History

The last Shogun, Lord Yoshinobu, first introduced bicycles to Shizuoka

Tokugawa Yoshinobu sensed the new wave of the times, took the initiative against the anti-Shogunate faction, and returned the government to the Emperor, bringing an end to the samurai government that had continued since the Kamakura Shogunate. He was forced to retire at the prime of his life, only 32 years old, but it is said that he lived in the world of hobbies after that. Many people have seen Yoshinobu riding his bicycle around Shizuoka. In the Shizuoka Daimu Shimbun of February 5, 1887 (Meiji 20), there is a passage that says, "Tokugawa Yoshinobu ordered a bicycle from Tokyo and has been riding it ever since." Yoshinobu probably acquired a bicycle around 1877, and began riding it around Shizuoka City around 1882-1884.

According to the diary of Tokugawa Yoshinobu Kafu, Yoshinobu became obsessed with bicycles in his late 40s and 50s. In his diary, he writes about riding a bicycle as "Today I exercised by bicycle again." His diary also records that he rode his bicycle from his residence across the Abe River to Togetsuho in Maruko, and since he had contact with Jirocho of Shimizu, he may have cycled from Shizuoka to Shimizu. It is amazing to imagine the bicycles and road conditions at that time. His bicycle was a rattling bike with a Daruma-shaped tire without rubber, the kind that would make your butt hurt. Of course, he did not act alone. The diary of his household staff records that he gave each of his escorts three yen to order shoes so that they could keep up with the bicycle. You can imagine the hilarious figures of the escorts chasing after Keiki.

Keiki is said to have lived a life of hobby, but he was also concerned about his health and was interested in physical training. For Keiki, who was over 50 years old, cycling was one way to exercise his body, and he also seemed to be interested in Western things such as cameras. At that time, bicycles were daruma-shaped and the saddle was positioned high, so the sight of him riding a bicycle may have been similar to that of a galloping horse. I imagine that the stylish and cool appearance was a tool to express Yoshinobu's own dandyism, but in reality, the common people may have looked at him with surprise and curiosity at the sight of the former shogun riding a bicycle in front of them.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu Perhaps it was Yoshinobu who made Shizuoka City a city of bicycles. Inspired by the sight of the last shogun riding a bicycle, many common people began to enjoy cycling at an early age. This is because there are many anecdotes about Yoshinobu and bicycles that are still told to the local people, such as Yoshinobu being captivated by a beautiful woman and crashing into something, his companions being unable to keep up with the bicycle and chasing him in a rickshaw, making a bicycle practice bench in the garden of his mansion, and him falling into a pond. The bicycle enabled Yoshinobu to blend in with the common people, and it may have been thanks to the bicycle that the common people felt close to Yoshinobu by seeing the former shogun's human side, and came to love him and call him "Keiki-san."

*Tokugawa Yoshinobu Household Diary...Official diary written by the household retainers of Tokugawa Yoshinobu. It spans 43 volumes, from Yoshinobu's time in Shizuoka to his time moving to Tokyo.