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matador · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 281

(Sorry about the title; I could not think of a better one)

I am standing at Yokohama station today at 8am and everyone is standing lock step in rows waiting for the trains to arrive. More people are po-o-o-o-o-o-ouring onto the platfrom but hardly anyone will break rank and wait between (gulp!) the rows.

Other than me, of course.

People are pretty much falling off the edge of the platform trying to squeeze onto the end of the rows.

Why are people so worried about waiting in the spaces between the rows?

....any other examples of Japanese culture getting in the way of common sense or am I on my own here??

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:23 am Post subject:

Is queueing in line considered to be "Japanese culture"? I'm not sure what you mean about waiting in the spaces between the lines. People usually queue up from the point at which the doors will open. If you queue up between the rows then you're not going to be able to get on the train until everyone in the lines have got on the train. Unless you decide to push your way on. Which of those two options do you consider to be "common sense"?

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

I don't know about that Ali. Often people wait for trains between the marked lines as well as cutting in front. I have elbowed a few people that didn't get the hint that waiting on the side (after a late arrival) does not give you permission to cut in in front of me.

A common one is also people who run into the train door and stop right in the middle of the door even though others are trying to get in! Often, my wife might think the train is full, and I say," No, people just seem to not understand the idea of going further into the train car!"

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 8:29 am Post subject:

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

Yeah if you don't wait in the line, everyone else will stream onto the train before you, even if you'd been waiting there longer.

Odango · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 36

I always try my best to form a line and stay within it, however you get some idiot who just busts right in front of you which is so annoying. Old women are the worst here I find. Evil or Very Mad

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

I think its more that in most countries people tend to 'clump' around where the door will open, while the Japanese tend to stand in single file. Whenever I see that I usually walk to the end of the platform where its often empty because people tend to join the back of the first queue they see when they come up the escalator.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

One thing I like when driving is that everyone gets into the turning lane about 6 blocks before the turn. This way I can drive in the practically deserted lane, pass about 100 cars and then signal and change lanes very easily. I do this every morning going to work, a bunch of lemmings. Laughing

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

In the USA I found no lines at all would form, only a mob clustered around the entry point to a door for a bus or subway. Seems that lines make sense. I found them to be a pleasant surprise in the UK.

matador · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 281

I heard a story (possibly urban folklore...) that a guy`s house was on fire. Before running in the door to save whatever he could, he took his shoes off.

Maybe another one is people sweltering on the morning train but no one opening a window. ...better to keep sweating, right?

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Scooter culture anyone? I jam fifty kilometers a day in to Tokyo and back. I'm not kidding. Tell folks you want to do that and they say no way. I say no traffic jams!
Enjoy,
s

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

DNK · Joined: 22 Jan 2007 Posts: 236 Location: the South

gaijinalways, it's fairly common in Chicago. Going into Chicago on the Metra, there's always clusters, never a line (I usually just stand a little to the left or right of the cluster if I come late, hoping the train is a little fast/slow). I don't usually pick the el up at peak times, but generally I don't see tidy lines up there either.

Buses and subways, I don't know about, though.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

The Japanese way beats the Indian way. At Delhi metro stations, people line up along the edge of the platform or stand in random clusters. When a train arrives, they all dive for the door, without waiting for anybody inside to get off first. It's a total scrum. This is basically the method for getting on/ off any form of public transport in India.

Yep, it's silly in Japan when people queue to the edge of the opposite platform so no-one can get past, but at least they are queueing...

User N. Ame · Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 222 Location: Kanto

I think Japanese passenger habits on trains is the best in the world. Orderly, calm, and without all the yelling and shouting. Very Zen and Confucion. Verbal disputes are rare, physical dispute ever rarer - I only saw one in my entire 4 years there.

The first time I rode the subway in Shanghai, it was mob rule, and a fight inside the car broke out!

When you're living in Japan, you tend to take it for granted. When you get back to your home country, you realize just how civil Japan is when it comes to public transport.

And to Japan's credit, they manage to maintain this civility, despite the fact alcohol is served on platforms and allowed inside trains! Amazing how you can ride in a car of semi-drunk salarimen in a city of 15-million and not have to fear for your life.