Thanks for the post. I enjoyed the video — the music too. Your "footage" really conveyed something of what it must be like. It is reminiscent of Japan — but more chaotic. Still, it 'feels' like Asia.

The bikes in the OP's pic are renditions of what we get here in the zillions. And, many of them just sit in the rain, the snow and the appalling humidity year after year. Unless they get to a more attentive bicycle mechanic, the chains just rust until the fall apart in powder. Hardly anyone thinks about lubrication of any part of a bicycle.

Just over the last eighteen months or so, there has been a significant trend toward better bikes — a pull away from the ubiquitous "mama-chari". A lot of people (especially the young) are being attracted to more sophisticated bikes as opposed to buying a car or riding public transit. Drop bar models and more sporty types are becoming more and more popular. Helmets are appearing up and down the rush-hour traffic. Middle aged salary-men are appearing on hybrids. Cycling is changing here in Sendai, and hence it must be so in a lot of urban Japan. And it shows no sign or receding.

Cycling here must be at least as pervasive as it is in China. One thing is very different — cargo bikes are very rare. A "cargo" bike by name [ka-go baiku] here is thought to be a machine that is configured to be a child-transporter. This was a development that was mandated by the government because of a rising concern over serious injury to children. The bikes themselves are interesting and cost more. But they are much safer. Young children are protected by various features as well as they are supposed to wear helmets, even as the parents invariably do not. I could go on, but it perhaps should be another thread on another forum title.