I was wondering if anyone might know what the law is in Japan regarding carrying children on a longtail cargo bicycle.

For the past year, I have been carrying my two boys around the neighborhood in Yokohama using my Yuba Mundo Cargo bicycle and until today never had any problems from the police.

Today, however, with both boys on the back, I made the mistake, while waiting for a light, of stopping in front of a Police koban (small police station), and the very young looking police officer couldn`t resist the urge, I suppose, to exert his new found authority in telling me to walk the bike or take the kids off because, "in Japan 3 people on a bike is dangerous". Of course, as soon as the boys got off, the youngest was almost hit by a woman carrying 2 kids on a mama-chari. On her bike one child was in front and the other, bigger kid was in the back. When I asked him why a bike like that was OK he said "two in back is dangerous."

My bike with the boys 6 and 8 on the back looks like this -



I`m sure the officer was probably new, gung-ho, and just being a bit overzealous but I still would like to know what the law is. Kind of shocked really, as I never had problem before and although there are quite a few rules and regulations regarding cycling here, they seem to only very rarely be enforced. Wondering if this is a gray area, since the bicycle is obviously strong enough to carry heavy loads as well as passengers.