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I had to leave Tokyo for a week to go back to my family home.

In my hometown of Shizuoka City, 85% of the high school students commute by bicycle. Instead of lack of public transportation such as trains, the city is compact and pretty flat, making it suitable for biking. I used to go everywhere by bicycle when I was in junior high and high school.

So I decided to take iruka with me.

My wife was also going on a business trip the same day, so I first took our dog Sumire to my wife’s mother’s house in Bunkyo-ku by taxi from my house in Mejiro. The silver iruka C, the travel buddy, was in the trunk.

Sumire was in a carrying bag next to me in the back seat.

Then I rode iruka from my wife’s mother’s house to Tokyo Station. It was about 7 km, 30 minutes.

The backpack was hung on the front of the handle by iruCatch.

At Tokyo Station, Nihonbashi exit is the closest to Shinkansen platform. I quickly folded iruka into walk mode and put iruCover on it with the bottom opened for rolling.

I then folded iruka into sleep mode, closed the bottom of iruCover and boarded the 11:03 Hikari express train. The distance between the standard seats of Shinkansen is about 50 cm. iruka is 48 cm high when folded, so it fits in the seat when stand vertically. Of course, the owner will be a bit cramped.

The train brought me and iruka to Shizuoka station in an hour. When I removed iruCover and unfolded iruka, one man stopped to watch the unfolding action. He marveled at what an amazing bike, and left. Then I departed for my family home. 

I thought it was a good opportunity to take a little detour, so I ran along the moat of Sunpu Castle Park.

Arriving at my family home, iruka took a rest curled up in a corner on the porch.

The weather was sunny and warm during my stay, perfect for traveling with iruka. I found there were still many unfamiliar roads in my home town.

Masaki Mark Kobayashi

Founder and President, iruka Inc.