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Pedestrian’s Best Friend: The Bicycle Bell
By thomas | January 22, 2008
Are you tired of walking behind slow people? Do you wish there was an easy way to pass through a crowd without knocking people on their ass? There is! Nick from Japan and fatherhood blog longcountdown.com has a hilarious tip for dealing with crowded city sidewalks: buy a bicycle bell.
From Nick’s page:
When I lived in Nagoya, I found it ever so frustrating wading through the crowds at train stations, on busy streets and in departments stores, so I went to a 100 yen shop and bought myself a “Dragon Ball” bicycle bell.
You don’t need a bike to use a bell…
As I had hoped, a ring on my bell was enough to induce the natural jump-out-of-the-way reaction from the people in front of me, letting me pass with ease! I used this trick in the street, in stores, on escalators and even on crowded trains!
On escalators? Pure genius!
Speaking of Nick, he is also the creator of JapanSoc, a social bookmarking site for all things Japan. You can read, submit and vote on Japan-related articles and blog posts there. Check it out! It’s badass.
Edit: Reader Claire found a video on YouTube demonstrating the this hack:
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- How To Find Shoes That Fit You In Japan
- Vacationing 2008
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Topics: Transportation | 13 Comments »Trackback
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 am
That’s funny – I saw a video about that very subject at Design Festa last May – here it is on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnL4fjMzsSU
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Awesome! Thanks for the link. I’ve added it to the post.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
What a fantastic video! I told you, I told you! :-D
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
This is pretty cool. I’ve already invested in mine, and I’ll be trying it out tomorrow on the way to Kariya :P
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I was wondering at the beginning of that “Is he actually even on a bicycle?” And then I realised he is saying that it can be used anywhere. Hehehe.
Thomas,
I wanted to let you know about this dentist tip Turner mentioned on KeepingPaceInJapan. Looks like a good tip for NihonHacks too.
http://www.keepingpaceinjapan.com/2008/01/dental-care-in-japan.html
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Haha that is too funny/awesome. Even in stores, where you normally wouldn’t have people riding bicycles, people move their things out of the way, just out of reaction. I’m someone who always seems to walk much faster than the average person for some reason, so, I’ll definitely be needing one of these when I go to Japan.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Great video! I learned something here too – most of the folks moved to the left when they heard the bell. I may have been moving to the right all these years which is why I get so many dirty looks…must be the influence of driving in the US :)
January 25th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Very funny. But, you better not do that to drunk salarymen they might attack you with their kasa. :P
January 26th, 2008 at 7:48 am
[...] most insightful and inciteful writers out there on politics, race, and all things Vodka Crans 6. NihonHacks – great tips, and I’m linking to this one because I think I’ll get a bicycle … 7. The Media Tinker is one of my best friends that I never see: it has been wonderful watching this [...]
February 7th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Hey, that looks like a good idea. I might have to try that out sometime…although it might not work as well here in the US where people aren’t as accustomed to moving out of the way at the sound of a bicycle bell.
February 9th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
This is a funny video and concept, but please people, don’t emulate this.
February 10th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Hilarious concept, but it seems kind of mean…
September 17th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
That video is hilarious. I love how it works on an escalator and in a コンビニ XD