Tokyo's perennial gridlock first prompted the birth of motorbike messenger services, but bicycle courier businesses are fast establishing themselves as viable.
Delivering documents and photographs for banks and advertising companies via motorcycle has grown into a more than 25 billion yen per year market. But there are more than a dozen companies and about 500 people in the business with bicycles trying to get a slice of that pie.
Cyclists normally complete an assignment in one to two hours and charge around 1,000 yen if the distance they cover is within 1 km.