I rode my first bus in Kyoto. When the bus came, it went right past me before stopping. I was confused and began walking toward the front, until I saw people getting on from the back of the bus. In Japan, I realized, you get on from the back of the bus and leave from the front. It actually makes sense, so that people who are getting on don't interfere with people who are getting off.
Finally, I tried biking. At first, I was scared of biking on the road, because in Japan they drive and bike on the left side of the road, not the right. Therefore, I stuck to the sidewalks. However, there were many bikes on the sidewalks as well. It turns out that in Kyoto, people bike wherever they need to in order to get to where they are going. They bike on sidewalks, roads, and weave between the two. This is convenient for cyclists, but inconvenient for pedestrians because they have to look out for bikes when walking on sidewalks. In fact, there have been many times when I have been walking around and got alarmed by a bike that sped by right next to me. Had I walked a little to the side, or had I waved my arm at that moment, I might have gotten hit by the bike.
One of the big problems with having so many people bike is bike parking. If people parked their bikes wherever they wanted, there would be no space left for people to walk. Therefore, Kyoto has to be very strict with guidelines about where it is legal to park and where it is not. If you park your bike illegally, they will load it onto a truck and carry it to a storage location where you have to pay a fine to pick it up. I experienced this recently. Last weekend, I was in a hurry and parked my bike under a bridge with five other bikes. When I returned, all the bikes were gone!
