stewartt1982

I was wondering if anyone has experience registering a bike they built themselves in Japan. I'm putting together a new road bike from an existing groupset that I own, rims, and a new frame. Of course I have receipts for all component purchases past (groupset and rims) and present (frame).

Are their challenges or things to look out for when registering such a bike, obtained in the somewhat non-normal method (ie. not purchasing a bike fully built from a cycle shop)?

bjays88

I wanted to know as well

stewartt1982

I'm going to find a Japanese language road cycling forum or social media space and ask. Will report what I discover.

blacknbluebikes 

Is registration a mandatory thing in Japan? Unusual here in U.S.

stewartt1982

Technically registering your bike is mandatory, and all sold in Japan should be registered (for instance when you buy a bike here typically you do a bit of paperwork at the shop and get it registered at the time of sale). You get a little yellow sticker which shows your bike is registered. To my knowledge there is no penalty for not having your bike registered other than the police being able to hassle you ('is this bike yours?' 'it's not registered!' 'where did you buy it?' etc.)

I've never been stopped or hassled but some folks have (I've never been stopped of bothered by the police at all, but I started coming to Japan in my early 30s ... no one really bothers me). Given that registration is about 500 yen (or 5 USD or so) I want to register so as to not ever have any hassle. A minor inconvenience to potentially avoid future inconveniences.

Just because something is not normal in the US does not mean it is not common elsewhere, US norms are just that, norms in the US.

jmcullough101

That's interesting. What about the bikes bought in Japan but going for immediate exportation (say if it's bought by tourists), will they also need to be registered?

Toespeas

damn japan i thought you was cool

loved666

Dear Stewart, thanks for sharing this information, this is news to most of us.

darkmoon

I've been cycling since 1975 in Japan.

I'm not sure how many bikes I bought.

And I've never registered one bike, but fortunately, never been hassled by police at all.

Japan's bike registration system is a countermeasure against bike theft.
Yeah, bike registration is mandatory thing, but police don't stop and check every and each bike.

A start of trouble with police is riding bike without light at night.
To turn on the light at night is a traffic rule in Japan.
So police stop the bike without light at night.

And things are getting worse.

To turn on the light at night in Japan.
It's the easiest way to avoid police hassle.

jessejoshua

Wow. I just knew of this information.
Did not know that you had to register your bike there. But I think it is great, to minimize the risk of bike being stolen in the public. Since I see every student are using bike as their mode of transportation 😄

Gilzuma

Hi all, A little late to the conversation. While I can't speak to registering a custom bike, I don't believe it would be much different to my experience buying a bike off amazon Japan. These bikes are not preregistered and should be registered with your local city office. However that was easily done for me. I took it to a bike retailer. In this case it was Cainz. This shop is not a bike shop, but more like a home depot or Canadian Tire (depending on where you used to hail from. Any place that will do a basic bicycle tune up will do. You drop it off. They check to make sure everything works. The gears. The brakes. etc. You pay a small fee. Upon request they will register the bicycle and provide the registration tracking sticker for your bicycle. Boom. Bob's your uncle!

It was fairly easy and I'm fairly confident even without Japanese language ability, your bike, your I.D. and google translate will get the bike registered at pretty much any bicycle resale/tune up shop.

Good luck all!