternative to bike rentals is e-scooters, for which I also have a detailed post you should check out.