expressively dubbed in Tokyo “jolting cars.” These last race with overcrowded tramcars. But by far the most conspicuous and numerous of all are the jinrikisha, or two-wheeled vehicles drawn by men, which, from their great convenience, have obtained a phenomenal popularity, and though three decades have not passed since their first introduction, become more familiar sights than many another institution of much older standing. They are a unique production of the East, for though their birth-place is Tokyo, they are to be seen at all the eastern ports of the Asiatic continent. In Tokyo they are at present absolutely indispensable and their abolition would not only throw thousands of men out of employment in the city, but would even paralyze its activity. In such vogue are they that the people of Tokyo have ceased to be the good pedestrians that their fathers were and their country cousins still are, and its young men cannot keep pace with the sexagenarians who in their prime thought nothing of covering forty miles in a single day. The jinrikisha has, in fact, become a necessity and a luxury.
It was early in 1869 that this vehicle was introduced into Tokyo by Takayama Kosuke and two others, who are believed to be its inventors, though the honour has also been claimed for an American missionary, Whoever the inventor may have been, these were certainly the first to obtain Government permission for running it. It was, then, nothing more than a box supported by four props which rested without springs on the axle connecting the two wheels. A few cars of this description were kept on the southern approach to Nihonbashi, with a large flag set up to attract fares. As these jinrikisha were most uncomfortable to ride in, they failed to command public patronage. To Akiba Daisuke are due the improvements which have made the jinrikisha the most popular vehicle in the Far East. Akiba was a native of Yedo and supplied arms and saddlery to samurai, until the Restoration when the gradual decay of his trade obliged
