This sort of bike is replacing the mamachari. It's got safe child-seating for one thing. Many models (though not this one, apparently) are power-assisted. This mum agreed to let me take a pic. Another, with a power-assist bike, did not. P.S. The paper mask is a very common adornment in public in the winter, it's a way of politely signalling that you're a bit under the weather but thinking of others' health. This took a bit of an uptick during the H1N1 outbreak ten years ago.