page_title: Rickshaw
section_title: Japan
hierarchical_section_title: Rickshaw / History / Late 19th century / Japan
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 随行員とともにはっひ姿のエドワード8世。はっぴの襟には高島屋呉服店配達部の名前があり、1922年の皇太子時代に来日した際に京都で自ら購入し、仮装パーティで人力車夫に扮したと言われている。English: Edward, Prince of Wales, bought the coat (Happi) himself in Kyoto during his visit to Japan in 1922 and disguised himself as a ricksha man at a party.
context_page_description: A rickshaw originally denoted a two or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one man carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, and electric rickshaws were invented, and have replaced the original pulled rickshaws, with a few exceptions for their use in tourism.
  Pulled rickshaws created a popular form of transportation, and a source of employment for male laborers, within Asian cities in the 19th century. Their appearance was related to newly acquired knowledge of ball-bearing systems. Their popularity declined as cars, trains and other forms of transportation became widely available.
  Auto rickshaws are becoming more popular in some cities in the 21st century as an alternative to taxis because of their low cost of hire.
context_section_description: Starting in 1870, the Tokyo government issued a permit to build and sell 人力車　(jinrikisha : rickshaws in Japanese) to the trio that are believed in Asia to be the rickshaw's inventors: Izumi Yosuke, Takayama Kosuke, and Suzuki Tokujiro. In order to operate a rickshaw in Tokyo, a seal was required from these men. By 1872, they replaced the kago and norimono, becoming the main mode of transportation in Japan, with about 40,000 rickshaws in service. At that time man-power was much cheaper than horse-power; horses were generally only used by the military. Some of the rickshaws were artistically decorated with paintings and rear elevations. In this time, the more exuberant styles of decorations were banned. If the families were well-off financially they might have their own rickshaw runner. Generally, runners covered 32 to 48 kilometres (20 to 30 mi) in a day, at an average traveling speed of 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) per hour.
  Japanese rickshaw manufacturers produced and exported rickshaws to Asian countries and South Africa.
caption: Edward, Prince of Wales, and his staff disguised as rickshaw men during his visit to Japan in 1922. He bought the clothes himself in Kyoto.
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