Tokyo's 23 Wards Bicycle Subsidies for 2026 — Only One Ward Subsidizes the Bike Itself
Gasoline-powered 50cc mopeds have gone out of production, and for families with small children a "child-seat" electric-assist bicycle now routinely costs ¥200,000. More people are searching to see whether their own ward offers a subsidy, but after checking the official websites of all 23 wards, we found that only Katsushika Ward offers a purchase subsidy for the bicycle itself in fiscal 2026. Helmet purchase assistance, on the other hand, is still offered by many wards, and whether it continues or has ended is split sharply by ward. This article puts the current state of all 23 wards on a single page.
Purchase Subsidies for the Bicycle Itself — Katsushika's Up-to-¥50,000 Grant Is the Only One
| Ward | Program | Amount | Key conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katsushika | Subsidy for purchasing a two-child bicycle, etc. | Up to ¥50,000 | Half of the purchase price. Must be raising at least one child under elementary-school age / must be a ward resident on both the purchase date and the application date / must not have received the subsidy within the past three years / purchase must be made at a store within the ward (online purchases are not eligible) |
| Meguro | Bicycle Battery Change Project | ¥20,000 | Covers only the battery (and charger) — the bicycle itself is not eligible. Must be raising a preschool-age child aged 1 or older / once per household / the first round has ended, the second round is expected around October |
| Other 21 wards | No purchase subsidy for the bicycle itself confirmed | — | As of September 2026, no such program was found on any of these wards' official websites |
Katsushika's grant covers not only the bicycle itself (including electric-assist models) but also child seats, child helmets, manufacturer-genuine batteries, and anti-theft registration fees. Buying a ¥200,000 child-seat bicycle is enough to reach the ¥50,000 cap. Eligible purchases are those made between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, and applications are accepted through April 9, 2027 (online or by mail)[Katsushika Ward].
Helmet Purchase Assistance — Split Roughly Evenly Between Active and Ended
Since wearing a bicycle helmet became a duty of effort in April 2023, many wards began offering purchase assistance. Three years on, wards are now split between those still offering it and those that have ended it.
| Ward | Status | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chiyoda | Active | ¥2,000 | Once per person. Must apply within one year of the purchase date |
| Minato | Active | ¥2,000 worth | Paid as Minatoku Pay points. Requires bicycle insurance enrollment. Those under 13 may reapply each fiscal year |
| Sumida | Active | Up to ¥2,000 | Once per person. Through February 28, 2027 (ends once the budget runs out) |
| Koto | Active | Up to ¥2,000 | A TS-mark inspection fee subsidy (up to ¥2,000) is also available |
| Shibuya | Active | Up to ¥2,000 | Must be purchased at a participating store. Ends once the planned 1,000 units are reached |
| Nakano | Active | Up to ¥2,000 | Once per person. Covers purchases through March 31, 2027 |
| Toshima | Active | ¥2,000 | Available to ward residents, or to junior-high age or younger children living outside the ward who attend a nursery or school within it. Limited to designated stores |
| Adachi | Active | ¥3,000 | The highest amount among the 23 wards. Planned to run through the end of March 2029 (contingent on each fiscal year's budget being approved) |
| Edogawa | Active | Up to ¥2,000 | Until the budgeted amount is exhausted |
| Nerima | Active | Partial subsidy | Check the ward's official page for the amount |
| Taito | Free distribution | In kind | Free child helmets are distributed to children on their first birthday (once per child) |
| Shinjuku | Ended | — | Applications closed on June 28, 2024 |
| Suginami | Ended | — | Ended on March 17, 2024 (had offered up to ¥3,000, or ¥5,000 for those who took a safety course) |
| Shinagawa | Ended | — | Had offered ¥2,000 worth of ward-wide gift vouchers |
| Ota | Ended | — | Ended on March 31, 2025 |
| Kita | Ended | — | Ended on September 30, 2025 (had offered ¥3,000 for elementary-school-age children and those 65 and older) |
| Setagaya | Ended | — | Ended at the close of fiscal 2024 |
| Katsushika | Ended | — | Applications for the general helmet program have closed (child helmets remain an eligible item under the two-child bicycle subsidy) |
*For Chuo, Itabashi, Arakawa, and Bunkyo wards, we could not find a description on the official page or confirm the details as of our check. Please contact each ward's traffic affairs section directly.
A Gap of Over ¥30,000 Between Wards — Worth Checking Before You Move
Assume a family buying a ¥200,000 child-seat electric-assist bicycle plus two helmets. Here is how much the ward you live in changes the outcome.
| Ward you live in | Amount you can receive |
|---|---|
| Katsushika | Up to ¥50,000 |
| Meguro (when replacing a battery) | ¥20,000 |
| Adachi | ¥3,000 (for one helmet) |
| A ward where helmet assistance has ended | ¥0 |
The national CEV subsidy covers electric motorbikes (in the moped class 1 and 2 categories), and pedal-equipped electric-assist bicycles are not eligible. The two are easy to confuse, so take care. For electric motorbikes, Tokyo also adds up to ¥480,000 on top of the national subsidy — a very different order of magnitude. See our guide to electric motorbike subsidies for details.
Is the Subsidy You Receive Taxed?
For an individual, a purchase subsidy is treated as occasional income for tax purposes[NTA No.1490]. However, because there is an annual special deduction of ¥500,000, the amounts involved for bicycles or helmets (a few thousand yen up to ¥50,000) will normally not be taxed. Only if the total for the year — combined with things like furusato nozei return gifts, life insurance maturity payouts, or housing-equipment subsidies — exceeds ¥500,000 does half of the excess become taxable.
What to do today
- Check where your ward falls in the table above (if a program has already ended, there is no guarantee it will come back if you wait)
- If you live in Katsushika, make your purchase at a store within the ward (online purchases are not eligible)
- If your ward's helmet subsidy is currently active, check before buying whether it requires a designated or participating store
Frequently Asked Questions
Which of Tokyo's 23 wards offer a purchase subsidy for electric-assist bicycles?
As of September 2026, only Katsushika Ward offers a purchase subsidy for the bicycle itself (half the purchase price, up to ¥50,000). Meguro Ward offers a ¥20,000 subsidy for battery replacement, but the bicycle itself is not eligible. We could not confirm any such program in the other 21 wards.
Which ward offers the highest helmet subsidy?
Among the wards we confirmed, Adachi's ¥3,000 is the highest, and most other wards offer ¥2,000. Minato Ward pays out in Minatoku Pay points, and those under 13 can reapply each fiscal year. Taito Ward distributes child helmets free of charge to one-year-olds.
The subsidy in my ward has ended. Will it come back?
We don't know. Many wards launched their helmet subsidy as a time-limited program tied to the 2023 duty-of-effort rule, and wards including Shinjuku, Suginami, Ota, Kita, and Setagaya have already ended theirs. It depends on future budget approvals by each ward assembly, so it is more reliable to check what is currently available than to wait for a revival.
Sources
This article was prepared by checking the official websites of each of the 23 wards. Representative sources are listed below. Amounts and application status can change, so please always check your own ward's official page before applying.
- Katsushika Ward: Subsidy for purchasing a two-child bicycle, etc.
- Meguro Ward: Bicycle Battery Change Project
- Adachi Ward: Bicycle helmet purchase subsidy
- Taito Ward: Free distribution of child helmets
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government: List of ward/city/town helmet purchase subsidies
- National Tax Agency No.1490: Occasional income
*This article is general information and does not guarantee eligibility for any program. Many programs end once their budget is exhausted, so please always check each ward's official page before purchasing or applying.
