If you’ve ever been to Japan, you know that biking is a way of life there. While in the Philippines, biking for leisure and urban mobility has only caught on recently because of the pandemic, for the longest time, people in Japan of all ages, occupations, and classes can manage to bike around safely even in busy cities thanks to the country’s advanced infrastructure and the discipline of road users. On a recent trip to Osaka, my family and I all had a free day in between sightseeing tours to do whatever we wanted. So we combined the usual sightseeing and food trips with biking.
At first we tried to make use of one of the local bikeshare systems since we kept spotting bikes on every corner. You can find the Docomo Bikeshare System all over Japan, but renting bikes apparently requires a credit card, local SIM numbers and data plans (per person), and registration on an app, which we couldn’t seem to download.
While the bikeshare system is great for locals, it can be a bit of a hassle for tourists to use, as you still have to register on apps and will get charged on a per hour basis by credit card if you don’t have an IC Card like PASMO or SUICA.
Anyway, after spending one morning getting tourist sims, trying to register online, and asking for help around convenience stores, we decided to just look for a shop with traditional bikes to rent instead.
After walking around, we ended up finding a small shop on GoogleMaps called Uemachi Rental Bicycle with units of folding Japanese mini-bikes. Rentals cost ¥300 an hour (Php 115) or about ¥1,300 (P495) for whole day use (more than 5 hours).
The owner was very friendly, could speak English, and didn’t require any lengthy paperwork. We just had to fill up a registration form with details of our passport and hotel etc. He told us that his shop was open late (until 10:00 p.m.) for the returns and he didn’t even require us to pay up front. He said we could just pay when we returned the bikes. Very nice guy.
He outfitted the bikes with baskets so it would be easier to carry items and lent us bike locks in case we needed to park somewhere. He also gave us a map of the area and gave some tips about biking around.
Our first stop on our chill ride was Osaka Castle, the most well-known landmark in the city, which we visited the previous day with family after visiting Nara, the Kuromon Fish Market, and other tourist spots.
Beyond the usual photo ops with the castle itself, the grounds are great for biking and many spots are uncrowded and quiet. There were more locals jogging and biking around the area with kids rather than tourists along the perimeter of the castle.
The main Osaka Castle grounds are free to visit, but there’s an admission fee of ¥600 to go inside the main tower of the castle itself, which houses a history museum and observatory on the eighth floor. If you’re just up for biking around, you can circle around the moats, explore the shaded paths and walkways at a more leisurely pace, and admire the castle from different angles. There are smaller shrines and landmarks scattered about. Near one gate, you can rent Samurai costumes and props for photo ops.
If you want to take a break here, one area of the public park has several cafes, including a big Starbucks. There are also vending machines and convenience stores in key locations if you just want to buy cheaper snacks and drinks. It was pleasant to just bike around here with no fixed itinerary and without rushing to get to another destination.
Since it was still early, we decided to see where else we could bike nearby. We purposely avoided biking to Dohtonbori because the area gets crowded and there are only a few designated places to park bikes because of the volume of tourists all flocking and eating there. You can’t park bikes outside most restaurants here. If you want to explore Dohtonbori, I suggest you just go on foot.
On GoogleMaps, we noticed Nakanoshima Park, a public park on an islet in the middle of a river. The area surrounding the park contains the Osaka City Central Public Hall, The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, a Children’s Library, and other commercial establishments. While other spots in Osaka can get pretty crowded, this park offered a very quiet urban escape.
There were a lot of benches and spots along the river where anyone can just sit and admire the classic and modern neighboring buildings. There are also a few cafes, including a coffee shop serving Danish pastries and a Riverside Grill & Beer Garden that seemed popular with locals. The grill serves Samgyeopsal and Premium BBQ courses with drink-all-you-can specials for about ¥4,400 – 5,500 (Php 1,595 – 2,159) per person with a two-hour time limit.
The waterfront park nestled between Dojimagawa and Tosaborigawa rivers has a rose garden featuring about 3,700 rose bushes and about different 310 rose species. The roses weren’t in bloom when we visited, but it was still a nice place to bike, hang out, and just sit on the grass. One of the great things about Japan is that it has so many parks and green spaces even in the middle of busy areas.
Since the Riverside Grill was out of our budget, we just biked along the side streets looking for a place to eat on the way back to the bike rental shop. We stopped at a small izakaya for dinner of Yakitori and Kirin beer.
We also came across a big grocery store and ended up buying more food and beer for post-dinner “snacks” before returning the bikes.
A lot of groceries sell sushi, sashimi, and bento box meals at discounted prices at night. Plus beer is cheaper in stores and vending machines. You can get beer for less than ¥300 per can versus a minimum of ¥550-800 per mug when you dine in restaurants. You’ve just got to love the variety of food available at Japanese groceries and convenience stores.
A couple of days later after visiting Kobe on a day trip, we returned to the same bike shop for another ride. The owner was out, and there was a “sold out” sign for the day posted, so we decided to just walk around and look for other nearby bike shops. Unfortunately, the other places we checked turned out to be local shops that sold vintage bikes, while another required deposits that cost the value of the bike and closed early at 7:00 p.m.
While searching around for places to go nearby, we chanced upon Neu, a hidden Rescue Cat and Vegan Cafe in a secluded residential area near the bike rental shop, so we decided to check it out. Apparently, all the cats at Neu are originally strays or abandoned by owners.
The cafe aims to help them find loving new owners. Playing with cats for 1 hour costs ¥1,500 per person. It was a relaxing hour and money well spent to support the worthy cause and to be in the presence of such lovely and friendly creatures. Beats being around other people.
When we got back to the bike shop, thankfully the owner had returned and bikes were available to rent again. Though it was getting dark, we decided to rent bikes for a couple of hours for a night ride to nearby parks.
We biked along the cycle paths of Sakuranomiya Park, which stretches over four kilometers along the Ogawa River. The banks of this park are lined with cherry trees and locals usually flock here during spring for picnics and nature walks. Along the way, we stopped at Sakuranomiya Beach, which has a sandy beachfront area. We encountered some locals playing volleyball on the beach, joggers, and workers on their way home, but no other tourists.
We just followed the cycle path until we reached a short uphill climb to Yodogawa River Park, which offers a view of the Yodo River. By this time, it was getting dark (and we had an early day ahead of us), so we decided to turn back and pass a different route biking back.
It felt pretty safe biking here the whole time even along the darker alleys and busy highways, though in retrospect the riverside route was faster because we didn’t have to keep stopping for traffic lights. After returning the bikes, we capped our ride with heaping bowls of Tonkotsu Ramen at a ramen shop near the hotel.
For non-bikers, the rides we did around Osaka might seem nondescript and ordinary. In terms of distance, they were neither epic nor challenging because of the mainly flat route. With no real plan, we found ourselves doing what we would normally do on a weekend ride around our own neighborhood—just a simple ride around parks to enjoy the green spaces, eating out, getting groceries, and enjoying a beer or two.
While we didn’t have time to spare for longer rides, being able to squeeze in some biking in between the sightseeing tours and visiting a crowded amusement park felt like a mini-vacation within the Japan vacation. It felt good to explore and discover places for ourselves (no matter how ordinary) without really following an itinerary. Biking around Osaka felt less tiring than walking and less confusing to navigate compared to the extensive train system.
The short rides around Osaka gave us just a taste of Japan’s amazing bike culture and infrastructure. I wouldn’t mind biking longer in other parts of Japan the next time we travel there.
Where to rent bicycles in Osaka:
We rented bicycles from Uemachi Bicycle Rental service. The shop is located near the Matsuyamachi Station or Tanimachi 6-chome Station.
Other bikeshare systems in Osaka you can consider include HUBchari Bicycle Rental, Docomo Bike Share, Hello Cycling, and LUUP (e-scooters and e-bikes).
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