Wow! We have a winner! I'm amazed!
Bilbo got the right group. Businessmen! Well, they call them 'Salarymen' here, but these are the office workers and salesmen. As part of one's salary in Japan, you are reimbursed for public transportation used for work. Usually that involves taking a bus to the train station from home, then the train to work. Each might run $3-$5 for each. By 'borrowing' a bike for one leg each way, and leaving it when finished, that can amount to an extra $200-$300 a month in their pockets. They aren't 'stealing' the bike to keep, only 'borrowing' it to take to or from the station. But the results for the bike owner are the same... a lost bike! For the salesman who much visit several clients a day in different parts of town, 'borrowing' a bike can earn him an extra $1000 a month or more! Once a month the various towns and cities collect the abandoned bikes left at the stations, and you see huge truck loads of them being taken to the
recycle (no pun intended) areas.
Well done, Bilbo!
Stitchawl