A rickshaw stopped on a street corner in Asakusa, with women dressed to the nines on top

Rickshaw in Asakusa — A rickshaw running through Asakusa

Although there are many theories, records indicate that three people, including a former Fukuoka feudal lord, invented the rickshaw. It is said that they replaced horses with people, modeled after the Western horse-drawn carriage. A person pulls a pedestal on which a person rides. It is a very simple vehicle, but I personally think it is the best product developed in Japan before the Walkman.

In the past, the only transportation available to the common people in Japan was the palanquin. Even though they were available, palanquins were expensive and were used only on special occasions. The rickshaw was the first form of transportation that the common people could easily use. Invented in 1870, the rickshaw became so popular that 210,000 of them were used in the next 30 years.

The reason I think it is the best product developed in Japan before the Walkman is that the rickshaw was not only revolutionary as a vehicle for the common people, but was also exported to other Asian countries. They were also exported to Hong Kong, and then to India. In India, in particular, as many as 10,000 rickshaws were imported from Japan every year, and even today, it is not unusual to see rickshaws running along the streets in the major cities of Mumbai and Kolkata. Incidentally, the rickshaw is an English word of Japanese origin.

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