A guide to renting a bike in Japan (How to rent with Hello Cycling)

Introduction

You might have noticed the growing number of rental bikes in Tokyo and wondered, "How do I go about renting one of them".  As a foreigner living in Japan, I'm used to things not being as straightforward as one might have hoped ... but when it came it came to renting a bicycle with "Hello Cycling", even one of my Japanese friends admitted the system was incredibly confusing.

So, if you want to "Hello Cycle" without "Goodbye Sanity", please follow this simple guide.

Preparation.

Firstly, a warning ... absolutely, under no circumstances should you use a foreign credit card with "Hello Cycling".  The international exchange charges on your foreign credit card are very expensive.
Instead, go to a convenience store and buy 2000 yen of WebMoney.

You will also need an IC Card (SUICA or PASAMO). However, please note, you don't pay for renting a bike with your IC Card. This is the first confusing part of the system - your IC Card only acts as a convenient key to pick up or unlock a parked bike.

Getting Started

The first thing you need to do is setup an account with HelloCycling. You visit:
https://www.hellocycling.jp/ and press the black and white "Login / Member Registration" button..