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Manner poster

23 Comments

The latest manner poster from Tokyo Metro asks subway passengers not to take up space by making a mess.

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23 Comments
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The Japanese phrase might suggest they are trying to discourage subway sex.

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They should put these signs in McDonalds then as well

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I find this better than the way similar signs were phrased back in England: "Would you behave like this at home?" For most British yobs and slobs, the answer would be a resounding 'yes'.

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Cool, I like how they put the English on it too.

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What a load of nonsense. Should be spending that advertising budget teaching Japanese people how to offer their seats to elderly people or pregnant women instead.

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This is a totally unrealistic picture. The boy is missing a knit wool cap, keitai, and iPod. And his shoelaces should be untied and dangling.

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I can't help noticing that he seems to be upsetting a salariman. We can't have that now, can we?

I remember taking a train in Melbourne once and the guy opposite me unpacked his take-away from McDonalds on the seat next to him like he was setting a table. Very elegant! Didn't offer me any fries, though.

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I can't help but notice that it is a young person being demonised, rather than a sweat-shiny gentleman over the age of 45, whom I would venture to be the most frequent guilty party to this particular sin.

Having been here a while, I would anticipate that this poster will be viewed more as a guide as to what one should wear if one wishes to take up several seats.

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hmm agreed, poster should be of either a sweaty grunting salaryman or grumpy elderly lady with shopping bags piled on either side of her. the younger generation are by far the more polite.

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"Please share the seat with others"

You mean I have to let others sit on my lap?

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northlondon, there are plenty of seats designated for the elderly and pregnant. why should i give up my seat?

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bobcatfish - The elderly and pregnant should have priority on every freakin' seat on the train. There shouldn't be designated seats for them. You mean to tell me if there's an elderly person or pregnant woman standing in front of you, you're gonna sit there with your arms folded?

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About two years ago Hankyu made all seats priority seats, but last Autumn they changed back to designated zones. In the rush hour I must admit that I usually fake sleeping unless it's someone heavily pregnant or rather doddery. Just having silver hair isn't enough to get the silver seat out of me!

However, I almost never sit in the priority seating zone.

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As I commute for what seems to be hours, the subway and trains ARE my home, therefore, behavior like this is condoned. :-D

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ma... ma ... ie ga areba no hanashi !

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Campaigns like this aren't usually very effective... those without the common courtesy to behave properly aren't going to change their behavior just because of a sign.

Reminds me of a sign I saw along a city street in Islamabad, Pakistan, during a "no-honking" enforcement effort, "Before honking, consider how you would feel if it were you who was being honked at." That is just plain silly... lol

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A more 'pressing' problem is the 'metabolic' types trying to squeeze themselves into a space which is simply insufficient.

Those spreading themselves too widely on the seats tend to be vagabonds (or drunken sararimen) lying across them to sleep

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there are plenty of seats designated for the elderly and pregnant. why should i give up my seat?

I hope you`re being sarcastic in your post, as anyone thinking like that deserves a slap.

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I agree with Hugh and Sarge - if someone needs the seat more than you, get up, wherever you're sitting. In some obvious cases I have actually shaken people to embarass them into offering their seat to somebody. It usually works.

Think about the future, when you may need such consideration

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bobcatfish,

Thanks for your attempt at an argument. I think it comes down to how you were brought up by your parents as a child. My father would make sure (in a very no-nonsense manner) that I gave up my seat/ held doors open etc for elderly people. I teach my son the same, but sadly this kind of parental education seems to have died out and I wonder whether they ever taught this at all in Japan.

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I wonder whether they ever taught this at all in Japan.

I mean, it's not as though people might reach their own independent decisions that it's a good idea to show courtesy to the old, disabled, pregnant, etc.? or that one might actually think about one's own granny when you see some poor infirm old lady standing while a widget salesman pretends to sleep?

I think the problem about Japanese education is that it teaches you how to behave within your own group / clique, but never how to behave as an independent human being in the community

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"I almost never sit in the priority seating zone"

Heck, I almost never sit, period. In fact, much of the time, I can't even get a good standing position by the door...

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How many times have I offered my seat to a person who needed it more than me and have caused a minor scene when the person refuses. One time I told a slouch of a kid sitting there with a pregnant woman's belly in front of him, after I told him to ass up his seat and when he complied the pregnant woman refused the seat. How stupid do I look? There are times when I lie and say it's ok,I am getting off at the next station. It'a all about saving face!

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