Group riding bikes through underground shopping mall in Osaka cause ruckus

Osaka Prefectural Police say that if they catch the group violating laws and regulations, they will deal with them accordingly.

"If" they catch them??? So video of them committing the law breaking acts and their group's leader's own admission is not good enough evidence? SHM....

Yeah, Namba City, where it looks like they are riding is completely off limits to bicycle riding. His excuse of "we were only lifting the wheel up" is awful. Why can't he show off next door, by Namba Parks? There's plenty of outside room downstairs...

I play video games in my free time, listen to music in my home and other things. Does that make me "childish", "a moron" or "stupid"? 

You are not annoying the heck out of other people and behaving in a slightly dangerous manner. People walk through these places with their guard down. They don't expect to encounter a speeding bike. The shouting at each other is annoying as well.

When kids do it, we understand they are acting out. It's wrong, but understandable. A 40 year old man-child, though? That's pathetic.

Gosh, I have thought in their teens.

Where is mall security?

You mean 80 year-old men with ill-fitting, cheap, epaulette-laden uniforms?!

More man boys trying to be "cool."

No one cares, really who are they trying to impress?

The only people that like this crap are JHS boys and other man boys.

The same as the bosuzoku, the wannabe singers at the eki, the one hit wonder "comedians", the guys at the gym that only go there to practice their shadow golf swings or baseball pitches. They think they are impressing people, but no one cares.

This also shows how theres a lack of repercussions for hoodlums in society. The reasons why these fools do it is because they can. No one is going to punish them for their actions.

Do you see people doing this in other countries, maybe. But if they get caught, they get fined or arrested. Not in Japan. You can pretty much do whatever you want. And they are proving it.

Namba? I've been there a million times. No one is out there patrolling the area. Of course they are gonna do it. Make some actual arrests or fines, guaranteed they won't do it again.

Spike strips! That will slow them down.

good accidental shoulder charge will stop them, you can claim they ran into you. afterall who they going to believe hoons on bicycles or a members of the public walking by!?

“ I Distinctly heard a Ruckus” !

“You’d think a man in his 40s would have more common sense than this.”

“This needs to be treated seriously as their actions could have dangerous consequences.”

“If they don’t realize how this inconveniences other people around them, they ought to be punished.”

“If they hit an old man or a pregnant woman, the social security costs will be enormous. It’ll ruin their lives and the lives of others.”

...are just some of the thoughts I have whenever I witness the daily antics of cyclists who treat pavements/sidewalks as their personal expressways.

It does not take much to be considered a criminal in Japan... Good skills though! I used to roller skate in the subway of Paris (the coating on the floor was super smooth), thrilling experience, bit dangerous I agree but i never made the news... nor those guy should.

The context for this story is Osaka city govt agreeing to convert 2 of 6 lanes on a section of Midosuji St. into exclusive bike lanes, maybe as part of the winning World Expo bid. It works great when the cyclists stay in their new zone, but at some bottlenecks around the station I have witnessed small groups of swerving riders sideswiping innocent pedestrians. Would be a shame if a citizen backlash meant the end of the bike lane experiment.

Not to keep beating the Kansai vs Kanto thing to death but I do see a lot more things happening at train stations and in trains in Kansai than I ever do in Kanto.

Well, they got attention, which was the whole point, I guess.

That proves mall state of the art surveillance and thigh tech security at its best!

I dare these cowards to go to one of the many gorges in Japan, with permission of course, and ride their wheelies up and down the path with a 30 meter cliff at their side. Not much different than the men-child with their loud motorcycles or a can of spray paint in their hands.

Just push them off the bike?

it reminded me of E.T. ... except these guys are a—holes . . .

You lot are making a big deal about his age. Lest we talk about Tony Hawk! If this is what a 40 year old does for fun, so be it! I play video games in my free time, listen to music in my home and other things. Does that make me "childish", "a moron" or "stupid"? And it is true, he didn't break any laws by poppin' a wheelie in a lightly crowded place. How many people were injured in the clip? Any property damage? What about noise pollution caused by these rapscallions? I'm not defending them or their actions, but would it be better if they were committing an ACTUAL punishable crime?

Nice wheelie though. I'm just amazed that they didn't hit anybody

Just as stupid as the morons who cycle on street pavements, against the traffic flow on busy roads, and jump red lights.

Spike strips! That will slow them down.

Where is mall security?

In Japan, there’s a common understanding that public places are spaces are to be respected

I completely disagree with this phrase in the article. The amount of people that don't care about others and just light up a cigarette anywhere shows that this statement isn't true.

disgusting, and up to 40 yrs old. Not even kids themselves do these things and have more manners.

Shock horror!!!News worthy?

“I acknowledge what we did was bad, so I apologize. However, all we did was lift our front tires to ride wheelies through the shopping area. Is that really such a social problem? I have some doubts. All I want to do is to increase and expand the bicycle competition population.”

At their age, they need a swift kick in the arse!