Over 100,000 new 3-seat bicycles, designed to carry an adult and two children, have been sold since a ban on their sale was lifted in July of last year, a result one bicycle maker described as "beyond expectations." There were doubts that the 3-seaters would win acceptance from consumers because of their hefty price tags -- with an electric motor, the bicycles run for over 100,000 yen, and even without one, they go for over 40,000 yen -- but they have won popularity with parents raising young children.

A rise in awareness about the new bicycles because of local government assistance and rental programs, focused in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is thought to be behind the bicycles' success. Major bicycle maker Maruishi Cycle has sold around 30,000 3-seat bicycles, with customers at some of its stores waiting as long as a month for delivery of the bicycles.


"We have requests coming in from stores that we never dealt with before asking for nothing but 3-seater bicycles. It's probably thanks to the subsidy and rental systems," says one Maruishi Cycle official. Leading bicycle maker Bridgestone Cycle, meanwhile, has sold over 65,000 3-seaters. According to a marketing official, "Bicycles with electric motors are doing particularly well."

Two other bicycle-makers with large market shares, Hodaka and Yamaha Motor Company, are also enjoying strong sales of the new bicycles. Combined with Maruishi Cycle and Bridgestone Cycle, the four companies' sales total over 100,000 units. Subsidy and rental systems designed to promote the new bicycles' success have been well-received.


In Bunkyo Ward in Tokyo, in order to "reduce burdens on parents and guardians," the government instituted a subsidy system to give 100 buyers of 3-seat bicycles rebates of 30,000 yen each. Applications for the subsidy began being accepted in April, and within about two months over 230 had been received. In Nishitokyo, which began a subsidy system in October of last year, over a period of a half-year 257 applications were received.

Tokyo's Nerima Ward, and the cities of Mitaka and Machida, meanwhile, have experienced a flood of interest from consumers since they began introducing rental systems for 3-seat bicycles in autumn of last year. The three governments had originally planned to introduce a combined total of 160 bicycles, but that number has ballooned to over 500 due to their popularity.


Three-seat bicycles are not only convenient, they are said to be safe as well. They are required to meet the safety standards of the National Police Agency, and are harder to knock over than a regular bicycle. "The bike is necessary for taking my children to pre-school," says one 26-year-old mother in Bunkyo Ward who purchased a 3-seat bicycle. "This is just the kind of bike I imagined I would want if I were going to carry my children on it," she said. (The Mainichi Daily News)