The is a form of
art bike
An art bike is any bicycle modified for creative purposes while still being ridable. It is a type of kinetic sculpture. The degree of artistic creativity and originality or new functionality of art bikes varies greatly, depending on the artis ...
indigenous to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
dating back to the mid-1970s. "Deko" in Japanese is short for "decoration" and "chari" is slang for "bike". The ''dekochari'' was a response by children to the
Dekotora
, an abbreviation for "decoration truck", are a style of decorated trucks in Japan. Commonly featuring neon, LED or ultraviolet lights, detailed paintjobs and murals, and stainless steel or golden parts (both on the exterior and the interior ...
("tora" is short for "truck") craze which swept Japan after a series of movies called ''
Truck Yaro'' was released. These movies featured giant trucks decked out in chrome and flashy lights.
Unable to drive the giant chrome-plated flashing trucks they coveted, children instead built
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
boxes around their bikes and attached chrome plating and lights. Almost all current Dekocharis have elaborate light displays and many include
hi-fi audio systems and cup-holders.
There are currently several dekochari bike gangs in Japan, including the All Japan Hishyomaru fleet, the All Japan DC Club Ryumaki and the All Japan Kyokugenmaru Gang.
See also
*
Outline of cycling
:''This article is an outline about the activity of cycling. For an outline about bicycles themselves, see outline of bicycles.''
:The following ''outline'' is provided as an overview of, as well as a topical guide to cycling:
Cycling, al ...
References
External links
Art Bicycle FactoryHishyomaru Dekochari GangAll Japan DC Club RyuumakiHokkaido Sukikan
Cycle types
Decorated vehicles
{{cycling-stub
Cycling in Japan
Japanese art