Although it’s often associated with illegal activity, there’s still something romantic about casting off the shackles of society and feeling the wind through your hair as you tear across the country on two wheels… and riding a bicycle is kind of neat too, I guess.
Last week a gang of bike-a-doodles took to the famous Shibuya Scramble intersection to show off their rad bicycles and sick tricks like wheelies and more wheelies. About 10 riders in total went in circles around the intersection and interfered with both pedestrian and car traffic as they aimlessly weaved around everyone trying to go about their lives.
▼ A news report on the kids.
As if in defiance of the bicycle’s very definition of a two-wheeled vehicle, they continuously did wheelies as they ran red lights and took videos of each other doing even more wheelies. This followed a similar video posted on social media a few days earlier, showing a group of bike-a-doodles riding along Yasukuni-dori. You’re probably not going to believe this, but they were doing wheelies at the time too.
Online comments were mixed.
“They must be from out of town… way out of town.”
“They got all their friends together for a bike ride. How cute!”
“They’re a regular Team Rocket, those guys.”
“At least it’s not as noisy as motorcycles.”
“It’s funny because they can’t even afford motorbikes.”
“Modern depression-era bikers.”
“They couldn’t even get hand-me-down motorbikes from the older kids.”
“At least they’re giving us all something to laugh at.”
“This kind of thing should be out of your system by junior high.”
“Are they environmentally conscious bikers?”
“I wonder if they twist their hands on the handlebars and make ‘brrrrrrrrr’ sounds with their mouths.”
“Those poor kids. That’s so sad.”
Those people must not have seen the wheelies, because if they did, they’d be singing a different tune. Meanwhile, lawyer Koji Mizogami told media that actions on bicycles are also covered by the Road Traffic Act and points out that their reckless and disruptive behavior could result in fines as high as 500,000 yen or up to three months in prison, and all the wheelies in the world won’t get them out of that.
Source: FNN Prime Online, Hachima Kiko
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- 14 things never to do on a bicycle in Japan with new traffic laws
-- Japanese people outraged by group riding bikes through underground shopping mall in Osaka 【Video】
-- Japanese police officer pursues, pulls over Lamborghini supercar…while on a bicycle【Video】
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2025/06/03/bicycle-gang-terrorize-shibuya-scramble-with-lame-and-annoying-wheelies/
38 Comments
Login to comment
regor
They should be in jail, they may cause traffic accident.
NCIS Reruns
Shibuya's perpetually crazy scramble intersection has become a human anthill, with the congestion and confusion exacerbated by neverending construction. Yesterday I tried to board the JR and found the Hachiko entrance completely blocked off, requiring a detour of several hundred meters. The bus terminal area by the south exit is presently unrecognizable (and unusable).
diagonalslip
”terrorizes” ???? and they're not on the scramble..... apart from that the article is factually accurate.... LOL oh, except that nobody could do wheelies on the bicycles in the photo....
tora
So why implement new bicycle laws with fines for offenders older than 16, unless it's for revenue gathering?
WhatsAllThisThen
Not mixed at all. Every single comment listed in the article makes fun of the bicycle hooligans.
KariHaruka
And, somehow, they are less annoying than those mario karts.....
BB
Bicycle bosozoku... Seems like an improvement over the original version.
MarkX
They are just copycats of the same thing that is going on in the US. Just google it and you will see many videos of the same stunts. I think in the US they are more dangerous weaving at cars and at the last second pulling away. Just throw down spike strips burst their tires and their short lived fame!
Toshihiro
Hah! Budget Bosozoku! I'm a cyclist myself and have cycled for the most part of my stay in Japan. While this behaviour will likely catch the ire of the Japanese public, I don't see this as a nuisance. Boys will be boys. So long as they don't do violence or directly mess with the general public, being obnoxious isn't really a problem. You should look at kids on road bikes trying to drag race on a straight piece of road without any regard for other road users.
hooktrunk2
Wheelies aren't lame. These riders are lame for doing them in a crowded place are lame.
Ever seen a circus, mountain bike or bmx race?
I don't condone what these guys did, but the level of anti-bicycle content on JT is concerning. I don't like bad riders as much as the next guy, but headlines like this just makes people hate all bike riders, even safe ones.
"Lame", "Bicycle Gang", "Lame wheelies". Lame phrasing--imo.
Yrral
Hell Angel on wheels
Harry_Gatto
And the police are where? Doing SFA to enforce the rules as usual.
kurisupisu
Couple of peep peeps on a whistle and order will be restored lol!
James Dean Jr.
Budget Bosozoku doing budget stunts in the middle of Shibuya—peak cringe. If rebellion looks like wheelies at crosswalks, maybe society's doing fine after all.
GuruMick
Palm strike to the body
CaptDingleheimer
They’re copying American hood rats.
Wasabi
May cause an accident= go to jail? Wouhou!
finally rich
Exactly! But at least they're not riding those annoying dirt bikes and ATVs, at least not yet
Wasabi
illegal activity...casting off the shackles of society and feeling the wind through your hair as you tear across the country on two wheels
What is this nonsense?
Tokyo Guy
neverending construction
In Japanese, you just say "construction". The "neverending" is implicit.
Jay
“Terrorizes”? Since when did doing a wheelie become an act of terror? Some people might actually appreciate the skill and aesthetic of a bike doing a controlled trick. But no, once again SoraNews decides to speak for all of us, oozing with smug disdain like they’ve been appointed the spokesmen for public annoyance.
SDCA
Looks like inflation got to the bosozoku too! Poor guys... On the bright side gas prices are coming down so time to go back to making brrrrrr noises? Just don't do it in the middle of the night lol
Mickelicious
Future cops.
tora
Not sure they are hooligans, man. Just a bunch of young boys having a bit of fun. The cops should have closed them down and given them a stern warning, since it was in the middle of Tokyo on a public street. Then that should have been that. But no.
Trust the media to blow it up out of proportion. What about covering the protests demanding abolition of the consumption tax, or calls for budgetary reform and other more pressing societal issues?
Tokyo Guy
“Terrorizes”? Since when did doing a wheelie become an act of terror? Some people might actually appreciate the skill and aesthetic of a bike doing a controlled trick. But no, once again SoraNews decides to speak for all of us, oozing with smug disdain like they’ve been appointed the spokesmen for public annoyance.
The whole article has "we have some dead space and need to publish soon. Quick, go find something to write about" vibes.
kohakuebisu
Lame headline. Lame reporting. Let the reader make their own mind up about things.
Captain Obvious
Isn't it nice to live in a country where the biggest stories like this make the national news?
Abe234
I think this is why people kind of switch off to the news. Over hyping headlines. So American!!! Terrorize? You say! I wonder how you describe real terrorizing…. Hyper terrorizing! LoL clowning around? Being silly? Showing off, show boating ?
it’s just all click bait now for eyeballs and for me to comment.
being stupid, young and showing off isn’t terrorizing. Now if they were stealing stuff?, threatening? Being abusive? Maybe!
Lepyon
Next up, a gang of unicyclists juggling balls ......
Abe234
SDCAToday 10:31 am JST
Maybe that should have been the headline. Inflation hits Bosozoku.
Wasabi
terrorizes: to make someone feel very frightened by threatening to kill or hurt them. Street gangs have been terrorizing the neighbourhood.
Is the journalist exaggerating a little?
virusrex
hyperbole /hʌɪˈpəːbəli/
noun
exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
I think the use is terribly obvious here.
What is parsimonious or "anti-foreign" in this article? To be seen as patronizing against people that made a nuisance of themselves in a deeply lame way is understandable.
Wasabi
This is a journalist article no? Not a FaceBook post!
Avoiding Personal OpinionsJournalists should not inject their personal beliefs, feelings, or preferences into the story. Their role is to inform, not to persuade.
Balanced RepresentationThey must strive to give voice to multiple sides of an issue, especially when covering controversial or politically sensitive topics. This includes quoting sources from different perspectives and not favoring one over the other.
Factual and Objective LanguageThe tone should be measured and factual, avoiding loaded language, exaggeration, or emotionally charged terms. The goal is clarity and objectivity.
Context and AccuracyNeutral reporting includes providing sufficient context so that facts are not misleading. Accuracy in detail helps prevent bias from slipping in unintentionally.
Distinguishing Fact from OpinionJournalists must clearly separate news from opinion pieces. If a story contains analysis or commentary, it should be explicitly labeled as such.
quercetum
Noble knights of neon jungle descend upon Shibuya Scramble
Wheelie warriors wreak havoc upon hallowed intersection of chaos and capitalism.
Fearless pedal-powered philosophers zigzag through zelkova lined streets of Tokyo
Artists auditioning for low-budget remake of Fast & the Furiously Unemployed.
Speed
Why cover their faces with yellow Pacmans? If they're doing it red-handed, then let them be seen. By the way, as other posters mentioned, hardly "terrorizing" anyone.
virusrex
Journalist articles use hyperbole as well, it is a relatively popular tool, nothing out of the ordinary. The problem is more about expecting all articles to be written in the same way independently of source or topic, that is not rational.
JapanLurker
It seems the bosozoku have fallen on hard times.
I remember the good old days when they'd sit revving the 50cc engines on their bikes outside the 7-11, menacingly eating rice balls.
Now they've been reduced to mama-charis!
starpunk
Not 'terrorizing'. Just showing off, maybe playing 'chicken' with motorists. Playing with loaded dice. When I was 11 years old somebody pulled that stunt and got killed. Not a smart idea.