Guide to using Hello Cycling in Japan

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. Visit:
https://www.hellocycling.jp/ and press the black and white "Login / Member Registration" button..

If your browser shows Japanese text, you can select "English" from the dropdown menu item labeled :日本語 as shown below:

You will then see a screen like this:

Click the button labeled "Create account" and you will be taken to a screen titled, "Regist account" (ie. Register account)

After you have entered your Name, Email, Phone number and Password, you will need to tick the checkbox labeled "I agree to the terms of use" and then scroll down and click a button labeled "Register account". You will then be taken to the "Temporary Registration" page. You will shortly receive an email with a link to "Register payment" page which will complete your registration.

As previously stated, DO NOT use a NON-JAPANESE CREDIT CARD since the international usage fees are very expensive (I found this out the hard way ... ouch!!!!)

I found the simplest way of paying to rent bikes is to buy Hello Miles. You can do this with prepaid WebMoney cards which are available from convenience stores in Japan. The lowest amount is 2,000 yen which will give you up to two days bike rental (renting a bike is 60 yen per hour, or 1,000 yen for a day. If you rent a bike a for over 4 hours, you don't pay anything above 1,000 yen as long as you return the bike before midnight).

Scratch off the security strip on the back of the prepaid WebMoney card and then select "Hello Mile" as your payment method. You will see a screen like this:

Select the dropdown menu labeled "200 mile" and select "2,000 mile" (equivalent to the 2,000 yen WebMoney prepaid card).  You are now ready to rent a bike for the first time. 

Renting a bike for the first time

The first time you rent a bike, you need to reserve a bike on the HelloCycling app. So, download either the Android or iOS application from GooglePlay or the App Store respectively. It's better to enable location detection when using the HelloCycling app, since this helps you find the nearest bike pick up / drop off point on the map. 

Install and launch the HelloCycling app. It will open with a Map and your current location is shown with a blue circle. Use a pinch gesture to zoom out until you see pick up / drop off points displayed as these orange pin icons on the map: 

Select the nearest bike pickup / drop off point to your current location. You will then see a screen like this:

Note the following kanji characters next to the numbers:

貸出可能  6  (Bikes available to be rented )

返却可能  3  (Empty spaces to return a bike)

返却予約  0  (Number of bikes reserved)

Note, that if the 返却可能 is 0, you won't be able to drop off a bike at this location, so you'll have to cycle to the nearest location where there is at least one space available. 

Given that you have found a location where you can go and pick up a bike, the first time you use HelloCycling, you can't just turn up, tap your IC Card and cycle away .... the first time, you have to reserve a bike. To do this, you tap the yellow button labeled 予約する (Make a reservation). *NOTE: when you make a reservation, you need to be able to go and pick up the bike within 30 minutes otherwise the reservation will expire! 

You will then see a screen like this:

and if you scroll down, you will see the bikes available to reserve.

as you can see in the picture above, I have checked bike A9964. You then click the yellow button labeled 自転車 ............... and you will see a screen like this asking you to confirm that you agree to the terms and conditions (I won't translate those ... I mean, who reads them when they're in English, right?)

Having checked the box to agree to the terms and conditions, you then click the yellow button labeled 予約する 

You will then see a screen like this confirming that the bike is reserved for 30 minutes.

To get back to the map screen, click the yellow button labeled マップへ戻る (Return to Map)

You will shortly receive an email which contains the two pieces of information you need. 

自転車番号 (bike number): A9964 (in the image above)

暗証番号 (PIN number): 5221 (in the image above)

You are now ready to go and pick up the bike.

Picking up a reserved bike

Here is a video showing you what to do when you've found the bike you reserved.

Returning a bike.

Here is a video showing you what to do when you drop off a bike.