Japan puts brakes on electric suitcases amid tourism boom

Fortunately there is at least such a category as "motorized bicycle". I wonder if the Japanese will call that suitcase a "motorcycle" if "motorized bicycle" is not a category. And if motorcycle is not a category they would call it a "car".

Stop being anal and acknowledge they aren't more dangerous (and thus don't need more restraints) than a large human being.

21st century problems... weird.

If these are illegal then why are they allowed into Japan in the first place?

.... well... using the famous pro-gun people rethoric... the suitcase don't cause accidents people usign the suitcase cause the accidents.... so we eliminate the people then?

Ah well, back to the faithful old shopping trolley,I suppose.

Japan can be so lame and boring sometimes. Just change the rules and allow them!

The growing popularity of rideable suitcases with electric motors designed to get people quickly around airports and train stations has alarmed Japanese authorities following a rise in incidents of foreign visitors using them illegally on public roads.

While these are banned while mama-chari and delivery bikes, many with electric motor assist, are shooting through intersections and crowded sidewalks on a daily basis sideswiping pedestrians and getting into accidents is beyond me.

Japan, the land with 1 million+ rules and regulations, where everything has to have a regulation with an instruction or procedure manual, otherwise everything collapses... /s

Good, we do not need this in the street of station.

How lazy do you need to be to seat on this?

Ban them. People are lazy enough these days, anyway.

I guess they are called 'motorized vehicles' because they can propel themselves. Similar to the final paragraph of the article, because they only go around 10kph, put them in a similar category as electric bicycles. E-bikes shouldn't be able to provide motor assistance to go beyond 24 kms per hour, and they don't require a license and so on to operate. And if this type of suitcase is involved in an accident, prosecute the rider in the same way as a cyclist would be prosecuted.

It seems that the younger generation have become both physically and intellectually lazy. In the days before suitcases had wheels, humans carried their suitcases. Now it seems the suitcases carry the humans.

For me, a suitcase with wheels that I can pull along behind me is convenience enough. As with bicycles, I wouldn't mind if they had their own dedicated thoroughfares; but it's just basic common sense that wheels and legs do not belong on the same paths. Also, while wheels do not belong on pedestrian thoroughfares, I'm not sure that suitcase batteries in the cargo holds of aircraft are a good idea either.

If these are illegal then why are they allowed into Japan in the first place?

I'd guess because regular people won't associate a suitcase as similar to a bike or car. At some point, some party pooper bureaucrat (As an elite, he has a car. He might even have a driver. He'd never know the pain of the masses) noticed the "similarity", but by then a good number of them have been sold.

The onus should be on the government to prove the necessity of even slapping a category on these useful devices. They do the job. Their theoretical top speed may be 10 but will you dare go at 10 if you are that guy in the picture? Realistically this thing is safer than a bicycle for everyone involved.

You got to like Japan , some oldies downtown don't like anything new that they can't profit from so ban it !

Those standing scooters and electric Inc bicycles don’t have mirrors nor do 99.9% of electric assisted bicycles and fly around the sidewalks when they should be in the street. It seems like endorsement depended on your nationality not the actual laws. Everyone who has wife and kid has an electric bicycle and they are faster than cars in the city as they flyby on sidewalks. Riding a suitcase anywhere in Indoneisa. lol. You don’t even need a real license in Indoneisa. 500 yen to a cop gets you out of anything real there. Why they added that kind of comment. lol. As for in airports get me one. I would love to have it. They cost 5000 yen in Indonesia. I almost got gone. Just seems silly for an adult to use it. lol

Seriously how lazy and annoying can people get? Forget about the licenses and mirrors, this is the Japanese way of telling them to get their fat asses off the suitcases and start walking.

ive seen people riding these new fangled contraptions, last two were in Den Den town like the naughty Indonesian child. Not seen for a couple of months mind, maybe the halfwits have got the message now.

They are pretty dangerous and seem unstable, the person comes towards you at a low height and can easily not be noticed in busy areas.

Also, how lazy have we become in this world, ruddy shocking isn’t it.

The fun police out again....No fun here!!!

Sounded pretty dumb to restrict these. But then I went online and saw them and people being a pain while using them so kind of understood now.

I'm more worried about fire broken out on the Plane or in the Hotel room when they are charging the battery.

Agreeing with Chop Chop above, there is a very good reason that most subway-trains and bus-services ban any e-scooters or e- bikes on there transport systems - imagine a couple of these e-suitcases batteries malfunction at 36,000 feet, it would be a total inferno with catastrophic consequences, just because someone thought it would be a good idea to motorise a suitcase.

People are becoming utterly thoughtless and irrational - never a thought for the safety and welfare of all travelling passengers. Too much laziness and stupidity creeping in daily.

The biggest danger is not the dork in the airport, it's the one who checks their case in so it goes in the hold. Already, there's a regulation against lithium batteries in the hold due to fire risk when close to another battery. Japanese regulators should be enforcing this at baggage check-in, rather than pointing to rule books requiring mirrors and crash helmets.

Sense of proportion, anyone?

Ban them!

1) They make planes heavier. They will increase the soaring plane prices!

2) They are not all made the same, and the cheaper ones have bad batteries that can explode or catch on fire just like other electric vehicles. This will increase the chances of plane accidents. How many people will board a plane from China or another country with uncharged battery? Probably none!

Just what we need, some cheap Chinese battery catching on fire in the luggage hold of an airplane with a few hundred souls aboard, somewhere out over the ocean.

Japan currently classifies electric suitcases, which are particularly popular in the rest of Asia, as motorized vehicles that can be ridden on roads only with the required safety equipment and a driver's license.

Someone needs to read this again and realise just how utterly absurd it sounds.

Smart suitcases are becoming more commonplace with built-in powerbanks, GPS trackers, motion sensors etc. Airlines are starting to accommodate such luggage so why fight the inevitable?

Just seen a video of one of these and the bag part is 21L!! That's like a small rucksack. A big bulky heavy thing that you can hardly fit any stuff in is not my idea of luggage.

Simple instruct the airlines not to allow passengers with these " Mopeds " onboard problem solved, BUT then why are they being sold in japan ???

"but it's just basic common sense that wheels and legs do not belong on the same paths"

if you have only road and sidewalk and you have a pedestrian, a cyclist, and a giant truck, do you really think the cyclist belongs on the road with the giant truck?

First time hearing about these, for me. Don't know what to think.

In the last few years electric scooters and cycles have become ubiquitous.

Party Poopers!

But seriously, as stated above.

mama chariots e-bikes are way worse, unregulated and can hit 40kph (as they ride as fast as I drove at times, even after sometimes) when going from road to sidewalk, speeding through red lights and going the wrong way down one way roads etc, all while mom is looking at her phone and talking to the kids, whilst holding an umbrella.

the fire danger of these cheap barriers in the aircraft hold would be a huge worry.

For those who are talking about using them on planes, I must wonder how many people really would use them for that purpose, whatever the ads say. These motorized suitcases are just short of 10kg empty. Riding them is fine, but it'd be such a pain to lift one over your head into an overhead cabin even if it is allowed. 

And you are sacrificing two thirds of your typical 15kg baggage allowance in the hold. How many people would actually do that? These are best understood as a low-end, slow and cheap substitute for a scooter or moped.

john b, the fact that cyclists are too scared to ride on the busy roads does not make it ok to put pedestrians and their pets at risk by riding on the sidewalk. In most countries, cycling on the sidewalk is unlawful. It should be unlawful in Japan, too. As you point out, there is very little dedicated infrastructure for cyclists. They have my sympathy; but riding on the sidewalk is not acceptable.

Please people, be more considerate and just do like the elderly in many parts of Japan do, carry your overnight luggage when going out to run errands as these tools double quite well as a place to sit in the middle of the sidewalk.

Come on! They want to classify these things as vehicles but battery powered scooters can ride on sidewalks with no mirrors or signals??

I'd feel a lot safer if every Japanese with a bicycle exchanged it for one of these. Start to actually enforce traffic laws for things like bikes and cars instead of something that is basically slower and smaller than an electric wheelchair.

I was at the Rinku Outlets near Kansai Airport and there were grown adults riding through the crowds without a care in the World.

If it ain't a Rimowa I don't want it

I'd feel a lot safer if every Japanese with a bicycle exchanged it for one of these. Start to actually enforce traffic laws for things like bikes and cars instead of something that is basically slower and smaller than an electric wheelchair.

But this is why you don't see a lot of battery powered Segway-types of unicycle and the sort, you can't ride them on the sidewalk, anywhere where people congegrate. Don't know what the answer is, but what I do know is whenever there is a crisis, Japan always, always overreacts and inact laws that make zero sense and our lives a bit more difficult.

This is what it looks like for those that don't know. Exploding bicycle batteries or any other small portable vehicle device can become a serious disaster.

https://x.com/GandhiAOC/status/1816959524411998245

Privately owned e-scooters are illegal in the UK but are ubiquitous. Kids have transitioned from bikes, mopeds and motorcycles to them better than older folk have to EVs. We should probably be pleased. If we are supposed to shop with them, we will need them to have storage options.

The iffy batteries are typically dangerous when they are damaged or (over)charging. They won't charge when stowed, and if baggage handlers don't chuck them around, they won't get damaged. Most planes take off carrying a couple of hundred lithium batteries in smartphones and laptops, and many of these are now being charged in-flight in the cabin. Thankfully, most airlines have staff and equipment to deal with a dodgy Li cell, and problems are numerically very rare.

Japan is still stuck in the past and full of rules which literally make little sense.

I hope Japan push through. Last time I saw a child riding and hitting several people. Also why people want to use a suitcase which is more heavier than regular one.

And people should really stop saying in their country is allowed. If i use drugs in Indonesië saying it is allowed inkt country will still end me up in jail.

I travelled recently and saw a couple of these. They are flat out stupid.

Totally agree with Japan's decision to ban their use.

It seems that the younger generation have become both physically and intellectually lazy. In the days before suitcases had wheels, humans carried their suitcases. Now it seems the suitcases carry the humans.

For me, a suitcase with wheels that I can pull along behind me is convenience enough. As with bicycles, I wouldn't mind if they had their own dedicated thoroughfares; but it's just basic common sense that wheels and legs do not belong on the same paths. Also, while wheels do not belong on pedestrian thoroughfares, I'm not sure that suitcase batteries in the cargo holds of aircraft are a good idea either.

It is not always laziness. Wait until you are in your 60s and your knees and back are worn out from years of sports or running like mine. Walking the length of some airport concourses is not an easy thing and very painful. A decade ago I could run the length of Concourse C at Chicago O'Hare Airport but today I need to find an airport worker with a golf cart. The knees and back are not what they used to be. I haven't seen an electric suitcase but the idea interests me. No rage on all you youngsters. As I love to say, hire the young while they still know everything!

The first time I saw a suitcase with wheels and a handle (yes, I'm that old) I was amazed. Why hadn't someone thought of that before? These things for me, these days, would be a boon to life. Why not just slowly let them enter into the real world so that people old or injured could still visit a foreign country on vacation.

I've only seen able-bodied youngish people riding these things and they looked pathetic and lazy. I don't think they'd be safe for older or truly enfeebled people - no seat belts, no backs to sit against.

They should be banned at the airport terminals! The way some of these spoilt children ride around on them is very dangerous and totally unacceptable!

Last time I saw a child riding and hitting several people.

What you should ask yourself is whether said "several people" were significantly hurt or whether they felt that annoyance they feel when a kid smashes into them. Kids will be kids and unless this is causing serious injury this is a weak reason to ban or limit a useful tool.

Some 50 and 125cc motorbikes, including my son's if we attach a box to it, have more luggage space than this suitcase. You are not allowed to ride them on the sidewalk or through pedestrian areas. You also need to register them and pay insurance to ride them on the road (fwiw there is no shaken for a 50cc).

It is not always laziness. Wait until you are in your 60s and your knees and back are worn out from years of sports or running like mine. Walking the length of some airport concourses is not an easy thing and very painful. A decade ago I could run the length of Concourse C at Chicago O'Hare Airport but today I need to find an airport worker with a golf cart. The knees and back are not what they used to be. I haven't seen an electric suitcase but the idea interests me. No rage on all you youngsters. As I love to say, hire the young while they still know everything!

The suitcases we are talking about are carry-on size and as pictured are mostly used by children. I doubt anyone with mobility problems would benefit much from riding such a small and unstable thing. They would be better off in an electric wheelchair. Electric wheelchairs are also manufactured to standards for use in public places. Random toys aimed at getting clicks and impulse buys on Youtube or Alibaba are not. I have actually used a rental electric wheelchair at Disneyland because my wife got badly injured the weekend before. They are really well made things.

The main purpose of these devices appears to be as a pacifier for moaning children who have to walk somewhere on holiday. Or as a toy/low level walking substitute for lazy adults who do not actually have very much luggage. The answer to "but housewives and high schoolers on bicycles are already a nuisance in Japan" is for the police to punish people for misusing bikes, not for them to allow more devices to cause more nuisances.

I better not to comment about this. It doesn't make any sense.

The Idiots Guide to Stifiling Creativity and Innovation Version 1

Any new technology that is not fully understood must be banned.

Stack 3 books worth of bureaucracy on top of new products.

-Insert Copyright Lawyer here-

-Insert City Ordinance here -

-Insert Revision to Law based on weight size here -

-Insert Revision to Law based on battery size here -

-Insert Steep Fines and Penalties here -

Create a bureaucratic seal and registration system.