安全 (anzen) means safety in Japanese. I’ve always felt Japan was a very safe place. Rarely have I felt scared walking alone late at night. Even walking around Kabukicho in Tokyo doesn’t feel dangerous to me. Expats who have perhaps been in Japan too long lament that the country is a far more dangerous place than it used to be and a lot of crime goes unreported. While I would imagine it is more dangerous than it used to be and while I know there can definitely be coverups, my home is in Los Angeles and in comparison, Japan is a very, very safe place.
On Tuesday, I was preparing to go to Japanese class. It was a nice night and I thought it would be nice to get on the ママãƒãƒ£ãƒª and pedal to class. Except I couldn’t find my usual key. I had my backup key, but my single key was missing. At that point I started wondering, “Did I leave my key in my bicycle lock?†And if I did, would my bike still be there? I had last ridden my bike on Saturday.
I grabbed my extra keys and headed to the bicycle parking area with a little bit of butterflies in my stomach, wondering if my bike would be there and wondering if the mystery of the key would be solved. My bike parking area is not protected by any locked doors. It is simply separated from the sidewalk by a wall, but there is a very open walkway to the bikes. My bike is pretty close to the entrance as well so I think it is visible from the street.
I arrived downstairs, my bike was still there, and sure enough, the key was in the lock, ready to be unlocked and rolled away.
Honestly, I was lucky. Bikes are frequently stolen here. When I related my story to my Japanese teacher, she told me she has had two bikes stolen. Yikes. I’m glad my bike was fine, and I need to be more careful.