Originally Posted by marimorimo

Cycling is popular in Japan, but more in the utility cycling kind of sense. Moms, dads, kids, grandpas, all on their big and heavy dutch bikes that cost $100-200 a pop. They're great for hauling kids and groceries. The electric-motored powered kinds are also popular (not a surprise because people haul two kids at a time on their bikes, and the hills here). Many people do have hybrids and road bikes, but are vastly outnumbered by the utility cyclists. It's legal to ride on the sidewalk here.

There are dedicated cycling paths around here where the roadies gather during the weekend, and nearly everyone has impressive kit. The brand of road bike I see the most is COLNAGO, no kidding.

As for road bike manufacturing, it's niche. Just the custom builders (which are quite expensive) but apparently the quality is top-notch. There's also a guy famous for making bikes (including wheels) from mahogany.