There is nothing like getting lost in a new city on two wheels
This is where things start to get interesting. If like me, you enjoy taking your time to visit a city at your own pace and shackle free, this is it. You’ve most likely come across city bicycles in other cities before, but there is a Tokyo twist here. Those bicycles are electric.
This might sound like the lazy man’s bicycle but in a city as spread out and hilly as Tokyo, the city bicycles developed by Docomo will get you across the city and back while seeing plenty of gems on the way.
Docomo bikes can be found across a large perimeter inside the city with the most central 10 wards (Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chuo, Minato, Shinjuku, Bunkyo, Meguro, Koto, Shinagawa and Ota) having stations – out of which 4 (Shibuya, Meguro, Shinagawa and Ota) found themselves newly equipped over the last year only. The system is growing.
This is the easiest way to locate all the stations in Tokyo. The map was developed by Docomo and works as a plugin map for Google Maps. Once you’ve activated it in your app, you’ll be able to call it back – should it disappear – by going to the top left menu > Your places > Maps and clicking on its name.
This is the easiest way to locate all the stations in Tokyo. The map was developed by Docomo and works as a plugin map for Google Maps. Once you’ve activated it in your app, you’ll be able to call it back – should it disappear – by going to the top left menu > Your places > Maps and clicking on its name.
There are different colors for each of the 10 wards involved. The systems were initially incompatible between wards but nowadays it virtually has no importance as you can pick up a city bicycle in one ward and drop it in another.
Stations come in all sizes and can sometimes be hard to locate. If the biggest stations have a proper parking space and can easily be found, many stations are basically 3 bike racks in a back alley. Click on the station to open a side menu, you’ll find a picture there that should help you a bit (and test your detective skills).
Physical registration points are a waste of time. There is actually another plugin map you can get listing all the registration counters and kiosks but don’t go out of your way to find one, you can register on your laptop at home or directly at any station just by using your phone.
Physical registration points are a waste of time. There is actually another plugin map you can get listing all the registration counters and kiosks but don’t go out of your way to find one, you can register on your laptop at home or directly at any station just by using your phone.
The registration process is quite straight forward. You’ll need to have a phone number (any country is fine) and a valid e-mail address to complete it.
You also need to register a credit card.
If you plan on using the service sporadically, choose the ‘One Trip Membership‘ plan. The first 30 min cost 150 yen, and then you pay 100 yen for every additional 30 min.
The ‘Monthly Membership‘ is for those that plan on using the service regularly. You pay 2,000 yen/month and the first 30 min are free (additional 30 min are 100 yen). This plan becomes cost effective if you plan on doing at least 14 trips / month.
You can access the Docomo registration page here.
You will rent city bicycles much faster. If you set the ‘Membership card registration‘ field to REGISTER during your account creation, you should have been given an 8-digital code that will allow you to register your IC card by using any Docomo bike reader (you can also find the code in your emails).
If you set the field to NO REGISTER, simply login to your account, click on ‘My account‘ and choose ‘Register member card‘. You will be given a code there.
You will rent city bicycles much faster. If you set the ‘Membership card registration‘ field to REGISTER during your account creation, you should have been given an 8-digital code that will allow you to register your IC card by using any Docomo bike reader (you can also find the code in your emails).
If you set the field to NO REGISTER, simply login to your account, click on ‘My account‘ and choose ‘Register member card‘. You will be given a code there.
Now find a Docomo bike and go the reader at the back of it. With your IC card and 8-digital code in hand:
The app gives you the number of available Docomo bikes for every station in real time. That’s the main advantage of this app. You also get station updates but as the app is entirely in Japanese, your level will determine how much more you can get from it. From an iOS device, you can access the app directly here:
The app gives you the number of available Docomo bikes for every station in real time. That’s the main advantage of this app. You also get station updates but as the app is entirely in Japanese, your level will determine how much more you can get from it. From an iOS device, you can access the app directly here:
The one tricky part though is that the app is only accessible via the Japanese App store. To download it, you will need to set your iTune account to Japan and therefore enter a valid Japanese credit card to validate it. You can see how that can be hard to complete if you haven’t open a bank account yet.