Strike Two

Two weeks ago there was a bit of a fiasco involving my bike. I lost my bike key while playing pool at US Land, leaving it immobile and forcing me to start taking the bus again. For a few days I kept going back to see if my key had turned up, only to be greeted with a_Gomen nasai_ each time. Taking the bus and being pushed by old ladies was by now getting the better of me. Enough was enough I thought, so last week into US Land I went and bought a couple of screwdrivers, some long nose pliers and a hammer. Being a ¥100 store, the total was ¥420 – some arbitrary things are ridiculously cheap in Japan.

Now tooled up, I set about removing the lock. Of course, because life’s like that, the thing was welded on and totally unremovable. In retrospect, I guess I should have realised this, otherwise anyone could just pinch your bike. Indeed, at any other time I would have been happy. Well, after a long time pissing about, out comes a store worker with a huge screwdriver and asks if he can help. I tried to explain that it was welded on, but he just grinned at me so I gave up and let him have a go. His solution was simple; jam the screwdriver into the lock and wrench it about violently until it was totally broken. I was impressed, not least because he was Japanese and typically Japanese people aren’t prone to acts of violence.

This left only one slight problem. My bike had a broken, unlockable and unremovable lock, and was once again totally insecure. As I’ve learned to my cost, a bike without a lock in Japan lasts about as long as a Man United fan in the Anfield Kop. The simple solution? Another brief sojourn to US Land for a shiny new lock at the bargain price of ¥105.

So, a secure and usable bike for the price of ¥525 plus a few bus rides and a few hours of my life that I’ll never get back. Not so bad. A hassle to be sure, but not so bad.

Yesterday, my bike was stolen.