Off Train, onto Electric Bike in Tokushima

September 15th, 2011 by Charis Michelsen

Tokushima City in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, is known mainly for its 3-day dance festival in late summer, and is fairly popular with tourists. It would like to be known for its natural beauty and efforts in preserving the environment. To that end, the city is promoting ecologically friendly tourism.

To kick-start its efforts, Tokushima City has received a gift of 20 Yamaha EC-03 electric bikes from Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service. The bikes can be leased this month after the 20th by tourists or locals from a new company — as yet unnamed — created specifically to handle the e-bikes. In a city of 260,000, 20 bikes might not go far — but it’s a promising start.

The city is already promoting initiatives to protect its environment and to reduce energy use in companies and offices (some of the specific pushes are titled things like “basic environmental plan” and “eco office plan”), but sponsoring a business specifically to help the environment is a first. The city hopes to be able to boost its economy by connecting its many tourist locations by e-bike and electrically assisted bikes to offer a clean and fun experience.

The bikes will be available for rental from the JR Tokushima Station reception window — off the train, onto a bike!

Source | Picture: Response.jp

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Tags: bike, electric bicycle, Electric bike, Japan, rent electric bike, rental, tokushima, tourism, tourist, train, yamaha, yamaha EC-03, yamaha electric bike

About the Author

Charis Michelsen spent 7 years living in Germany and Japan, studying both languages extensively, doing translation and education with companies like Bosch, Nissan, Fuji Heavy, and others. Charis has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois. She also believes that Janeway was the best Star Trek Captain.