It has been three weeks since the arrival of the 青切符 (aokippu, blue ticket) system. Have you been stopped by the police yet? (Let’s hope not!) 

The new system hopes to simplify the process by which police deal with 交通違反 (kōtsū ihan, traffic violations). Due to the limited availability of 自転車専用レーン (jitensha senyō rēn, dedicated bicycle lanes) in Japan, the new rules have sparked a heated debate — as well as a few cases of scammers hoping to take advantage of uninformed cyclists.  

Currently, police deploy what are officially known as 交通反則告知書 (kōtsū hansoku kokuchisho, traffic violation notices) to those who break the law. These include 青切符, which are issued for relatively minor traffic offenses, such as 信号無視 (shingō mushi, running a red light) and 一時不停止 (ichiji futeishi, failure to stop at a stop sign).

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