Written by Jerald Chan
Tokyo truly lives up to its reputation of being the world’s most populous metropolis in the world. Back in Singapore, we always complain about how our trains are too congested. When I saw the crowds in Tokyo, my first reaction was ‘Singapore has nothing compared to Tokyo’ – in terms of crowds.
As ‘kiasu’ Singaporeans, we always want to be the first for everything; well, I certainly hope that we don’t beat Tokyo’s crowds. The train crowds in Tokyo just hit me in the face, quite literally. During rush hours, I’m not exaggerating when I say that people’s faces will be an inch away from yours. The whole carriage is basically a huge sardine can. You have people breathing down your neck and for some, it may feel like a violation of personal space!
Tokyo truly lives up to its reputation of being the world’s most populous metropolis in the world. Back in Singapore, we always complain about how our trains are too congested. When I saw the crowds in Tokyo, my first reaction was ‘Singapore has nothing compared to Tokyo’ – in terms of crowds.
As ‘kiasu’ Singaporeans, we always want to be the first for everything; well, I certainly hope that we don’t beat Tokyo’s crowds. The train crowds in Tokyo just hit me in the face, quite literally. During rush hours, I’m not exaggerating when I say that people’s faces will be an inch away from yours. The whole carriage is basically a huge sardine can. You have people breathing down your neck and for some, it may feel like a violation of personal space!
People often get ‘stomped’ for the smallest things back at home, such as not giving up seats or being too touchy on trains. In contrast, it is almost impossible to not be in physical contact with anyone in the train.
“How do people put up with this everyday?” I’d ask myself whenever I get on the trains. I personally really hate crowds, so the train crowds here were quite a culture shock for me. But, the truth is: yes, people have to deal with it every day of their lives. And so do we, for our remaining days here since we’ll be using the train to get around.
The Japanese have always been known to be polite and nice. This can be seen even in the smallest ways like how people behave on trains, or even while waiting for trains.
The famous ‘Bishan Train Queue’ is a common sight in all train stations. If you think the ‘Bishan Train Queue’ is an amazing display of kindness or courtesy, wait till you see it in Tokyo. In every train station, people are always queuing in an orderly manner to enter trains and always make sure that there is space for other commuters to alight first – something I feel that we all can learn from the Japanese culture.
This is a mindset that is cultivated since childhood. They all have a mutual understanding of one another and are really polite – even in nasty situations when trains are so congested that they have to squish their faces against the door, or against other faces. There are no occasional ‘tsk’s or strange looks.
Even though Tokyo has the largest train crowds, they cope with it pretty well. To put it simply, they are very efficient. Before coming to Tokyo, I watched this really interesting video on Facebook about how and why Japanese trains are so efficient and never late.
In short, the Japanese take a lot of pride and effort in maintaining their trains and tracks. Having already watched that video prior to the trip, I felt much safer and confident of the train systems here.
What makes it amazing is that they manage to make sure that the train systems are safe and efficient, throughout all the lines. Try getting from Ikebukuro to Waseda using the map.
We tried getting there without any guide or help and nearly got our brains fried. Oh, and we almost got lost too. Nobody wants to get lost in a huge city like Tokyo. And if you are already finding it difficult to remember the train lines and stations in Singapore, try figuring this out.
We tried getting there without any guide or help and nearly got our brains fried. Oh, and we almost got lost too. Nobody wants to get lost in a huge city like Tokyo. And if you are already finding it difficult to remember the train lines and stations in Singapore, try figuring this out.
So, if you do not want to get lost in Tokyo’s maze of a transport system, you can always try using http://www.trains.jp/. It basically helps you plan your route from one point to another, and provides all the different ways you can use to get there. In short, it's Japan's version of gothere.sg.
There is also an app for it on the Apple App Store for iPhone users to help you navigate on the go! The best thing about this app is that it is ideal for travellers as well, because it does not require any Internet connection to help plan your route!
All you need to do is type in which station you’re at, and which station you wish to go to. This app has saved us from getting lost quite a few times. We highly recommend it.
The Japanese train transport system is really quite a work of wonder, both architecturally and culturally.
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This is part of a series of posts where our writers who have never been to Japan before look at an aspect of Japan that impressed them the most upon arrival, and their experience in these areas from a fresh mind's perspective.
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This is part of a series of posts where our writers who have never been to Japan before look at an aspect of Japan that impressed them the most upon arrival, and their experience in these areas from a fresh mind's perspective.
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