[franciscop]

In Japan every bike is officially registered and has a sticker with a number (think of it as a license number that has to be read closely). Foreigners are stopped by the police fairly often in Japan to check their bike licenses according to reports in /r/japanlife.

[archon810]

So what prevents a thief from registering their bike by removing the old registration sticker and applying a new one?

[rhizome31]

I can confirm this as I experienced it when I was there.