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Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

citylab.com

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Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#141

Post by TeMPOraL »

code4life wrote: post #139
TeMPOraL wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are many ways this marginal money expenditure could be put to a better use. Most of those scenarios, however, would never happen, because human organizations are nowhere near that efficient. The most likely outcome of closing the station would be the money getting distributed between organizational overhead and bumping up someone's salary a little bit. Or maybe another company project would get finished li…

> Most of those scenarios, however, would never happen, because human organizations are nowhere near that efficient. Actually, taxes are taken to pay for this, right? By simply not taking the taxes, people could be free to make better decisions with that money.

We create organizations because even for their bloat, they make things more efficient than having individuals doing their individual, uncoordinated things. So no. Also, Japan railways were in fact privatized and so the heroes of this story are actually people working for private companies. I'm not sure if tax money is even used here, and if so, then probably not much of it.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#142

Post by pbhjpbhj »

jamespo wrote: post #116
greggman wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a vastly different experience and interpretation than me. First off people will stop during rush hour in Tokyo to help people. Happens all the time. Tokyo is not cold. I've never seen anyone have trouble getting someone to take their picture, ever. I'm not denying your experience but I'm going to claim it's not common. Second, while it's sad people feel the need to take their own lives it is arguably the hei…

Strollers are a PITA on public transport but what's the alternative? This post seems to be lacking empathy.

Assuming the stroller is synonym for a pushchair/buggy then the best alternative IMO, unless the parent is infirm in some way, is a sling and backpack.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#143

Post by rdancer »

Paradigma11 wrote: post #121
rangibaby wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tokyo is a place where a train being 2 minutes late causes ire (and a train conductor once killed himself for a mistake as trivial as this). The driver going too fast from being late was the cause of a (100+ fatalities) train accident about 10 years ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagasaki_rail_crash > It's a place where if a person jumps into the train to kill themselves, many will curse under their breaths…

Does the bill really go to the family or to the jumpers assets/inheritance?

It goes to the estate, but that is logical, and doesn't elicit as much emotional response, so the only people you hear talking about it are those who don't understand that distinction.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#144

Post by TeMPOraL »

rdancer wrote: post #143
Paradigma11 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the bill really go to the family or to the jumpers assets/inheritance?

It goes to the estate, but that is logical, and doesn't elicit as much emotional response, so the only people you hear talking about it are those who don't understand that distinction.

Could you elaborate on that distinction? I definitely do not understand it, but I would like to.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#145

Post by veidr »

hkmurakami wrote: post #26
TeMPOraL wrote: post #13

Lovely story. Hats off to Japan Railways. I'm also happy that The Atlantic/Citylab decided to publish this story. And thanks 'hudibras for submitting it here! They say that it's the money that makes the world turn, and love only keeps it together. It would be easy for the Railways to ignore that girl. There's no economical reason to keep that station open. It's a waste of time and resources. And yet, someone decided…

The thing is, they (the headline) say "Japan", but this only happened because it's way out in the countryside where people have a "village mentality" of helping each other out (but the trade off is that everyone sticks their nose in your business). Japan railways itself split into several separate companies upon privatization. This would never happen in Tokyo. As much as we think of the country as being monolithic (i…

> [Tokyo is] a place where if a person jumps into the train to kill themselves, many will curse under their breaths about being late to work.

That is true, but after having this happen to me upwards of 20 times over the years, I gradually became one of those people.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#147

Post by kwhitefoot »

Joeri wrote: post #118
rangibaby wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Tokyo is a place where a train being 2 minutes late causes ire (and a train conductor once killed himself for a mistake as trivial as this). The driver going too fast from being late was the cause of a (100+ fatalities) train accident about 10 years ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amagasaki_rail_crash > It's a place where if a person jumps into the train to kill themselves, many will curse under their breaths…

> The rail operator will also send a large bill to the jumpers family. Isn't this the case in most countries? I suspect they do it to discourage other jumpers, since if you jump you know you're saddling your family with a debt. As a society we could avoid these things if we provided a legal path to requesting to be euthanised, a legal self-determination on the end of your own life. In my country you can request it, b…

Unless the jumper is under the age of majority the family are not responsible for the debts of the deceased in any country I know of. Is it different in Japan? See http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-happens-to-debts-when-someon... for instance.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#148

Post by BostonEnginerd »

jamespo wrote: post #116
greggman wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have a vastly different experience and interpretation than me. First off people will stop during rush hour in Tokyo to help people. Happens all the time. Tokyo is not cold. I've never seen anyone have trouble getting someone to take their picture, ever. I'm not denying your experience but I'm going to claim it's not common. Second, while it's sad people feel the need to take their own lives it is arguably the hei…

Strollers are a PITA on public transport but what's the alternative? This post seems to be lacking empathy.

My issue isn't with small strollers, it's with their Hummer sized pneumatic tired cousins.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#149

Post by vinceguidry »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #144
rdancer wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It goes to the estate, but that is logical, and doesn't elicit as much emotional response, so the only people you hear talking about it are those who don't understand that distinction.

Could you elaborate on that distinction? I definitely do not understand it, but I would like to.

An estate is simply the legal term given to the net worth a person has after they die. There's a legal process that allocates the dead person's resources according to various factors. Generally a person's debts will be satisfied first. Then whatever's left gets divided according to the person's will, if any. If there is no will, a judge will divide assets up amongst surviving relatives. If there is nothing left after satisfying debts, then heirs get nothing. If there is no will and no heirs, the estate goes to the state.

Typically if a person's net worth is negative, debts are not passed on to heirs, leaving creditors to sue for relief. Again, jurisdictions vary, and I would expect there are many other factors at play in a country like Japan where keeping the family's social standing intact may be worth paying off those the deceased wronged instead of dragging the dead person's dirty laundry through the court system even if there's no chance of winning.

Jurisdictions vary, but I would imagine in a case such as the aforementioned, the state wouldn't take the whole estate, only part, after debts are satisfied.

A phenomenal article on this aspect of the "what happens after you die" question is this one:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/nyregion/dying-alone-in-ne...

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#150

Post by ekianjo »

if they only want to serve her, it would be much cheaper to have a taxi or a shuttle bus drive for her morning and evening. To me this is another example of Japan's everlasting inefficiencies long after things stop making sense. Just like every company in Japan keeps fax machines at work just because, you know, they have to.
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