Take A Look Inside Japan’s Incredible Futuristic Robotic Underground Bike Parking System

Of you've ever been to Tokyo then you'll be amazed at just how much modern civilization can be crammed into such a small space, the noise, volume and overwhelming sense of culture compression is overwhelming.

It might be a cool to check out, but where the heck do you park your bicycle?

Beneath the streets of Japan is an insane-looking underground bike parking system. It's Japan's alternative to people just locking up their bike against the nearest street light—and means less clutter in the streets and it stops thieves from stealing the bikes.

The system is called ECO Cycle and works by people placing their bike in a loading bay and then swiping a membership card to activate it.

Your bike is then whisked off by a robotic system which parks it safely in a giant well, located 11 meters below ground which stores up to 204 bikes.

Being Japan the Eco-cycle parking system is an anti-seismic mechanical underground parking lot, which means you don't have to worry about earthquakes, end-of-the-world scenarios and the occasional appearance by Godzilla.

It costs around 1,800 yen ($15) a month and this means people can park and fetch their bikes as many times as they like in one of the many underground hubs that are located around Tokyo.

I wonder how they know which bicycle belongs to whom?

You can learn more about this sci-fi-esque bike storage system in the short documentary below by Danny Choo.