I keep on coming back to this question, because there seems to be such a change between Japanese on foot, on two wheels and on four. For example, cyclists jumping red lights where pedestrians and motorists never would, cycling with umbrellas, ignoring one-way signs on streets, and protests against changing a law against more than one child seat.
I wonder whether cycling became popular during a chaotic period in Japanese period like Taisho or just after WWII.
Much more on this topic by clicking on the Japanese cyclists category above.