Punk Repairman

The local mechanic likes his drums, beer, and keeping Kansai mobile

Kansai’s most common mode of transport is without doubt the ubiquitous mamachari. The trusty bike, equipped with umbrella holder, is used for just about everything from shopping, commuting, and carrying an entire family. If you’re a proud owner, then no doubt you’ve experienced a flat tire.

Last year, I chalked up five punku (punctures) on mine, and on each occasion I was set back ¥1,000 in repair costs. The cause of these burst tubes? Sharp tacks on the road. On the third or fourth visit to my local repair shop, I noticed a customer having a puncture repaired for the same reason: a sharp tack. I remember thinking how many sharp tacks, dangerously lurking in wait for innocent cyclists, could there be on the streets? I got my answer as the old repairman, removing the tack from the tire, displayed it to his customer then hurled it back out onto the street. A fine display of sustainability! I never checked out the back of that old repair shop, but I’d bet it was littered with empty “Acme Tack” boxes.

Changing parishes for Nihonbashi, I found a new repair shop: Ito Takahashi Motors in downtown DenDen Town. Takahashi-san is in his mid-thirties, the third generation mechanic in the family business. He’s chosen the uncomplicated road when it comes to mechanics–only pushbikes and vehicles without computers are serviced at his premises.

My first visit to Ito-san’s workshop for a punku set me back ¥600, and I was relieved to find it was caused by a shard of broken taillight. No need for ACME tack orders at Ito’s establishment, as he assured me the streets of Nihonbashi keep him busy enough for fifteen or twenty puncture repairs a day. Crunch a few numbers and you can see this isn’t a bad earner, especially considering most of those repairs are carried out over lunch hour and between 5pm and 6pm every evening, with the average repair taking around five minutes.

Initially, Ito-san never saw himself inheriting the family business, so fled his home (situated on the second floor of the building) the day after he graduated from mechanic school. He spent three years trying his hand at various non-greasy jobs such as green keeping, pizza making and donut selling, to name a few. Eventually, he slipped back into his coveralls to bear the family torch. Fifteen years later and it’s clear he’s found his groove, carrying the business in to its 60th year.

Ito-san’s day starts at 8am with some toast and coffee and a slice of the TV news, before taking the two-minute walk to his garage to open for 9am… 10am when he is hung-over, usually three or four times a month “at the very most,” I was assured. He rents an apartment because his retired parents live above the workshop. Mornings are occupied by a couple of bike repairs and several coffee breaks before the lunch “punku rush.” At 1:30pm, Ito-san grabs a bento, and from there he’ll tackle the shaken (vehicle inspection) that have come in. At around 7pm, after the evening punku rush, he’ll usually be found on his drum kit, beating away to some easy blues or reggae tunes over a few ales with whoever drops by.

Once Ito-san’s garage door is down for the night he heads to his local standing bar for dinner and refreshments, retiring to bed by midnight. He’d prefer to take Sundays and national holidays off, but works out of duty to his local customers who generally get their bikes repaired on those days. Instead, he takes two days over Obon and three days over Golden Week. Despite a lack of downtime, Ito-san doesn’t have any complaints, turning up to keep those big bicycle wheels, the lifeline of so many Osaka locals, puncture-free.

5-18-18 Nihonbashi, Naniwa-ku,
556-0005 Osaka-shi. Tel: 06-6631-4693.

Text: Leonard Broersen
Photos: Rob Walbers