bicycle transport on Japanese trains

Hi everybody,

I am going to travel to Japan in a few weeks. My bicycle is going to be my primary means of transport, but I would like to transport it by local trains from time to time. It is a normal sized bike that does not fold, pretty bulky when loeded with sidepacks. Will I have any trouble to load it on the train from Kansai Airport to Kyoto or on any other local Japanese trains? I am not going to travel to travel by Shinkansen, I would only like to use local transport to enter/leave big cities. Thanks a lot for advice!

When bringing a bicycle onto a train, you need to take off wheels and pedals and put it into a bag as described here:
http://www.japancycling.org/v2/info/rinko/rinko.shtml

Also, trains between Osaka and Kyoto are often very crowded. You should not bring a bicycle onto a crowded train.

this site kancycling has some of the most detailed information on this and other japanese cycle travel issues..
http://www.kancycling.com/Getting_Started/Using_Bikebag...

the whole thing is a pain, frankly, there should be no real problem taking assembled bikes onto trains provided you choose off-peak uncrowded times. We do it here, 10am to 3pm and after maybe 6.30pm, there i sno real problem, but, anyway, this is the way things must be done up there when entraining any bicycle, or the platform staff will query you, apparently.
Worse still, even if you got on board, you might be eyed off by other passengers,especially when you are clearly a stranger, so one way or the other you will have to go along with it.
Wheels on and off each time, arghh, awful, means also either brake rubbers must be relaxed or removed or tyre must be almost deflated to clear each other, more work then, restoring all that back.

i generally take my bike with me when i travel, i use a tioga cocoon (only have to remove the front wheel!). if you have paniers...gambette.
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if you have the option to take a highway bus instead of trains, i would recommend it. no transfers, just throw your bike under the bus and relax until reaching your destination.

Definitely make sure you are only travelling on trains well outside peak times. I think I have seen a bike on a Tokyo train only once or twice (in a bag of course), and even then the guy was having a hard time because it was constantly in the way of someone getting on or off. On even a semi-crowded train it must be a nightmare.

"...just throw your bike under the bus and relax until reaching your destination"

Wont your bike get a little beat-up, though?

While following up myself on this Tioga Cocoon" mentioned,I came across an excellent forum which has a LOT of angles covered.
I'm beginning to get the impression that it is not practical to train/bike around suburban tokyo with one, bag or no bag, many people are saying in a long time living there they have rarely even seen anyone doing it.Then there is the parking issue and towaways even at stations..it's beginning to sound like a major hassle.
One of the posters has an interesting take on avoiding railways station towaways, though.

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-384609.ht...

As Sira mentioned, it's extremely rare to see bikes on trains in Tokyo. In all of my time, I've never seen it once, even on my train line (Denentoshi line) which certainly isn't the most crowded line in the region. If anything, I occasionally see people getting irritated (visibly) at others who bring a few bags of groceries with them on the train.

Surely, that's probably going a bit overboard but I certainly wouldn't suggest you try it in Tokyo, even during offpeak hours.

Thanks a lot for the advice!

I am not going to go to Tokyo at all, it is just the transfer from Kansai airport to Kyoto (Monday between 10 am and 1 pm) and the transfer from Nagoya to the Central Japan Airport (Sunday morning). I have travelled extensively by bicycle through Asia and South America, and it was never a big issue, but Japan seems different. Anyway, quite a few people have suggested that it would not be a problem if the bike is properly packed, so I hope that I am going to be allright.

Japan probably is different- there is a reason it is famous for its crowded trains, which are not only in Tokyo- Nagoya is a pretty big city too... Looking at the times and days you will be travelling, you might be ok though.