by Tor3 2 days ago
That's new to me, and something I have to check. Wow. I assume this must be new, I'm 100% certain my (Japanese) wife hasn't heard about anything like that.
It's somewhat recent - it started in some prefectures from 2015 but made the national news when it was made mandatory in Tokyo in 2020.
This government page lists the 34 prefectures where insurance is mandatory https://www.mlit.go.jp/road/bicycleuse/promotion/index.html