The growing popularity of rideable suitcases with electric motors designed to get people quickly around airports and train stations has alarmed Japanese authorities following a rise in incidents of foreign visitors using them illegally on public roads.
Japan currently classifies electric suitcases as motorised vehicles that can be ridden on roads only with the required safety equipment and a driver's license.
Two major Japanese airports have already asked travellers not to ride them within their facilities while police are asking retailers to warn customers of the strict laws concerning their use.
A Chinese woman became the first person caught in Japan in June for unlicensed driving after she was spotted riding a three-wheeled electric suitcase on a pavement in Osaka.
In early July, a boy from Indonesia on an electric suitcase was seen riding through a crowd of pedestrians on a street of Osaka's Dotonbori district, one of the busiest shopping areas in Japan. His family did not know that riding suitcases on roads is illegal in Japan.
An electric suitcase has a built-in battery and an electric motor and can travel at around 10 kilometres per hour. Those sold in Japan are around 24,000 baht.
