Kirk here with some news for bicyclists in Kumamoto City: “Bicycle users must wear a helmet from October.” The “must” word, however, needs some explanation. Here’s part of the machine translation on the website’s page:
“In this revision of the ordinance, it is a duty of effort, and there is no enforcement of crackdowns or fines or penalties. However, wearing a helmet is also for your own safety, so please work on wearing it.”
So, no penalty. It’s a toothless rule but a good one. I’ve been lax in regards to helmet wearing but I’ll try to comply.
By the way, if you want to see the original, you can choose “Japanese” under “Foreign Language.” I’m trying to get the Prefecture to add the functionality to their website but, alas, currently, different languages and separate universes with no direct bridges between the individual pages on the prefecture’s website.
P.S. Thanks to Kimmie Kimmie for telling me about this. :)