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Japan is a train lovers paradise, but some trains are a bit more difficult to love.
Japanese trains are famous all over the world for being high-tech, lightning fast, impossibly punctual and cramming passengers into the cars like Tetris blocks. But what if I told you this was only a half truth?
A capital city is never a reflection of the entire nation. My home country of England is so much more than just London and Japan is so much more than just Tokyo. The trains may be a nightmare scrum in the metropolis, but the majority of Japan has a much lower population and thus the trains — and the way people ride them — are different in a variety of ways.
1. They’re not all new bullet trains
Until very recently, my commute to work involved riding a train that looked like it might break down at any moment. It was diesel-powered and had only one carriage that was painted orange to hide the rust. The cover up didn’t work. The seats inside were so small that although they were made to sit four people at a time, realistically they could only fit two. They were incredibly uncomfortable, with 90-degree backrests that were designed for someone with an impossibly straight spine.
The train stations were also grossly outdated, many without ticket gates or often lacking any indication that it was a station at all. Some of these “stations” were little more than a slab of concrete surrounded by nothing but farmer’s fields.
As a total reversal of this, there are many older trains in Japan that have been lovingly maintained. Steam trains especially hold a special place in the hearts of train otaku (nerds) and you can still ride them in many places around Japan. Vintage locomotives such as the SL Yamaguchi that runs 69 kilometers from Yamaguchi to Tsuwano stations are a big draw for tourists.
One advantage of these old-fashioned trains being around is that they are not as expensive as the bullet trains. For these local trains there is no need to reserve a seat or pay any extra fees, you simply pay for how many stops along the line you want to travel. But while it can be half the price to ride a local train it can also take up to four times as long — so decide what is more important your time or your money before traveling.
Where did this misconception come from?
Click here to read more.
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7 Comments
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BackpackingNepal
The world knows Japan is Number One in the train system. So, if people when visiting Japanese countryside and ride the uncomfortable locomotives, i don't think the tourist will even care once they have ridden the Shinkansen.
Now compare to British trains & tubes, Every single day, it is delay and often stops in the middle for 10, 15 minutes, and with those noisy tracks, no service due to protest, dirty stations, rude customer service yet it is the most expensive fare in the whole world.
Chico3
Personally, I don't think much about misconceptions about this. What I do think about is they are very convenient and a great way around cities and enjoying the country. I've had no trouble about eating and drinking on a train, as long as I'm careful about children present (while I'm drinking alcohol).
Fouxdefa
Funny, resident foreigner in Japan here, but I had never heard the no-eating rule. From time to time you see people munching kashipan or onigiri and yeah, on bullet trains they even wheel a cart of overpriced snacks through the cars. It's just annoying when someone's brought on a bag of hot takeout food that funks up the whole car.
Strangerland
The food thing refers to local trains, not long distance trains.
lostrune2
Tokyo’s population is insane. There are over 20,000,000 passengers who use the trains everyday according to the city’s Earth Life Science Institute and they all want to get to work on time. Those videos you Googled are real and it happens everyday. There are just too many people in Tokyo for any train system to support no matter how big the carriages are or how quickly they arrive.
Trains in cities outside of Tokyo do get busy as well, it can be hard to find a seat at rush hour but nothing is quite like the Tokyo rush hour.
5. They don’t always run on time
albaleo
Sorry about that!