Starting April 2026, Japan will prohibit cycling while holding an umbrella, with a ¥5,000 fine. The new law, aimed at improving bicycle safety, also bans umbrella clamps and other distracting behaviors like using smartphones while riding. Cyclists are encouraged to use rain gear instead.
by SkyInJapan
29 comments
HOW BOUT SMOKIN’
2026 LOL
I’ll believe it when I see it. Cyclists do whatever they want here.
Uh huh, SURE they will 😉
I saw a guy with an umbrella in one hand and a smartphone in the other this past week. It’s nuts.
What about using smartphones, that counts for car drivers as well btw.
I think I saw same news last year
Yeah, sure bro.
almost got run over by a dude cycling on his phone the other day. Bikes here are the worst.
And just how do they propose to enforce this ? Are the police going to be forced out from sitting in the koban all day and actually do some work patrolling ? I doubt it very much.
And I’m the dumb*ss that started using rain gear from this year. ugh
I’m sure they will crack down on this really hard for maybe 2 weeks and then just not bother to enforce it after that.
FFS they’ve been saying this for 30 years.
Based on how many cars were going 150km in the Aqua Line on the weekend, Japan needs to start cracking down on speed cameras
Okay now crack down on people messaging on their phone and cycling
No it won’t.
Invest the finest into lowering rice prices 😎😎
Actually I saw something related just last week. Guy was cycling with an umbrella in the rain and he went past a group of policemen. They shouted pretty aggressively and made him put away his umbrella. I was kinda surprised.
FTA:
>The updated law marks a major shift in Japan’s approach to bicycle safety. Beginning April 2026, anyone caught cycling with an umbrella in hand faces a ¥5,000 fine, part of a new law that establishes fines for a slew of behaviors that were previously punishable with a warning — using a smartphone while riding a bike, for instance, **or biking with earphones in**.
what’s wrong with headphones while biking? it’s not like any of them FULLY cancel out the outside sounds.
Cyclists in Japan are all far less obnoxious than the Lycra jackasses of London.
Lol the other day I went to the supermarket, around 2 km from home, on my way, I saw a dude zooming his 50cc around the road, 2 dudes on a bicycle, and on my way back, a student with both elbows on the handlebar and holding his phone. I really wanna start saying “where are the cops when you need them!?” Passing by these people to see if they fix their shit. Or I will carry a sign saying “because of people like you that everyone else gets f*cked!” in Japanese. By the way, they were all Japanese, or at least looked like.
As someone who is dreaming of a slow news day again, that likely will never happen, this brought a little joy to me.
My umbrella is on my hat so hah!
How about we start with people who smoke and walk simultaneously?
Didn’t they say they were gonna crack down on the cyclists who disobey traffics rules: like running red lights and going the opposite way of the flow of traffic? Still see that shit daily, even with police about. Nothing is ever enforced
Cyclist in Japan makes you love cyclist in Netherlands, Japanese people have no clue how to ride bycicle properly
Imagine if they cracked down on “Butskari”. Oh wait, umbrella cyclists are more important
Yes, they already stopped me.
Oh no, anyway