Cycle Gallery Yagami (Nagoya, Japan)

次回この記事の日本語版を投稿します。

Imagine if you can visiting a private bicycle museum with nearly 200 original bicycles predominantly from France, England, Germany the USA, ranging from the earliest wooden Hobby Horses of early 1800's to balloon tire cruisers from the 1950's. Bicycles not behind protective glass displays or roped off, but bicycles you can actually see up close.  Not only bicycles, but bicycle memorabilia that spans the full spectrum of bicycle history.


Bicycles, bicycles and more bicycles.  Surely, this must be what heaven looks like?

Genuine Hobby Horses from the early 1800's.


Ordinary bicycles from the 1880's.


Earliest Safety bicycles from around the late turn of the century.

One cannot help but admire human ingenuity as one traces the development of the bicycle through the numerous displays.  Rare examples of bicycle designs and technology abound.
Example:  Click on the photo below and check out the design of the front fork and the rear shock absorber behind the saddle.

American bicycles

Schwinn Phantom (ORIGINAL!!!)
Every American boy's dream bicycle back in the 1950's.

Bowden Spacelander another rare example of human ingenuity applied to bicycle design.

How much would it cost to tour such a marvelous museum complete with guided tour?
\2,000 yen?   Nope.  \1,000 yen?  Nope.  Nothing.  That's right, the museum is a work of love by Mr. Shiro Yagami, probably Japan's largest private bicycle collector.  At 81 years young, Mr Yagami is as sharp as a whip and conducted the entire tour in perfect English. His extensive knowledge of bicycles, history and engineering is amazing. I highly recommend visiting this wonderful private collection and meeting Mr Yagami.
(By appointment only, Saturday's only.)

Cycle Gallery Yagami