CYCLING EMBASSY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Embassy Staff Member
Alex is the man behind the amazing Compact Utility Bicycle or CUB. His passion for making a difference in the world is seen in his work with bicycles and community outreach.
Job Titles:
- Embassy Staff Member
- Founder & Editor - in - Chief of Tokyo by Bike
Byron Kidd is a the Editor of the Tokyo By Bike website, an experienced urban cycling consultant, and internationally recognised authority on cycling as transport and bicycle infrastructure in the mega-city of Tokyo.
Working closely with local government, NPO's, and cycling advocates to improve cycling infrastructure and fighting for the rights of cyclists, Byron also operates internationally via an extended network of renowned urban mobility experts to promote Japanese cycling culture, and demonstrate how everyday cycling can work in mega-cities around the world.
Having studied and experienced Japan's unique bicycle culture, in which literally everyone is a cyclist despite the lack of cycling infrastructure, he can provide unique insights on how to build strong cycling cities and cultures. He encourages researchers and urban planners to look beyond infrastructure and to study the society in which they operate to discover solutions that work for their cities, and their citizens rather than simply emulating what works elsewhere. Byron believes there is no "one size fits all" solution to building bicycle friendly cities, as each city and its residents are wonderfully unique.
Byron lives and loves cycling in Tokyo and believes any city is better when experienced by bicycle.
Job Titles:
- Embassy Staff Member
- Deputy Head of Mission & Chief Aesthetics Officer
Chad Feyen is an accomplished multimedia communication specialist and designer. His work in the branding and marketing field has taught him to take a more human-centric approach towards tackling the major hurdles we face around the world. He's faced many uphill battles over the past decade of cycling around the streets of Tokyo, but in those struggles he found his biggest design challenge yet, urbanism.
And what might seem like a direct contradiction to his upbringing in the motor-state of Michigan, Chad feels that the love affair with the automobile has only distracted us from being able to love and respect each other. So, he's made it his mission to reimagine the urban landscape using the one tool that better illustrates independence and freedom, the bicycle.
Drawing from his wealth of skills, Chad is able to tell a richly illustrated story of a beautiful world designed for cyclists and built for humans.
James Szypula is originally from the NYC area. After moving to Yokohama, he soon realized that the best way to truly understand a new city is by bike. His business, Yokohama Rides and Rentals, provides quality folding bike rentals, as well as cycling tour excursions around the Yokohama area. Can often be seen hauling this, that, and everything on the back of his sky blue Yuba Mundo cargo bike.
Kosuke ("Coast-K") Miyata loves riding two-wheeled machines and promotes cycling as a way to explore places like you're a little kid again, even when your main task at hand is shopping, school run, commute or a crazy brevet event. As an enthusiastic reader of Whitman, Frost and Thoreau, he believes roads and streets can and should be corridors of day-to-day adventures, and that such possibilities flourish better when fewer cars are zipping by.
He studied literature and creative writing in New York City, and enjoyed his motorcycle ride across North America before he started teaching English in Tokyo. Considering himself a permanent traveler, he is committed to supporting freedom and diversity of travel. He translates bike-related stuff including TED and TEDx talks, and can be seen riding his bike around in Musashino and its neighboring areas.
Job Titles:
- Embassy Staff Member
- Staff
Writer and translator Megumi Feyen is relatively new to road cycling and has been cycling a mamachari (bicycle with child seat) for years. Her view of cycling comes from a common Japanese cyclist's perspective.
As a mother, her main concern is the safety of the streets for moms, children and inexperienced riders. Her goal is to eventually feel comfortable commuting to work, however there are a variety of obstacles standing in her way. Lack of parking, office attire, limited safe routes and her total lack of direction.
Through the Cycling Embassy's activities she wishes to voice her concerns and become more confident in cycling.
Yasuyuki Saito has been working for The Asahi Shimbun, Japanese daily newspaper company in The Opinion Poll Research Center for more than 10 years. The Asahi Shimbun conducts polls not only on domestic politics and social issue, but also on international various topics. He has acted as a project leader in several international survey projects. For example, he has conducted a Japan-U.S. survey concerning the Japan-U.S. security treaty in 2010 and another survey across 7 countries including Japan and U.S. concerning nuclear power generation in 2011 right after the earthquake and Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.
He is also interested in bicycle and not only riding bicycles but also making (frame building) bicycles. Last year, he had business trip to Amsterdam, Netherland and Copenhagen, Denmark to visit Dutch Cycling Embassy, Fietsersbond, Veiligverkeer Nederland, and have interviews staffs and key persons including M. Colville-Andersen and shoot the video about the situation of bicycle and wrote the article. The article was published on Globe Japanese weekly newspaper in last September by The Asahi Shimbun. He also appeared on television program "Ima Sekai Wa" of BS Asahi to give comments about bike infrastructures in Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
Youhei Hayakawa (早川洋平) is a verdant translator who loves bicycle. He started using a bicycle heavily as a means of transport in Tokyo for a few years, and became aware of the joy of being able to explore streetscapes which were unseen from a train window and to feel the geography of Tokyo by the legs of himself.
At the same time, he felt many difficulties while riding on roads and trying to understand the traffic laws. Since then he has energetically been collecting knowledge both domestically and internationally and posting them on his blog, hoping that will help improve the cycling environment of Tokyo. During this process he noticed that the current direction of the bicycle policy in Japan was deeply affected by the machismo which originates from John Forester and was not inspired much by the expertise of the Netherlands and Denmark.
He wrote some influential articles raising an alarm over this odd situation where a leading cycling nation was following the ways that less advanced countries had been relying on in the past. He is now translating the Design manual for bicycle traffic in his bid to publish it in Japan, while introducing some insightful articles by Byron Kidd to Japanese readers.
Through these activities he is obtaining a view that the bicycle policy is a part of urban policy whose the ultimate goal is to maximize the amount of happiness in a society. Aiming this target, he thinks it is his mission to create a hole in the "dikes" of language and prejudice.