Bicycle fines in Japan: the blue ticket list and the new 30 km/h streets

In short: Japan’s autumn national traffic safety campaign runs for ten days, from Monday, September 21 to Wednesday, September 30, 2026. During the campaign there are more police on the street and more roadside checks. Two rule changes from this year matter most if you ride a bicycle or drive a car: cyclists aged 16 and over can now be given an on-the-spot fine (a “blue ticket”) for a long list of violations, and since September 1, 2026 the default speed limit on narrow residential streets is 30 km/h. All the amounts below come from National Police Agency documents.

What the campaign is, and why you will notice it

Twice a year, in spring and autumn, the national government runs a traffic safety campaign. The plan for this autumn was decided on July 1, 2026 by the Traffic Countermeasures Headquarters of the Central Traffic Safety Measures Conference, and it is published by the Cabinet Office.

The campaign runs from September 21 (Monday) to September 30 (Wednesday), 2026. The last day, September 30, is the national “day aiming for zero traffic deaths”.

The plan sets three priorities for the whole country:

• Pedestrians — crossing safely, and wearing something reflective at night
• Cars — turning the headlights on early at dusk, and stopping drunk driving and phone use while driving
• Bicycles and electric scooters — understanding and following the traffic rules

One part of this year’s plan is aimed directly at foreign residents and visitors. It asks the police and local governments to explain Japanese traffic rules through leaflets and videos, to work with rental car companies so that drivers get an explanation when they pick up a car, and to run traffic safety education at Japanese language schools and in foreign communities. The reason given in the plan is that deaths and serious injuries in accidents involving foreign drivers have been rising in recent years.

In practice, during these ten days you will see more officers at intersections, near stations and around schools, and more bicycle checks. This is a good time to know exactly what the rules are.

Bicycles: on-the-spot fines started on April 1, 2026

This is the biggest change, and it affects a lot of foreign residents, because a bicycle is often the cheapest way to get around.

Since April 1, 2026, a person aged 16 or over who breaks certain bicycle rules can be given a blue ticket (青切符, ao-kippu). This is the same system that has been used for car drivers for decades. It was extended to bicycles by a 2024 amendment to the Road Traffic Act.

A blue ticket is not a criminal punishment. It is a fixed-amount traffic fine called 反則金 (hansokukin). Riders under 16 are not given blue tickets; they receive a warning.

How the procedure works

1. A police officer stops you and hands you two documents: the blue ticket, which describes the violation, and a payment slip (納付書, nofusho).
2. If you accept that you committed the violation, you take the payment slip to a bank or post office counter and pay, in principle within 7 days counting from the day after you were stopped.
3. If you pay, the case ends there. You are not prosecuted, you do not go to court, and you do not get a criminal record.
4. If you do not pay within 7 days, you are called to a traffic violation notification centre on a set date and given a new payment slip, and you then have in principle 10 days to pay. If you live far away, the documents are posted to you and the postage is added to the amount.
5. If you still do not pay, the case moves to the criminal process.

If you believe you did not commit the violation, you can refuse to pay and argue the case in the criminal process instead. That is your right, but it means investigation and possibly a court hearing.

The fines, in full

These amounts are set out in the National Police Agency’s published list of bicycle violations and fine amounts. The ones most likely to affect everyday riding are near the top.

Note the two different sidewalk fines. Riding on a sidewalk when you should have been on the road is 6,000 yen. Riding on a sidewalk where bicycles are allowed, but going too fast or riding along the building side instead of the roadway side, is 3,000 yen.

Speeding on a bicycle is also on the list, starting at 6,000 yen for less than 15 km/h over the limit and rising to 12,000 yen for 25 km/h or more over. With the new 30 km/h streets, this is easier to do on an electric-assist bicycle than people expect.

What is not a blue ticket

Some violations are too serious for a fine. They are handled as crimes, which means investigation, prosecution and a possible criminal record. The main ones:

• Riding after drinking. Any amount of alcohol is prohibited. If alcohol has affected your ability to ride, the penalty is up to 5 years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 1 million yen. At a blood alcohol level of 0.3 mg/ml or a breath level of 0.15 mg/l or more, it is up to 3 years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 yen. Giving alcohol to someone who will then ride, lending them a bicycle, or riding with them, is also punishable.
• Dangerous obstruction of other vehicles — sudden braking, cutting in, swerving to interfere with another vehicle. Up to 3 years’ imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 yen.
• Using your phone and actually causing danger, for example causing a crash or forcing a pedestrian out of the way. Up to 1 year’s imprisonment or a fine of up to 300,000 yen.
• Any violation that causes an actual accident, and cases where the rider will not give their name and address, or runs away.

There is also a separate consequence for repeat offenders. If you are aged 14 or over and are caught twice within three years for any of 16 listed violations, or cause an accident, the prefectural public safety commission can order you to attend a three-hour bicycle rider course, which you have to pay for. And if you hold a driving licence, a serious bicycle accident or a serious violation such as drunk riding can lead to your driving licence being suspended for up to six months — even though bicycle violations do not add demerit points.

The basic bicycle rules in Japan

The National Police Agency publishes these as the “five rules for safe use of bicycles”, and there is an official English version.

1. Ride on the roadway, on the left. A bicycle is legally a vehicle. Where the road has a sidewalk, you must use the roadway, keeping to the left edge, going the same direction as the cars. Sidewalk riding is the exception, not the rule.
2. At intersections, obey the signals, stop, and check. Stop at red lights, and stop at tomare signs.
3. Use a light at night. A reflector as well is recommended.
4. Never ride after drinking.
5. Wear a helmet. This is an “obligation to make an effort” (努力義務, doryoku gimu). There is no fine for not wearing one. The police note that among people who injured their head in a bicycle accident between 2020 and 2024, the death rate for those not wearing a helmet was about 1.4 times that of those wearing one.

When you may use the sidewalk

You may ride a standard bicycle on the sidewalk in these cases:

• Where a sign or road marking says bicycles may use it (look for 自転車通行可, jitensha tsuko ka)
• If the rider is under 13, 70 or over, or has a certain physical disability
• When riding on the roadway is genuinely unsafe — for example road works, a line of parked cars, very heavy traffic, or a very narrow road

Even then, you must ride slowly, on the roadway side of the sidewalk (not along the shop windows), and you must stop if you would otherwise get in a pedestrian’s way. Pedestrians always have priority on a sidewalk.

Electric scooters, including share services

Shared electric scooters are easy to rent in Japanese cities with an app, and the rules are not obvious. A scooter that meets the legal definition of a “specified small motorized bicycle” (特定小型原動機付自転車) must not be able to go faster than 20 km/h, and it must have a number plate and compulsory liability insurance. The rider must be 16 or over. Riders under 16 are prohibited.

The basic rules are the same as for bicycles: ride on the roadway, obey signals and stop signs, give way to pedestrians at crossings, no phone in your hand, no alcohol, and wear a helmet (again an effort obligation). Sidewalk riding is only allowed on a scooter that can switch to a mode capped at 6 km/h with a flashing green light, and only on sidewalks marked for bicycles and pedestrians.

Be careful with rented “electric bikes” that look similar. If the vehicle does not meet the legal criteria, it counts as an ordinary moped or a motor vehicle, and you need a driving licence to use it.

Cars: 30 km/h on residential streets since September 1, 2026

From September 1, 2026, the default speed limit for cars on residential streets (生活道路, seikatsu doro) dropped from 60 km/h to 30 km/h. This came from a 2024 cabinet order amending the enforcement order of the Road Traffic Act.

The 30 km/h limit applies to narrow streets used for daily life that have no centre line and no lane markings. This matters most where there is no speed limit sign at all, which is common on small streets.

The default stays at 60 km/h on:

• ordinary roads with a centre line
• ordinary roads divided into lanes by markings
• ordinary roads physically divided for each direction by a structure such as a fence or median
• roads for motor vehicles only

And where a road sign shows a speed limit, the sign always wins. If the sign says 40 km/h on a street with no centre line, the limit is 40. If the sign says 30 km/h on a wider road, the limit is 30.

If you rent a car in Japan, the short version is: on a narrow street with no centre line and no sign, drive at 30 km/h or less. The police also ask drivers to remember the phrase “on residential streets, people come first”.

If you drive in Japan

The campaign’s section on foreign drivers is a reminder that the licence rules are strict. To drive in Japan you need one of these:

• a Japanese driving licence; or
• an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention — valid for up to one year from the date you arrived in Japan, or until the permit or your home licence expires, whichever comes first; or
• a driving licence issued in Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco or Taiwan, with an official Japanese translation attached, prepared by that country’s consulate or by a body designated by Japan’s National Public Safety Commission.

Driving without a valid licence carries heavy penalties — and so does knowingly lending your car to an unlicensed driver, or riding as a passenger with one. An IDP issued under a different convention than the 1949 Geneva Convention is not accepted.

Two more points that catch visitors out. Japan drives on the left. And after any accident, however minor, you must stop and report it to the police on 110, even if nobody is hurt. Call 119 for an ambulance. Leaving the scene is treated as hit-and-run.

If a police officer stops you

Being stopped on a bicycle is usually short and routine. The officer will normally ask for identification and may check the bicycle’s registration sticker (防犯登録, bohan toroku), which is how stolen bicycles are traced. Carrying your residence card, as you are required to do anyway, makes this quicker.

If you are given a blue ticket, read what it says the violation was before you sign anything. Ask for an interpreter if you do not understand. Paying the fine ends the matter; refusing to pay moves it to the criminal process, which is slower for everyone.

If you live in Tokyo, the Metropolitan Police Department publishes an English explanation of the bicycle ticket system, plus English leaflets on cycling etiquette, phone use while cycling, drinking and cycling, and e-scooters. The links are in the sources below.

Useful Japanese

The short version

• More police checks from September 21 to 30, 2026.
• On a bicycle, the three easiest fines to collect are phone in hand (12,000 yen), wrong side of the road or riding on the sidewalk when you should not (6,000 yen), and no light at night (5,000 yen).
• Ride on the left, on the roadway, and treat the sidewalk as the exception.
• Drinking and riding is a crime, not a fine.
• Driving on a narrow street with no centre line and no sign now means 30 km/h.

Japanese version

This article is based on our Japanese article about the same campaign, which also covers wrong-way driving on expressways: 秋の全国交通安全運動は9月21日〜30日｜高速道路の逆走は2025年に297件で過去最多、生活道路は9月1日から30km/hに

Sources

• Cabinet Office: Outline of the 2026 autumn national traffic safety campaign (Japanese)
• National Police Agency: Bicycle Rule Book — introduction of the traffic violation notification system for bicycles, PDF (Japanese)
• National Police Agency: List of bicycle violations and fine amounts, PDF (Japanese)
• National Police Agency: Five Rules for safe use of bicycle, PDF (English)
• National Police Agency: Traffic Rules for Specified Small Motorized Bicycles, PDF (English)
• National Police Agency: Follow the Rules for Safe Driving in Japan, PDF (English)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department: Cyclists will be issued with tickets for traffic offences, three PDFs (English)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department: Traffic rules, including leaflets for cyclists and e-scooter riders (English)
• National Police Agency: The legal speed limit on residential roads has been lowered (Japanese)
• National Police Agency: Traffic safety information in English

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