<b>Unlocking Japan's Cycling Potential</b>

While Europe has been experiencing a 'bicycle boom' for several years now, prompting public authorities to review their transportation plans in depth, while the ecological crisis is becoming more pressing with each passing year, prompting us to seriously reconsider our lifestyles, while the IPCC is warning on a massive scale of the absolute need for a rapid and profound shift in urban mobility, Japan seems to be following a somewhat different dynamic.Although cities such as Osaka and Tokyo are often the focus of attention, with highly efficient public transport and/or a highly developed modal share of active mobility, many of the more outlying cities suffer from a majority and growing share of car use, often to the detriment of active mobility.Cycling has indeed suffered for several years from non-comprehensive policies, often failing to take into account both the expectations or needs of users as well as the specific characteristics of the regions concerned.This paper will examine the factors that play both a positive and a negative role in the use of bicycles in Japan through a study of more than 50 towns and cities.By highlighting the characteristics of the different areas, as well as the features common to several cases, we are attempting to offer a new more comprehensive perspective on bicycle use in Japan.