"Be a Ninja: Cough etiquette is ninja knowledge"

Image from https://www.hanshin.co.jp/company/press/pdf/20210218-kyodo-2.pdf

This poster, as seen at train stations and inside trains, is from a current joint manner campaign by 19 railway companies in the Kansai area. The poster has the theme of "Consideration for the surroundings of coughing and sneezing." Good timing as cases in Osaka are again on the rise.

What else is written on the poster?

"How to cover your mouth"

"Prevention of spread of new coronavirus infection"

"Cooperate in wearing a mask in the car"

List of the 19 participating railway companies

Press release about the campaign (in Japanese): https://www.hanshin.co.jp/company/press/pdf/20210218-kyodo-2.pdf

The cute little ninja looks kinda sick under his mask if you ask me... When can we expect vaccines?

"Surveillance cameras to be installed in every subway car in Tokyo"

From Japan Today, 3/15/17.

Surveillance cameras will be installed in each of the roughly 3,800 subway cars in Tokyo, their operators said Tuesday, part of an effort to improve public safety ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

Starting in 2018 or 2019, Tokyo Metro Co will begin installing a camera above every door of each subway car, while Toei Subway will install several cameras on the ceiling of every car over the period of just under 10 years from next August.

All video footage will be saved to hard disk drives and kept for around one week, and only a limited number of employees will have access to it, according to Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway, which is managed by the Tokyo metropolitan government’s Bureau of Transportation.

Tokyo Metro will start fitting cars on the Marunouchi and Hibiya lines with security cameras first.

Cars on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Hokuriku shinkansen bullet train lines have already been fitted with security cameras. Tokyu Corp, which operates railways in the Tokyo area, plans to follow suit by 2020.

Source: https://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/surveillance-cameras-to-be-installed-in-every-subway-car-in-tokyo

"Japan rail firm switches on ‘drunk spotting’ cameras"

From The Japan Times, 8/19/15:

A Japanese railway company is turning to cameras as a way to spot drunken behavior and keep late-boozing patrons from tumbling onto the tracks, a spokesman said Wednesday.

West Japan Railways (JR West) has installed nearly 50 closed-circuit television cameras at its Kyobashi train station in Osaka to stop accidents that frequently involve legions of late-drinking “salarymen.”

The suited city workers are well-served by extensive urban train networks that whisk them back home at the end of the night.

While the worst that happens to most corporate warriors is nodding off and missing their stop, a small number are hurt or killed in stations every year by plunging onto the tracks.

“The cameras are meant to detect passengers behaving abnormally — including those who are feeling ill — as quickly as possible so that plunging accidents can be prevented,” the spokesman said.

The new system would automatically detect odd movements, such as unsteady walking or passengers sitting on a bench for an unusually long time, and set off an alarm to prevent potential trouble.

The cameras mark the latest move taken by JR West — which operates around Osaka, a commercial hub, and the ancient city of Kyoto — after it changed the direction of platform benches in March.

The seats were rotated to face along the platform rather than the tracks in the hopes of stopping drunken passengers from marching headlong into trouble.

Before the cameras were installed last week, station employees were tasked with keeping an eagle eye on at-risk travelers.

JR West said it would consider expanding the pilot project to other stations.

An internal company study found most people who had fallen onto the tracks had done so after waking up from an alcohol-infused slumber on benches and then walking straight over the platform’s edge.

About 60 percent of some 3,000 annual cases involving passengers falling onto train tracks were due to alcohol, according to Japan’s transport ministry.

Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/08/19/national/japan-rail-firm-switches-on-drunk-spotting-cameras/#.VdnfAM5ZG2w

Cute "Subway Manners"

A reminder to mind your manners on the train, even if you have been drinking...

Image from today's Japan Today's "Picture of the Day."
Link: http://www.japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/view/subway-manners

UPDATE 2/3/12:

Another poster in the series...

Link: http://www.japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/view/good-manners

Lost in Translation? Or Just Ethnocentric?

Today as I was signing out from my hotmail account I saw how Bing was highlighting some "humorous" and "difficult" cross-cultural "challenges." Currently having challenges myself in Germany I clicked to see what they had to say. There were two Japanese examples (their own text appears in italics):

(Image borrowed from Bing)

1. Lost in Translation: Subway Insanity

Subways are confusing enough without adding language difficulties. If you used this subway ticket machine in Osaka, Japan, would you know which route to take and how much to pay? And if you managed to figure that out, would you know where to get off? See you in Osaka. Maybe.

(Image borrowed from Bing)

2. Lost in Translation: High-Tech Toilet

Once upon a time, a commode required nothing more than a flush. Which of the 11 buttons on this high-tech toilet in Tokyo allows you to complete that simple maneuver? When it comes to the other 10 buttons, the mind boggles. Does a wonderful symphony begin drowning out all the other noises in the bathroom? Does one of the buttons allow you to request more toilet paper? We confess; we are flushed with confusion.

Personally two of the things I am missing the most about Japan are the relatively easier train systems and the toilets. German toilets are just fine, but one gets used to heated seats and other amenities. One gets used to using the buttons as well. Are 11 buttons (with icons) so difficult to figure out? Push them them and see what happens... And for me, the Japanese trains and subways are much easier to use. The maps make more sense and there is English on the maps and station signs. And the kanji characters of the trains stations names are shorter and easier to figure out than the long German names... While there are probably more English speaking people on the German trains, overall I think the Japanese system is more user friendly.

Whoever wrote the piece for Bing has obviously not traveled very much. And much greater challenges exist in cross-cultural experiences than taking a train and flushing the toilet. More weird Japan stuff... more ethnocentrism... more ignorance...

See all of their cross-cultural difficulties:
http://www.bing.com/travel/content/search?q=Lost+in+Translation%3a+Male+Man&cid=msn1148698&form=TRVCON&gt1=41000

"JR East to install surveillance cameras on trains from Dec 28"

Again, from Japan Today, 12/22/09...

I know some of these articles seem redundant, but I post them here with the whole text as a sort of repository, a place where we can go back and see important data. Japan Times and other news reporting agencies sometime delete the story after a certain amount of time. Thus I have come to copy the whole text - saves me a lot of photocopying and think of all the trees we save... Long chunks of italicized text mean direct quoting from the original story. Come back to VAOJ when you need to search for visual anthropology related topics. Anyway, back to the story...

East Japan Railway Co (JR East) said Monday it will start operating a security camera system aimed at preventing groping on trains on the Saikyo Line on the evening of Dec 28.

A set of high-definition security cameras will be installed in the No. 1 cars of some trains on the line linking Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, the first time for such equipment to be installed on commuter trains by a Japanese railway operator.

JR East announced earlier this month that it was planning to start conducting video surveillance on the Saikyo Line on a trial basis by the end of the year in the hope that security cameras would provide evidence of and serve as deterrent to molestation.

The decision to install the cameras came after police asked metropolitan railway operators to do so amid no sign of a decline in molestation cases on trains, although critics have questioned the effectiveness of the cameras and raised privacy concerns.

Metropolitan Police Department data show that the number of groping cases on trains handled by the police total around 1,500 a year. In the first half of 2009, the number of such cases came to 708, of which 75, or about 10%, occurred on the Saikyo Line. Most molestation cases on the line occurred in the No. 1 cars.

JR East will start the trial by installing cameras in the ceiling near the driver’s cabin. It will increase the number of trains equipped with cameras in late January and plans eventually to record footage from four points in each car.

"Security cameras to be installed in commuter trains to prevent groping"

From today's Japan Today:

East Japan Railway Co plans to install security cameras in trains on the Saikyo Line linking Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture in a bid to prevent sexual molestation, becoming the first Japanese railway operator to take such a step for commuter trains, company officials said Saturday.

A set of high-definition security cameras will be installed at several locations of the No. 1 cars of Saikyo Line trains, such as the ceiling and the overhead rack, on a trial basis by the end of this year at the earliest, they said. Most groping cases have been on the No. 1 cars of the trains.

The company, known as JR East, and police say they hope the security cameras will provide ‘‘evidence’’ and serve as ‘‘deterrence’’ against molestation. But critics question the effectiveness of the cameras, voice concerns about privacy and say they may be used for other criminal investigations.

The decision to install the cameras was made after police in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures asked metropolitan railway operators for them in late October, as there are no signs of a fall in molestation cases on trains.

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the number of groping cases on trains handled by the police total around 1,500 a year. In the first half of 2009, the number of such cases came to 708, of which 75, or about 10%, occurred on the Saikyo Line.

In particular, gropers target the No. 1 cars—at the end of the train despite the number—of Tokyo-bound Saikyo Line trains as they are packed full in rush-hour times because they are nearest to the stairs at many stations.

JR East will consider installing security cameras in other Saikyo Line train cars or in trains serving other lines after seeing how the trial goes, the officials said.

Other companies belonging to the JR group, which was created through the privatization of Japanese National Railways, as well as private-sector railway operators in metropolitan areas may follow suit.

Police hope security cameras will have deterrent effects although they may be able to shoot only heads of passengers on packed trains.

A police source said camera footage would provide important evidence, showing position relations between gropers and victims.

But Sophia University professor Yasuhiko Tajima, a member of a group against a surveillance society, said that with the installation of security cameras, somebody may be suspected of groping only for the reason that the person stood near the victim.

Tajima also voiced concerns about invasion of privacy. ‘‘For some people, trains are comfortable places to sleep or read books,’’ he said. ‘‘Wide discussions are necessary, based on opinions from passengers.’‘

A senior JR East official said, ‘‘While paying close attention to legal problems, including privacy, we’d like to seek various opinions.’‘

According to JR group companies and the Association of Japanese Private-Sector Railways, security cameras have been installed at decks or cargo spaces of some bullet trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen Lines and some other limited express trains. But no such cameras have been installed in commuter trains.

Railway operators have so far installed security cameras in stations and platforms mainly for the purpose of safety. As part of countermeasures against sexual molestation on trains, they have introduced train cars specifically for women.

Don't take pictures on the train, especially if you are driving it...

From Japan Today, 8/25/09:

JR West driver took photos of 2 women passengers while operating train at 120 kph

A West Japan Railway Co (JR West) driver secretly took photos of two female passengers with his mobile phone camera through the rear window of the driver’s cabin while he was operating the train at 120 kilometers per hour, JR admitted Monday.

The incident first came to light last Saturday at a meeting for the victims and families affected by the fatal 2005 Amagasaki rail crash. According to JR West, the 28-year-old driver from the JR West Kanazawa branch was operating a train on the Kosei line, and took photos of the women between Makino and Nagahara stations on the morning of Aug 21.

At the time, the train was traveling at 120 kilometers per hour, and the driver took his eyes off the controls and tracks for about 7 or 8 seconds while taking the photos.

The driver was quoted as saying: “When I went to shut the curtain behind my seat, these two attractive women caught my eye, so I took their photo.” The women noticed the camera flash and complained to the train conductor at Nagahara station.

Read the whole story and reader comments:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/jr-west-driver-caught-filming-two-women-passengers-while-operating-train-at-120-kph