So this app has quite a learning curve and you must have access to a Japanese phone number to receive the sms message to register your account. Thankfully I could use my friend’s cell number who lives in Japan. Otherwise, it won’t work. I think this is a way for them to keep foreigners from renting bikes and causing havoc. Also, app is mostly in Japanese so I had to screenshot and translate in a separate app. Not a very seamless experience. Bikes are nice, just make sure to pick one of the newer bikes and check that tires are filled and battery is full before you head off. Also, you must return the bikes at a designated return spot with available spaces. Cost was capped at 1800 yen for 12 hours but we only used it for 5 hours in Tokyo area. If you only use it for an hour it just costs you a couple hundred yen. Pretty reasonable if you ask me. Have fun and be safe-

I and many of my neighbors have been using this system for a few months now and overall it is excellent. There are some things you need to be aware of to ensure your experience is trouble free. Because you need to return bikes to a HELLOCYCLING spot ( not just leave them anywhere) at computing times they tend to fill up around train stations so you may get stuck having to park further away than you like. Before you choose a bike, be sure to check the battery power left - if not the power assist on the bike may die on you before reach your destination (an inconvenience but you can always still use your own leg power!). Unfortunately, you can’t check the condition of a bike remotely so if you use the registration system to hold a bike for you are rolling the dice that the bike you chose is charged and without issues - but you can always cancel if you want to. Finally, becareful to properly check the bike back in and get a confirmation message before you walk away - when I was new to the system I failed to do this once and the system kept sending me reminder messages to my phone the rest of the day until I could cancel it. This was my fault, not the system but you want avoid this.

Use my house number phone number my wife’s number and nothing is working. Would love to ride a bike to a store. That’s eight minutes away rather than ride a go taxi.

i’m not sure if the registration process could’ve been more difficult between having to scroll through a huge list of country codes every single time the text messaging system failed to text me too getting all the way to the end of the process figuring they had stolen enough personal information to rob my bank only to find out that it’s still going to cost something monthly. just. Say. No.