Swimming and cycling in Japan

Hi all, I wonder if you can help me.
I am staying in in Nara and Osaka for 3 weeks soon and want to swim. Are there are good pools in the prefectures, perhaps with websites? Are there any customs which I must observe when swimming in Japan, i.e. cap/type of shorts/length of swim?

Also I am bringing my bicylcle with me. What is the attitude of Japanese car drivers to cyclists? here in Britain it's quite unsafe. Maybe Japan is a bit nicer? I will be cycling around Nara prefecture in the mountains.
Thanks for any help.

Sorry can't answer the swimming question I was there in winter, but for cycling they usually ride on the footpath. This makes it very dangerous for pedestrians, especially when lights are the exception at night and helmets are only seen on foreigners.

Safe riding.

Drivers aren't hostile because many of them also ride bikes from home to a railway station on their way to work. Many more Japanese than English ride bikes. Even Holland has less people using bikes! You will be amazed by the number of bikes near railway stores and shopping areas. Old ladies drive bikes fearlessly, especially in covered shopping streets clearly marked: no bikes. On side streets and residential areas there are often no sidewalks but cars, pedestrians, bikes dance around one another.

....good pools in Nara and Osaka, it is certain that there are many public pools in the prefectures. So I think it may be the best way for you to ask at the front desk of the hotel you'll be staying at if there're any good and accessible pools in the neighborhood. A fee to use any public indoor pool in Osaka costs 700 yen per use.

The general rules you'd have to obey when using a public pool in Japan are that you are supposed to wear a cap and to take a shower in a shower room, then bathe the lower body in a little disinfectant pool for a couple of second before entering the pool. I don't think there are any specific regulations on swimshorts. Note diving is prohibited.

Regarding cycling, I can't say whether it is safer here in Japan or not coz I've not been in Britain. But while cyclists are allowed to run roadways, it would be safer to run a sidewalk rather than a driveway that is very busy and has no sufficient space which can be provided for cyclists. Anyway, as there rarely are cycletracks in Japan, you need to be very careful when cycling the road.