As you may have noticed, my latest travel obsession revolves around all things Japan. I have never been, but I’m looking forward to a three week visit this Spring. Between travel video warnings and admonitions about tourist etiquette from Japanese friends, I’m learning how to be on my best behavior in public.
As part of its annual study on train/station etiquette, the Japan Private Railway Association collected responses from 5,314 participants via an online survey. 62.9 percent of the respondents said they’d been bothered by impolite behavior by foreign tourists, and the survey then asked them to designate up to two specific complaints, resulting in the following top 10 list .
1. Loud conversations/being rowdy on the train (51.8 percent). Japanese people don’t expect library-level silence on trains, but there’s a general understanding that long and loud conversations should be saved for once you get off. That can be difficult to do if you and the rest of your traveling companions are pumped up with excitement about the cool stuff you’re on your way to see and do, and this complaint admittedly comes with a bit of an extra linguistic burden for foreigners. If the language you’re speaking isn’t Japanese, there’s an increased chance of it feeling like “noise” to Japanese passengers, making it more noticeable and annoying than the same conversation, at the same decibels, would in Japanese.
2. Not properly holding/setting down bags and luggage (37.1 percent). Whether your bags are big or small, there are generally accepted rules for how to handle them. Starting with smaller ones, like purses or backpacks, it’s considered good form to hold them in front of yourself while on trains. The logic is that doing so takes up less space (essentially you transfer the space your bag would be taking up on your back or side to the otherwise unused space under your chin), and while that might not seem like it’d make much of a difference, when you multiply it by the dozens of people crammed into a rush hour train, it adds up. Likewise, sitting down on a seat and laying your bag next to you, as opposed to holding it on your lap or putting it on the overhead shelf, is considered rude, since it’s taking up a spot that someone else could be sitting in.
As for suitcases, it’s important to keep yours grouped together so as to take up as little space as possible. Even then, you should stay conscious of how much space you’re using, and also whether it’s blocking access to things like the doors or priority seats. An especially common problem is large groups of travelers essentially commandeering an entire section of a car with a cluster of suitcases, and to avoid doing so, you might want to split your party up within the train so that you’re not making any one section completely impassable.
3. Bad manners when walking through the station (24.8 percent) . You can’t use the train without using a station, so yes, there are manners to be aware of there too. Similar to the boarding process, everyone needs to work together to ensure a smooth flow of people through the station. Stations often have signs with arrows directing the flow of human traffic through walkways and on staircases, and these are supposed to be followed. Crossing over and walking against the flow can cause severe disruptions, or even collisions and injuries if someone gets bumped into and loses their balance in a crowd.
Another common complaint was foreign tourists stopping in the middle of walkways. Again, there’s an understandable reason for why this happens: some of Japan’s stations are massive and complex in their layouts, and even smaller ones can be confusing to navigate if it’s your first time in the country or you don’t read the language. Still, if you do need to stop and get your bearings, check a map, or converse with your traveling companions, first make sure you’ve moved to someplace out of the way (i.e. not the middle of a walkway or stairway) so that you’re not blocking traffic.
4. Bad manners when boarding/getting off the train (16.5 percent). Japanese trains can get very crowded, and they also run on very precise schedules, and the only way that combination is possible is if everyone who needs to get on/off the train can do so in a swift, smooth manner. If you’re getting on the train, you should line up to the side of where the doors are opening, wait for everyone who’s getting off to do so, and then board, in the order that you’re lined up in on the platform. On the other hand, if you’re onboard a train that’s arrived at a station, even if you’re not planning to get off there, rather than blocking the door you’re supposed to step off onto the platform to let others get off, then reboard by the same door (and yes, the people who were waiting on the platform to get on the train are supposed to wait for the re-boarders to re-board first).
5. Other (12.1 percent)
6. Talking on the phone (10.3 percent) On any given train in Japan, you’ll see many, if not the majority, or passengers with a mobile phone in their hand. Very rarely, though, will you see anyone talking on them. In order to be heard over the sounds of the train itself, you’d have to speak loudly enough to be bothering the passengers around you, so barring legitimate emergencies, Japanese people don’t use their phones for talking while on the train.
As a side note, having sound playing from your smartphone speakers for non-phone call purposes is a major breach of etiquette too. Not everyone shares the same taste in songs or TikTok clips, so keep the sound off or use earphones if you’re killing time on the train watching videos or listening to music.
7. Sitting style (9.6 percent). It’s about tourists who cross, spread, or stretch their legs while sitting on trains, taking up more space than is necessary, all of which are considered poor manners unless there are tons of empty space around.
8. Leaving trash and drink bottles behind on the train (5.9 percent)
“Japan doesn’t have enough public trash cans!” is a very common complaint among foreign travelers. It’s also something you’ll rarely, if ever, hear Japanese people griping about. At this point, it’s common knowledge that it might not be easy to find a place to throw you garbage away while you’re out and about, so the local Japanese population takes it as a personal responsibility to take their trash home with them. If you’re uncomfortable putting your trash directly into your bag, keep a couple of plastic baggies in there so you can seal up whatever garbage you generate and then carry it back to your hotel to dispose of there at the end of the day.
9. Bad manners regarding priority seats (4.4 percent).
At the corner of many train cars in Japan is a short bench designated as priority seats (often with a sign above them with the kanji characters 優先席). These are meant to be used by elderly, injured, or disabled passengers, as well as those who are pregnant of traveling with small children. Other people aren’t necessarily prohibited from using those seats, though, which is where things get kind of tricky. You might think that even if you’re not part of any of those groups, it’s fine to sit in the priority seat and simply give it up if someone asks for it. However, some people in Japan believe that it’s inconsiderate to make someone else ask, and it becomes even more complicated since physical ailments aren’t always visually obvious. If a 60-year-old senior citizen with a bad back boards a train car and sees a much younger man sitting on a full priority seat bench, he might assume the younger man is, for example, recovering from a knee injury and needs to sit, and so not ask him for his seat. Meanwhile, the younger man might not actually have any such need to use the priority seat, but also might not be able to tell that the senior has back problems just from looking at him, so he won’t offer his seat either. Such scenarios are why there’s a segment of the Japanese population that thinks if you don’t need to use a priority seat, you should leave it open for someone else who might.
10. Sitting on the floor of the train (4.2 percent)
Yeah, maybe your legs are worn out after spending all morning touring temple in Kyoto. Perhaps you’re doing a backpacker-style trip across Japan, staying in hostels, washing your clothes in the sink, and otherwise enjoying roughing it as you experience the country’s rustic charms. Doesn’t matter. If there are no empty seats on the train, you’re supposed to stand, since sitting on the floor takes up extra space, makes it hard for others to get on or off the train.
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