Without the benefit of these tips, my 12yo son and 15yo niece figured these rules out pretty quickly. The hardest one was how to get on during rush hour. We saw packed trains and demurred—dozens of Japanese snaked around us and boarded. We watched. As the 3rd train pulled into the station, we readied ourselves. “Here we go, kids” I said as we pivoted and backed carefully into the train. I was never so glad to be tall!
Thanks for sharing this great story. I'm glad you survived!
My friend told me that when her father visited her from Italy, he was already on a rush-hour train when they pulled into a station, and he saw a huge mob waiting outside.
"Surely they are not getting on THIS train!" he said. Of course, they did.
There has been a huge poster campaign against sexual harassment on the London Underground in recent years, but I'm a lifelong Londoner and I have never been on the receiving end of such behavior on the tube.
I'm glad to hear that. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government carried out a survey involving thousands of commuters in 2024, and it emerged that 56.3% of women and 15.2% of men had been groped on trains or in stations.
Just clicked on “like” and then realised that expresses the opposite of my reaction"! We need a button for “I’ve read your comment and I agree that’s horrendous!”
Lining up to board in the specified areas is a challenge on reserved seat express trains and Shinkansen, for one annoying reason, knowing which is the right door. Much of the information is there, either on an overhead display or painted on the platform edge, car number for each type (and sometimes how many cars a particular train has) worst case you can lookup the train car length of the big board or your ticket and find the right car.
The problem comes in as in most cases there are doors on both ends of the train, on which door of the car to enter. If you have luggage, or others do and your assigned seat is near the low or high end of the numbered seats is important, but surprisingly not indicated on the outside of the train. Many trains have fixed car numbers painted on the outside, and the seats are also hard numbered so don’t vary, but whether the door is near row 1 or 20 is never indicated. ChatGPT says the seat numbering is based on which end of the car faces Tokyo (seriously) but that didn’t match reality, where it was not always true, and also hard to determine. Also just because you’d think that getting on at the door where car 3 is connected to car 2, that maybe the first row in car 3 is row 1, but half the time it’s row 20.
Maybe someone knows a method for knowing this, or why the rail lines try to keep it mysterious.
Humm, I always wonder that too. Luckily, the train car is short enough that I can find my seat pretty quickly in any case. I also travel light, so no need to push heavy suitcases or stash them somewhere far from my seat.
Great article, Gianni. Thanks for bringing us up to speed with Japanese train etiquette. I wish Sydneysiders were that considerate, especially regarding mobile phone usage, loud noise and chattering, and consuming food (errkkk!). I particularly like the women-only spaces. That would work well in certain areas of Sydney where you just want peace of mind during your journey.
Thanks, as always, for your engaging comments. As you will see in my next post (a sort of part 2 on train etiquette) not all the good people of Japan follow the rules.
It’s not exactly a rule or anything but another small one to add is to face the same way most of the people around you are facing. There’s a pretty distinct habit to face a certain way depending on where you’re standing on the train, particularly by the doors. It makes for an uncomfortable atmosphere when you’re on a semi full train and tourists are standing practically face to face with local people.
Mind you that all goes out the window once the trains reach capacity.
It doesn’t take long to pick up on train rules and generally all riders are lovely. But once, on a very crowded train near Osaka, I was the recipient of some fondling from behind me. A swift but discreet elbow put a stop to it.
Oh Gianni, what a hilarious image: you, trying to negotiate your nuclear hot takoyaki! 🤣
I'm still ashamed of it, 30 years later.
Without the benefit of these tips, my 12yo son and 15yo niece figured these rules out pretty quickly. The hardest one was how to get on during rush hour. We saw packed trains and demurred—dozens of Japanese snaked around us and boarded. We watched. As the 3rd train pulled into the station, we readied ourselves. “Here we go, kids” I said as we pivoted and backed carefully into the train. I was never so glad to be tall!
Thanks for sharing this great story. I'm glad you survived!
My friend told me that when her father visited her from Italy, he was already on a rush-hour train when they pulled into a station, and he saw a huge mob waiting outside.
"Surely they are not getting on THIS train!" he said. Of course, they did.
I have a post about how to be a good tourist on my substack - https://lessknownjapan.substack.com/p/being-a-good-tourist . Do you mind if I link to this?
Not at all. THANKS for sharing, Francis! I'll be sure to read your post.
We could do with a bit more Japanese-style etiquette in London!
Minus groping, I guess. Is groping a "popular pastime" in the UK? In Japan it is, unfortunately.
There has been a huge poster campaign against sexual harassment on the London Underground in recent years, but I'm a lifelong Londoner and I have never been on the receiving end of such behavior on the tube.
I'm glad to hear that. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government carried out a survey involving thousands of commuters in 2024, and it emerged that 56.3% of women and 15.2% of men had been groped on trains or in stations.
Just clicked on “like” and then realised that expresses the opposite of my reaction"! We need a button for “I’ve read your comment and I agree that’s horrendous!”
Don't worry, Caroline. I don't think anybody misunderstood your "like."
Lining up to board in the specified areas is a challenge on reserved seat express trains and Shinkansen, for one annoying reason, knowing which is the right door. Much of the information is there, either on an overhead display or painted on the platform edge, car number for each type (and sometimes how many cars a particular train has) worst case you can lookup the train car length of the big board or your ticket and find the right car.
The problem comes in as in most cases there are doors on both ends of the train, on which door of the car to enter. If you have luggage, or others do and your assigned seat is near the low or high end of the numbered seats is important, but surprisingly not indicated on the outside of the train. Many trains have fixed car numbers painted on the outside, and the seats are also hard numbered so don’t vary, but whether the door is near row 1 or 20 is never indicated. ChatGPT says the seat numbering is based on which end of the car faces Tokyo (seriously) but that didn’t match reality, where it was not always true, and also hard to determine. Also just because you’d think that getting on at the door where car 3 is connected to car 2, that maybe the first row in car 3 is row 1, but half the time it’s row 20.
Maybe someone knows a method for knowing this, or why the rail lines try to keep it mysterious.
Humm, I always wonder that too. Luckily, the train car is short enough that I can find my seat pretty quickly in any case. I also travel light, so no need to push heavy suitcases or stash them somewhere far from my seat.
Great article, Gianni. Thanks for bringing us up to speed with Japanese train etiquette. I wish Sydneysiders were that considerate, especially regarding mobile phone usage, loud noise and chattering, and consuming food (errkkk!). I particularly like the women-only spaces. That would work well in certain areas of Sydney where you just want peace of mind during your journey.
Thanks, as always, for your engaging comments. As you will see in my next post (a sort of part 2 on train etiquette) not all the good people of Japan follow the rules.
Oh, no!
Yes, gropers are not the only unpleasant types who ride Japanese trains. Be afraid, be very afraid...
Oh, ok, I'll stay tuned. I gotta say, I never liked riding the trains in Sydney. I've never felt that safe. I prefer buses or to walk, if possible.
It’s not exactly a rule or anything but another small one to add is to face the same way most of the people around you are facing. There’s a pretty distinct habit to face a certain way depending on where you’re standing on the train, particularly by the doors. It makes for an uncomfortable atmosphere when you’re on a semi full train and tourists are standing practically face to face with local people.
Mind you that all goes out the window once the trains reach capacity.
That's another good one, Mariusz. Thanks for sharing!
It doesn’t take long to pick up on train rules and generally all riders are lovely. But once, on a very crowded train near Osaka, I was the recipient of some fondling from behind me. A swift but discreet elbow put a stop to it.
Well done, Katie. Groping on trains is, unfortunately, a sort of national pastime.
I guess I was lucky to encounter it only once. This was admittedly almost 50 years ago!
Again, unfortunately, things are still the same in that department.
A lot of this mirrors what I learned in Seoul. It all makes commuting more civilized.
Very true. Although even the Japanese are not immune to train rage
Imagine starting your day, every day, with a 60-minute ride on one of those packed trains.
I like the fact that the guy in the photo removed his shoes. A Japanese to the core, after all.