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With how crowded trains get during rush hour in Japan, finding an open seat can be like discovering an oasis in the desert, or a cold can of Ebisu beer in the fridge nestled behind a group of lesser brews. Oftentimes, though, you’ll step into the train and find every seat occupied.
While no one really likes standing for a 30- or 60-minute ride, for some elderly, pregnant, infant-accompanying, or handicapped passengers, that’s not just an unpleasant situation, but a painful, or even impossible, task. Those groups of people still have as much need for mobility as anyone else, though, so rail companies put up signs directing those passengers to special seats for them along the corner benches of each car.
It seems that able-bodied passengers in different parts of Japan react differently to these suggestions, though. Not only that, not everyone believes keeping those seats open is the right thing to do, and a lot of it has to deal with a subtle difference in the wording used in Tokyo and Sapporo.
Setting off the debate was a photo (below), shared by artist and Twitter user Robot Nozomi. Snapped while on the train in Sapporo, the largest city on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, it shows passengers crammed into every available patch of space inside the carriage, except one.
Along with the photo, Nozomi tweeted: “In Tokyo, a lot of regular people sit in the priority seats, but in Sapporo, none of them do, even if the train is packed. Now I get it. This is how it’s supposed to be.”
As you’d expect from the show of conscientious kindness, many who saw the snapshot were impressed. “That’s wonderful,” earnestly commented one person, and a few of the locals were filled with a sense of pride. “That’s just how we do things here!” replied one Sapporo resident.
Still, not everyone was sold on the Sapporo-style seating standards. “I think that’s really kind and all, but even if I was injured or handicapped, that sort of atmosphere would make it hard for me to take a seat,” explained one self-conscious individual.
Others just didn’t see the upside of leaving seats empty if there was no one around who needed them. “That’s actually a nuisance for the other people on the train,” grumbled another detractor.
For some, there’s even a safety issue involved. “It can be dangerous to have too many people trying to occupy the same space,” he explained, asserting that spreading passengers out, in this case by having some sit in the special seats, would help people from crashing into one another in the case of an accident, sudden stop, or just as a result of the regular swaying of the train.
Actually, there might be something more at play here than just the hustle and bustle of 13 million-person Tokyo versus the laid-back kindness of the smaller Sapporo and its two million residents. A lot of this could be chalked up to a difference in how those seats are labeled in the two cities.
If we take a look at the Japanese word Nozomi used in his tweet, he refers to the special seats as "yusenseki" (優先席), literally “priority seats.”
That’s also what you’ll see written inside train and subway carriages in Tokyo, and most people interpret the term to mean that senior citizens, pregnant women, and the disabled should be given the seats ahead of any other passengers. Alternatively, if there’s no one around who fits into those groups, the priority seats are fair game, at least for the time being.
On the other hand, the trains in Sapporo apparently don’t call them "yusenseki." Instead, they’re "senyoseki" (専用席), the kanji characters for which mean “exclusive use seats.”
There don’t seem to be any rules expressly prohibiting others from sitting in them, or levying fines against those who do. It’s even possible that whoever chose the name wasn’t even thinking about the stricter connotation it entails. Nevertheless, it looks like passengers in Sapporo take the designation seriously enough that if no one on the train belongs to one of the groups the senyouseki have been set aside for, then they should be left empty.
So who’s got the linguistic high ground? Well according to some people, it doesn’t really matter. In regards to Sapporo’s custom, one commenter felt, “This way of thinking, in and of itself, is admirable, but there’s no need to systematize it. It’s good manners to give your seat up for someone who needs it, and natural to sit down if no one does.”
Another open-minded individual concurred. “Whether you call them ‘priority’ or ‘exclusive use,’ what’s important is to think of the needs of the people around you.”
And as for what to call these seats in English? Well, it may be a little on the vague side, but we think the alternate translation for "yusenseki" (courtesy seats) used by the Tokyu rail network which runs through southwest Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, perfectly encapsulates the spirit behind them.
Source: Jin
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- The trials and tribulations of giving your seat on a train to a Japanese senior citizen -- Young People Speak Out: Recent Survey Suggests That Japan’s Older Generation’s Manners Stink -- An Illustrated Guide to the 12 Creatures That Haunt the Crowded Trains of Tokyo
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19 Comments
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jonobugs
Where I come from, EVERY seat is a priority seat. That is, if someone needs it more than you, you should get up and offer it to them.
nath
Not at all. Expecting a priority seat to remain empty while a train is crowded is unreasonable. The problem isn't sitting in the seats, the problem is in not getting out of them when someone who has priority is standing.
sensei258
I don't get why some people don't sit in the priority seats. Even the trains' own announcement says to offer your seat if somebody (from the priority list) needs it. So that means using it is sanctioned by JR. But what I can't stand is when some otaku, HS student, or salaryman will refuse to offer their seat to someone who obviously needs it, often using the pretense of sleeping to ignore a very pregnant or very old person. I once got up to offer my seat to a man on crutches with a fake leg (true story). He refused and was yelling at the others for ignoring him saying "Aren't you embarrassed?" over and over.
StormR
The sign covers me, I am unstable on my feet, I have a large belly, I have children, and I have a sore from from Gout. I also have silver hair and these seats are known as silver seats.
But seriously young selfish people take these seats and make elderly stand instead of offering them, they need a kick in the ass to wake their ideas up .
nath
What a ridiculous comment. Particularly considering that the majority of train lines in Japan do not have express and local trains, but rather only one type of train that stops at every top.
sensei258
He's not the only gentleman. No matter where I sit (priority seat or not) I will offer my seat if someone needs it. Which is better, giving up your (priority) seat when needed, or not sitting there at all, allowing some teenager with attitude to take it and pretend to sleep?
Dylan Bodington
Respect for the elderly and disadvantaged is a fairly universal standard of good manners, and it has nothing to do with personal judgement of an individual's worth to society.
When talking about train/bus seats specifically, elderly (and pregnant and injured and otherwise disadvantaged) people don't deserve to sit more than anyone else, but the difference between sitting and standing can have a much larger impact on them than on others. For an able-bodied salaryman, standing is slightly more uncomfortable than sitting, for some people the extreme discomfort of standing could prevent them from even using the train. They don't deserve it more, but they definitely need it more.
In general, people in Tokyo, a large metropolis, have less respect for other people than in other parts of the country. Again, a fairly universal state of affairs. Personally, I prefer to keep my own standards rather than regress to the standards of wherever I'm living, and I'd rather sit in the priority seats and offer them up, because I see people sitting in them ignoring others in need far more often than I see people offering them.
@cleo I'm surprised at how many people read your post sincerely. ;)
moneyyen
When I first moved to Tokyo 27 years ago, there was also one space in the middle of the long seats where everybody else sat that was reserved for the elderly, pregnant, etc. This is now gone. Still the seats that are allocated for them, nobody sat there unless they fell into that category, even during rush hour. Now people sit there and simply ignore the elderly, pregnant and others that need the seat. People simply should not sit there at all unless they fall into that category and JR and other lines should enforce this.
hdemos
Every seat is a "courtesy seat". Having specially assigned "Silver Seats" for the frail only emboldens the rude.
In any case, the best position for priority seats would be immediately next to each set of doors so the people who need them don't have to shuffle through the throng to get in or out. Just put the stickers up above the seats next to the doors and don't give the seats a different color.
Oh, and don't forget to hire a gaggle of girl and boy tarento to advertise the new arrangements.
cleo
Reneka - Quite right! Those little old ladies can't possibly be in a hurry, they should all walk everywhere. Except then they would clog up the streets and be in the way of busy sararimen rushing from one appointment to the next. So they should take the local train, regardless of whether it goes where they want to go (why would they want to actually go anywhere anyway, it's not like they're working...) So they should use some other mode of transport, like taxis, they can afford it with the huge pensions they're raking in every two months, except then the taxis wouldn't be available when the busy sararimen needed them to rush across town to their next appointment. So maybe they should just sit at home and die, that would solve the problem of the trains, priority seats and pension all in an afternoon.
And the pregnant ladies who need to sit down, they shouldn't be on the trains either. They should either find a husband rich enough that they don't need to work and commute to the office on a crowded train, or they should make sure they don't get pregnant. That would solve the problem of overcrowding in the day cares, too.
(rolls eyes)
You know this how? Are all those little old ladies wearing badges saying 'eternal housewife'? My mil is one of those little old ladies, she worked FT till she was 70 years old, has trouble now managing the steps on busses and so travels by train. She was a paediatric nurse, and if your busy busy hardworking husband was born in Tokyo she may have even taught his mum how to bathe, change and feed him. I think she deserves a bit of a sit-down.
If you're concerned for him maybe you should persuade him to improve his work-life balance.
It's called good manners. Wait till you and your hardworking husband are older, then you might understand.
Thunderbird2
I don't sit in those seats, regardless of the message over the train PA systems.
nath
Thunderbird2, That's awesome. It's nice to see a gentleman (gentlewoman).
Reneka
Several people have written about "good manner". A long while back, I once complained to my husband about a group of older Japanese folks who were behaving in a way which I considered rude. He told me not to judge them by today's Western standard for "good manners" and they were behaving in a way that was acceptable in accordance to the manners in which they grew up.
Perhaps some of us should also take my husband's advice and stop filtering things through our own western standard for good manners and try to learn from or understand a new perspective from those with opinions different from our own.
I was only writing about one example in my previous post. And some people decided to attack my position instead of exploring such options. I didn't say the housewife didn't deserve to sit there just that she should not necessarily be given priority just because of age.
Of course there are people that need to sit, but judging such things is often subjective. It would be to the benefit of elderly people if there was a way to pay a little extra money to guarantee a seat. Green car is too expensive but if train companies really wanted to help the elderly, what about an over 60 car or a priority car.
The only time my husband sat in a priority seat was during his cancer treatment. But I can imagine there were some people who looked at him and though he was a jerk for sitting there because he didn't look "sick." All I saying is don't judge without the full story.
ipone
I'm Japanese, and live here.
But I didn't know about the interesting deference of word usage between Tokyo and Sapporo.
I think the word of Tokyo is better.
Businessmen in Tokyo are always tired, so they may be allowed to sit if there is no people who needs the seat around them.
Tessa
I totally agree! And on the rush hour trains, even a slight adjustment of thirty minutes either way would make such a huge difference. surely they can manage that, it's not like they don't have all day to take care of their business. Why, will they get fired if they don't show up for their flower-arranging lesson on time?
Yep again. don't forget the salarywomen, too! I actually went as far as totally overhauling my work schedule (yes, even taking a small pay cut, but lucky me for having the choice to do so!) so that I wouldn't have to endure the hell of rush hour any more. Life is great now. People who assume that the average salaryman has any choice in the matter are clearly living in la-la land.
momo0
Priority seats should be only for ppl to which it os designated...I am so frustrated woth some of people here I am sure they weren't teached of manners and respect and definitely don't know what that means...it's not your business whether that grandma was a housewife or not as it is none of your concern, being a housewife os not easy job especially at their times when they didn't had all these fancy washing machines and hoovers (I got to experience it)also your slary earning office man damn..they sitting all day long in their chairs so I believe a bit of standing wouldn't harm them.but then there is a lot of ppl who works harder and difficult jobs which is- they all day on feet 12 hours running around, lifting and cleaning, baking and so on.... why these so proud of office ppl don't think about others who works a lit harder than them ams they are really more in need to sit down becausr they legs and back is in pain..than these office ppl who already sitting all day long...or you guys will suggest them to walk as well? How you could possibly say pay a higher price for special seat for these ppl who need it?that's ridiculous words. In any case these elderly ppl which upu disregard and disrespect worked as well and they definitely worked harder than all of us also same old ppl were fighting for Japan and trying tp protect it in wartime. If not them I wonder where all these so prpud businessman would be now.
nath
Since we all pay the same ticket price, I would not object to allowing a system that allows elderly people to pay more for the right to eject people from the priority seats. If they cannot afford it, they should find other means of transportation or (in the case of my train line) take a local train which is not crowded. Sure it takes longer but what is their hurry? My husband works extremely long hours. Why should an elderly woman who has been a housewife her whole life and who choses to take a crowded express train over the slower local train be given priority of him? I am sick of salarymen being criticised because they are easy targets. They are the ones keeping the pension system and medical system afloat to keep these old people alive. my husband doesn't expect to see one yen of his pension because it'll all be used up by the "elderly."
nath
Thank you Cleo. Glad you can agree with me.