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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

#191

Post by jmadsen »

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…

Equally, Tokyo is not "the rest of the country", and much of the behavior you described would never happen even here in Osaka (IMHO)

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

#192

Post by rdancer »

vinceguidry wrote: post #186
rdancer wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The creditors have to sue the estate, not the relatives, and if the estate is empty, they are not going to get anything. If they sued the relatives, the suit would be thrown out rather quickly. Heirs are not liable for the deceased's debts. They can choose to, and sometimes do, satisfy them for their own reasons, but there is no way a creditor can force them to do that any more than they can force a random person. Un…

> The creditors have to sue the estate, not the relatives, and if the estate is empty, they are not going to get anything. If they sued the relatives, the suit would be thrown out rather quickly. Heirs are not liable for the deceased's debts. That is definitely the case in the US, but I would hesitate before assuming it's that way everywhere else in the world. I do know that there are cases in Japan where the decease…

That's still the same issue, people confounding estate and family members, and it gets written that way because it elicits emotional response, not necessarily because it were true.

It looks like in principle it is the same as the English Common Law or the Napoleonic or Germanic law:

"[T]here are two ways for successors to consent how to inherit: simple consent (tanjun-syonin) and limited consent (gentei-syonin). Simple consent is to accept the whole inheritance, including debts and assets. Limited consent is to accept debts with a limitation up to the value of the assets."

-- http://japan.angloinfo.com/money/pensions-wills/inheritance-...

In fact I doubt there is a legal system in existence that doesn't follow this principle. It would be ripe for abuse, as everybody would be getting loans secured on the wealth of their rich relatives.

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

#193

Post by vinceguidry »

rdancer wrote: post #192
vinceguidry wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The creditors have to sue the estate, not the relatives, and if the estate is empty, they are not going to get anything. If they sued the relatives, the suit would be thrown out rather quickly. Heirs are not liable for the deceased's debts. That is definitely the case in the US, but I would hesitate before assuming it's that way everywhere else in the world. I do know that there are cases in Japan where the decease…

That's still the same issue, people confounding estate and family members, and it gets written that way because it elicits emotional response, not necessarily because it were true. It looks like in principle it is the same as the English Common Law or the Napoleonic or Germanic law: "[T]here are two ways for successors to consent how to inherit: simple consent (tanjun-syonin) and limited consent (gentei-syonin). Simp…

> That's still the same issue, people confounding estate and family members, and it gets written that way because it elicits emotional response, not necessarily because it were true.

The article I linked was pretty clear in that the apartment owners sued the family, not the estate.

Think about it, how much is a college kid going to have in his estate? They have to sue the family, because they're the only ones that can make good.

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

#196

Post by iofj »

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.

After having 3 kids and going through a lot of strollers I can answer that a bit. A way to make a big improvement for yourself and for others is to buy the $50 basic stroller. Not the $500 "full-featured" one. Far better everywhere, and far more considerate of everybody else on pavement, public transport and everywhere else.

This: http://www.toysrus.com/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-3490966...

Not this: http://www.bobgear.com/uploads/products/stroller-strides-fit...

You'd think that a $500 stroller would be better, but after trying 3 of those it's just not true. A $50 one folds up to the size of large umbrella, and weighs 2-3 kg. A $500 one folds up to the size of a suitcase, weighs 20-30 kg. Even folded out they're smaller.

So it should be pretty obvious that a $50 one is far, far better anytime you have it with you and aren't using it as a stroller. Which is really quite often : in the car, on stairs, anywhere you're expected to sit down (from parties, at friend's houses, even cinemas). And truth be told, they're better when you're using them as well. They don't roll as nicely, but they're so much lighter. Also, you have zero issues with breaking them.

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

#198

Post by xbmcuser »

vinceguidry wrote: post #193
rdancer wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's still the same issue, people confounding estate and family members, and it gets written that way because it elicits emotional response, not necessarily because it were true. It looks like in principle it is the same as the English Common Law or the Napoleonic or Germanic law: "[T]here are two ways for successors to consent how to inherit: simple consent (tanjun-syonin) and limited consent (gentei-syonin). Simp…

> That's still the same issue, people confounding estate and family members, and it gets written that way because it elicits emotional response, not necessarily because it were true. The article I linked was pretty clear in that the apartment owners sued the family, not the estate. Think about it, how much is a college kid going to have in his estate? They have to sue the family, because they're the only ones that ca…

  I think it's for properties  where the loan is cosigned by the parents.

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

#199

Post by srean »

aaronchall wrote: post #176
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…

"And that girl, she will have one hell of a story to tell to her future friends." - No, she would be too embarrassed to mention it. "They ran a train twice a day just for me, I was the only rider, it was my personal limo-train." "Random acts of kindness like that are happening every day around us." - It's not a random act of kindness, it's an example of the agency cost of bureaucracies who are more focused on image t…

I applaud your measured, reasonable and well-read response. If only there were more like these.

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

#200

Post by dropit_sphere »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #63
hkmurakami wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Upon reflection, I want to apologize for the overly pessimistic and harsh tone I chose to use. Japan is almost always presented to the West from a unbalanced, exaggerated perspective (which has irked me in the past), and upon reading your post, gleaming with optimism, I instinctively reacted by adopting an exaggeratedly grave perspective to attempt to balance it out -- which in retrospect was simply uncalled for. Tha…

> Upon reflection, I want to apologize for the overly pessimistic and harsh tone I chose to use. No worries. Your points were fair and your tone wasn't harsh. > Thanks for your optimism and hope for the good in all of us. I could use some of that too. I try. And it's hard, too. But I think we need to do it, we need to learn to refocus on positive things, because our own attitudes on individual and social level form a…

"...whose mind is pure machinery!"

Now might be a good time to link to Scott Alexander's Meditations on Moloch ( http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/) , if anyone is in for some very accessible (but also very long, and thought-provoking) reading. It does a good job of helping one think about the forces for and against, say, a train station remaining open for a single girl.

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