So my friend's bike was picked up by the police today for being in a no parking zone and carted off to the bike detention center in the south of Kyoto. Not only does she have to make the trek down there, but she also has to pay a $25 fine to get her bike returned to her. Now I know some of you may be thinking, "Now Chris she did park in a no parking zone so it is well within the rights of the police to impound her bike for so blatantly ignoring the law", and usually I would agree with you as long as we weren't talking about Japan. For a country that is so heavily infested with bikes there are very few areas in which you can legally park your favored form of transportation. Now while there are no parking zones all over the city it certainly doesn't mean that people adhere to these warnings as evidenced by bikes left in virtually every available space. What this usually means is that the chance of your bike being picked up by the police is very low, but when it does happen it is very inconvenient and exponentially more expensive if it happens to occur more than once. I just feel that the government should encourage people to ride bikes as it is beneficial to the environment and your pocketbook, not make it increasingly difficult to find places to park your hulking 'Mama-chari' as they are called. Mine is literally a tank. I also realize I just ranted on about bike parking...I am way too tired to be blogging right now. On that note I will call it a night and be off to read some before bed, but remember this. A bike in the garage is worth two in the impound lot. I am so wise.