「subway」タグアーカイブ

Transit, Tokyo, Paris

Hey hey! Here is Babouin, your reporter from Tokyo!

Life in Japan is very different from France!

For example, taking the subway is more enjoyable because it’s so clean. First I was a little surprised and I needed some time to understand the system. But now that I understand I found it even more convenient than in France.

From Minowa Station to Shinjuku it costs about 300 yen for a one way ticket. It depends which trajectory you choose. Ticket prices vary by destination and distance. A friend gave me his PASMO card before coming to Japan. It’s a magnetic pass like NAVIGO in Paris. You just have to put it in the ticket distributor and choose the amount you wish to load. The minimum is 1000 yen.  If ever your ticket or your pass are not sufficiently charged at the arrival station, you must pay the difference. There are special machines called “Fare Adjustment” machines located before the automatic door exit.

In Japan there are many private companies: Tokyo Metro Line, Toei Line, JR Line … etc. Whenever possible I try to take only the Metro Line because if you change lines it will become more expensive. To identify the subway is quite easy and well marked. Even if you can’t read Japanese, the names of stations and lines are written in romaji (Latin script). Announcements are made on the train at each station: you are told the current station, the direction and then the next station and which side the doors will open. Everything is finely organized! Once you understand the system, taking the metro is really pleasant.

But beware! Avoid peak periods in the morning between 7 and 9 am and evenings from 5 pm. Most people go to work! It’s like a tidal wave in which you can be swept away violently by the current. You end up literally packed like a sardine in the train. It is very unpleasant. But fortunately there is air conditioning in all trains. Besides the morning, some compartments of the train are reserved exclusively for women! Because sometimes perverts touch women!

In the corridors of the subway and trains there is no tagging or graffiti! In France the trains are continually degraded. It’s a shame. Here people do not throw their garbage everywhere. The Japanese know how to show respect and good manners.

Hello Babouin

To phone in the subway…

A Tokyo subway company has recently issued a new poster on good manners to follow on trains under its “Please do it at home” series. This time, it’s against people who make phone calls on the trains.

Subway-phone

I must admit I find it quite annoying to have to listen to someone else’s phone call. On the other hand, people usually talk while on a train. The fact is that one often doesn’t realize one’s voice being loud when talking on the phone.

Another thing which I find quite annoying is that many people don’t switch their mobiles off when near the priority seats. Some even use them when sitting there. Subway is thus not always the place where people behave the best.

To take the train and subway in Tokyo

The public transportation network in Tokyo is quite disconcerting when one comes here for the first time, notably because of the number of railway companies in presence. An other problem is the labyrinth aspect of some stations such as Shinjuku or Ikebukuro (where even Japanese people get lost).

The first problem is resolved thanks to rechargeable IC cards SUICA/PASMO which allows to take all the lines of all the train, subway or bus companies easily. However, one has to take care of the credit left on the card if one doesn’t want to see the gate to close in front of oneself…which can be quite troublesome during rush.

SUICA ICOCA

The same kind of cards is available in other Japanese regions such as ICOCA in the Kansai area. The funny thing is that SUICA card has a penguin as a character, while it is a platypus for the ICOCA.

Make-up in the subway…

Recently, posters recalling good manners as the one below are being shown in Tokyo’s subway.

subway manner

Here, we have a very frequent case. Japanese women, usually young, who put their make-up in the subway. Personally, I don’t mind much this, but it seems quite dangerous to put on mascara or get one’s eyelashes straight in the subway, especially as the train might brake suddenly.