[discordance]

Japan as a whole may not be bicycle friendly, but you can get across all the major cities on bike quite easily without interacting with high speed cars. There are either bike lanes on main roads or back streets with no traffic to circumvent interaction with cars.

Have done this in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya and they have been fantastic cities to bike commute in.

[flor1s]

There are definitely some areas were biking is amazing, such as Shimanami kaido, Biwa lake and Kasumigaura.

Cycling in Tokyo is a bit of a mixed bag in my experience, some streets have bike lanes, some have a bicycle strip on the main road (though this is often shared with temporarily parked cars), sometimes bicycles need to share space with pedestrians. Signage is often unclear.

I guess calling it bicycle unfriendly is a bit harsh, but at the same time it often feels that bicyclists rank third behind cars and pedestrians.

[golemiprague]

Biking in Tokyo is more casual and for short distance, people don't bike to work, they bike to the nearest train station or shopping street. It is very different attitude, there is no need for helmets, the speed is low and there are no dedicated lanes, most traffic is mixed with pedestrian traffic. I find it much nicer than the lycra culture of biking in countries like the US or Australia, but each biking culture makes sense when considering the different environments.