Designer Bikes: Azusa in Tokyo (post earthquake)

Azusa and her Miyata

My friend and former studio mate Azusa Hirota recently got herself a new set of wheels to get around Tokyo! Since the recent earthquake and aftershocks in Japan - in a metropolis that moves 9 million people through their public transit system daily - Tokyo has seen a huge spike in ridership...

So many people couldn't go home that day because all trains stopped and buses were stuck in traffic jams. Even after the big earthquake, we are having smaller earthquakes everyday and some of those quakes are still big enough to stop trains... many people are fed up with being stuck in train stations or offices every time big ones occur. 


When Azusa recently bought her bike, the shop owner said that sales quadrupled since the incident! In this recent New York Times article about Tokyo's bicycle boom, they reported that some bikes stores completely liquified their inventory on March 11th since so many people were desperate to get home.

 
On another note - if you're thinking this key chain resembles a potato chip, you guessed right.