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The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

citylab.com

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Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#151

Post by sho »

latch wrote: post #87
sho wrote: post #85

> rail stations in Japan began installing these LED panels as a suicide-prevention measure Another technique they use is to play recorded birdsong and other "sounds of nature" at some open-air stations, which supposedly makes people feel more peaceful and relaxed. It's quite subtle, random and realistic-sounding and caused me quite a lot of confusion looking for the invisible birds before learning the truth!

The point of the bird sounds is to help visually impaired people find the exit (notice it's always coming from where the escalator starts).

Hm. Are you sure? I don't mean the repetitive "chirp" sound which is typical for guiding the visually impaired, most obviously at traffic signals. I mean actual birdsong recordings, played quite subtly at random intervals (ie, sometimes minutes apart). It would seem quite an impractical way to guide anyone.

Anyway, my information is from a friend whose uncle works at Tokyo Metro, and has seen his fair share of jinshin jiko maguro. She was quite clear about the notion that it was an anti-suicide measure, and I believed her. I did only notice it on the Saikyou line.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#152

Post by xyzzyz »

794CD01 wrote: post #142
marak830 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is so much here that couldn't work as it does, without the implicit assumption that everyone is going to behave politely. Hell the polite queuing after a major earthquake for water and food is absolutely astounding. The foreigners who don't try to live up to the social standards while living here should be shunned by the local gaijins.

Shunning as pseudopunishment is silly. If it's not a problem, let them be. If it is a problem, fine them or arrest them.

If it's not a problem, let them be. If it is a problem, fine them or arrest them.

This is very American way of thinking. Japanese society is like it is precisely because it follows different norms than American ones.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#153

Post by Fins »

ajdlinux wrote: post #101
Fins wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here (well, I can manage a few basic phrases in Japanese, but that's about it). Navigating Japan's rail system was very easy. Well, unless you enter turnstiles at the station and then try to exit right from the same station, that seems to confuse SUICA a lot and you have to go through the manual lane...

Last time I was in Japan (a couple of months ago) I learned that at some stations they actually sell a station-access-only ticket (~JPY200 for a few hours IIRC) for people who want to go in to meet someone or to use the shops.

Ah, nice. Might be something new, unless I missed in 2 years ago when I was there last time.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#154

Post by xxxdarrenxxx »

kumarvvr wrote: post #93

Recently went to Japan. For a 'order' freak like me, it was heaven on earth. Not only in train stations, each and every aspect of their lives revolves around understanding human behavior and coming up with solutions to make activities as less confusing as possible. Their commitment to discipline is astounding. If everyone on earth were like the Japanese, our pace of technological, social and other forms of developmen…

And millions of people suiciding extra in the world annually.

I could argue that they are emotionally-socially less developed and they use cognition to evade dealing/accepting the feels.

They also are behind on establishing relationships with other governments/cultures relative to their economical and technological status.

Their population growth is also very low and close to declining, not enough people wanting kids.

If you think your world is beautifull, then why suicide, why not want to share it with kids.

Objectively one might argue it puts a hard stop to nature itself, as it's the base for human life to even exist.

That doesn't seem natural (no pun)

While we might not like open display of emotions and such, the underlying function is releasing (negative)emotions/energy. It's the people who keep it all in that tend to end up in a less than desirable place.

In the west a lot of suicidal/depressed people have been helped succesfully through dealing openly with emotions. "Self imposed" cognitive restrictions and trying to hide emotions are often at the base of unhappiness or the aforementioned scenarios.

Ending on a soft tone, the Japanese that do live happy are likely to enjoy it the longest of us all.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#155

Post by ajdlinux »

Fins wrote: post #153
ajdlinux wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I was in Japan (a couple of months ago) I learned that at some stations they actually sell a station-access-only ticket (~JPY200 for a few hours IIRC) for people who want to go in to meet someone or to use the shops.

Ah, nice. Might be something new, unless I missed in 2 years ago when I was there last time.

Oh, if you use a Suica card the system still gets confused. So they haven't really fixed your problem. Also, the notion of paying for access purely to a rail platform was super foreign to me...

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#156

Post by Fins »

ajdlinux wrote: post #155
Fins wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, nice. Might be something new, unless I missed in 2 years ago when I was there last time.

Oh, if you use a Suica card the system still gets confused. So they haven't really fixed your problem. Also, the notion of paying for access purely to a rail platform was super foreign to me...

I guess that's how they can keep the place reasonably clear and moving along.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#157

Post by sumedh »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #82
BigJono wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Melbourne at least it seems like the system is run exactly at capacity. If one train has to stop at a platform for 3 minutes extra because of a signal fault or a sick passenger, every train on that line (and probably 2 other lines) for the next 3 hours is critically fucked. It seems like there's no leeway in the timetables to make up lost time, and no extra trains parked in the outer suburbs (morning) or CBD (afte…

The other day my train had to wait for 5 minutes just outside Flinders St station because didn't have a platform to park the train at. Flinders is a real bottleneck, if the flow starts to stutter there, everything falls to bits. Upon saying that, Melbourne's trains are usually pretty good, over 90% on time. It's the buses here that I have issues with. The timetable at the stop is completely useless, and the app is no…

> It's the buses here that I have issues with.

There are the famous phantom buses, the App says it will arrive and then at the last moment it just disappears.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#158

Post by mikekchar »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #143
mikekchar wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't even know there was a green car pass. That's insane! Even if you are travelling in Obon or Golden Week that will absolutely guarantee that you can travel anywhere you want to go whenever you want. I've only travelled in green car once. I'm a bit of a train nerd, but I'm also cheap so I'm always jealous! Some day I will absolutely travel on the Nozomi Shinkansen, no matter what it costs :-)

"Even if you are travelling in Obon or Golden Week that will absolutely guarantee that you can travel anywhere you want to go whenever you want." On the Sunday at the end of golden week all Shinkansen from Hokkaido to Tokyo, with the exception of the first two trains, were completely sold out. That was two weeks in advance. So being forced to take an early train I had to spend a night in Hokadate, which was actually…

Ha ha! Unfortunately the Nozomi doesn't stop in Shizuoka, so there is a minimum fee for me to ride it :-) I actually thought it was more expensive, so I'm happy to hear it isn't.

And, yeah, this year has been hopeless for the Shinkansen record. I'll be interested to see how they report it...

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