Headchef

Little wonder that Japanese women have long complained of being groped on trains!

Kyras

Yeah, mine does, too. I had a brain fart.

kgf3076

There are female only cars on every train (and they're just as full)

kgf3076

No because the next car has just as many people. Rush hour in Tokyo is insane. If the salarymen aren't sitting in a bar somewhere talking business, they're all crowding on the commuter trains. (You're right, Deb, they are electric and pretty much at capacity for power).

cosmomiller

Lived in Japan, did military stuff in Japan, and flew for the airline in Japan. Very familiar with Tokyo's train system. All privately owned and operated. Super efficient. On freakin time.

No groping on trains, this is not Europe. In Japan your sense of space does not extend to others. As long as you do not acknowledge others, they do not exist. It keeps order in very crowded conditions. You can have a woman cleaning the urinal next to yours as you go and it is not scandalous because we both pretend that she is not there. You can be naked in a mixed group of other naked Japanese in a pool and it is okay because no one is leering. You act as if you are the only one there.

You know (should know) where you are heading and what train/platform to use because you will be caught up in a mass of commuters and may get carried away someplace you don't want to go. You will be proactive is positioning your body at certain times of the day. You can set your watch by the time the trains keep.

Was on a train with a buddy just after making an ocean crossing and realized we were heading the wrong direction. We jumped off and as the train pulled out, my buddy realized he left his backpack (with passport, camera, etc) on the overhead rack. We went to the station masters office. I had the train number (spotted when it left) so the master identified the train, showed how it would make a complete circle in Tokyo and return to the station in just under an hour. To the minute that train returned. We stood at the spot we got off. There, unmolested, was the backpack.

boltonblue

Cosmo, how could you tell?
does one sardine accuse another?

hecash

I went out drinking with a Japanese friend of mine in Iwakuni, Japan near the Kintai Bridge. Having had a bit too much to drink, I spent the night at his pad and left my motorcycle on the busy commercial street in front of his building............with the keys in the ignition. I could not find my keys in the morning and when I went down to the busy street, there was my motorcycle, untouched, keys and all. The vaunted honesty of the Japanese is true.

dlq04

good stories

Scooterboy

Legal Bill

Except for the on-time part.