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The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

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Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#81

Post by sho »

timr wrote: post #39
lhorie wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All I could think was that he put on that intervention for us few foreigners Nah. In Japanese culture, it's simply considered rude to be loud in trains.

Still. I've never seen a conductor yell at anyone for being loud, especially in the cities. Maybe it happens in the inaka...

Never seen a conductor do it, but I've seen other passengers lay into someone for being too rowdy or (especially) talking on the phone. Usually following a comically obvious build-up of red-faced anger over 5-10 minutes or so.

Anecdotally I've heard that social censure is far more common and ruthless in the women's-only cars.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#82

Post by toomanybeersies »

BigJono wrote: post #78
toomanybeersies wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the train says it arrives at 1:11, which means that it will be there at some time past 1:11, because it will inevitably be late, caused by breakdowns or track maintenance or the weather (in Australia, if it gets too hot, the trains have to slow down).

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 not much better. Sometimes the PTV app says the bus will arrive in 1 minute, and it arrives 5 minutes later.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#83

Post by rdtsc »

tbabb wrote: post #11

> Operating on the theory that exposure to blue light has a calming effect on one’s mood, rail stations installed these LED panels as a suicide-prevention measure Color me completely skeptical. That sounds like superstition to me. It reports that rates declined after installation, but if they preferentially installed the lights in areas with high rates of suicide, then we should expect to see https://en.wikipedia.org…

> exposure to blue light has a calming effect on one’s mood,

That did sound strange. I know that light therapy is used for treating seasonal depression (a sibling comment already mentioned that). 84% reduction in attempts seem pretty significant. They even quoted the accompanying study which showed that it didn't simply shift the suicides to other station that didn't yet have a light installed.

I wonder if there is another reason besides just the immediate "blue light make the depression subside" effect. Maybe something like "someone is aware of my pain and they tried to stop me by installing this silly light".

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#84

Post by kara_jade »

MarkSweep wrote: post #73
kalleboo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm visiting London right now, and compared to here, Tokyo train stations are amazing for signage. There are always super clear, easy to spot signage for where transfers & exits are, what exits they are and what landmarks they lead to, where elevators or escalators are, etc. Electric signs starting at the entrances (before the gates even) for what trains are arriving at what platforms and when. In London navigational…

The multitude of train companies is further complicated that some companies have through service on each other tracks. Do you will be waiting on a Toei Asakusa Line plateform when a train from the KeiKyuu company shows up. The map inside the train does not have the station you just departed from on it much lest your destination. Good luck! I enjoy figuring out how their system works so it does not bother me. But I te…

Usually HyperDia covers these cases with different companies using the same tracks. It never has misdirected me so far.

http://www.hyperdia.com/en

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#85

Post by sho »

> 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!

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#86

Post by bemmu »

lhorie wrote: post #79
dorfsmay wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand, isn't that how trains work everywhere? Otherwise how are the people in the next city supposed to know when they need to be there to board that train?

When people in japan says "the train will be there 1:11PM", they mean, "it'll be there 1:11:00PM sharp, not 1:10PM, not 1:12PM".

If you ride in the first car and look at the timetable the driver uses, you can see the timetable is accurate to the second.

Here's a photo showing a driver's timetable. In the second row is a 20 second stop at Hazama, the train arrival time is 13:25:05 and departure 13:25:25.

http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/asianrailroad/imgs/f/a/fa9e3956.j...

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#87

Post by latch »

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).

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#88

Post by lovemenot »

An announcement I heard recently at a major station was made in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. The station staff suggested that local passengers should feel free to offer assistance to any tourists who appear to need help.

I felt crowd-sourcing passenger support is a good approach. The number of tourists in Tokyo is increasing considerably, but people in Japan often need prior affirmation that their behaviour would be socially acceptable.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#89

Post by Groxx »

maxsilver wrote: post #71
dorfsmay wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand, isn't that how trains work everywhere? Otherwise how are the people in the next city supposed to know when they need to be there to board that train?

> isn't that how trains work everywhere? I live in Midwest USA, and trains and busses here are routinely off schedule. More than say 60% of the time, it will be 5 to 15+ minutes late, and you'll be forced to waste that time just waiting for arrival/transfer. Also, occasionally buses arrive and depart a little bit early , so you can't just arrive on time and be safe either, you have to plan on being at least 10 minute…

That sounds pretty good compared to my Midwest experiences :|

Hourly schedule, literally never fits the times presented so you just go and wait. And sometimes you end up waiting 1.5 hours with nothing, so you call up the station to find out wtf and they have no idea where the bus is. "It should be there soon!" -> it finally comes after 2.5 hours.

This happened at least 4 times in the 30 or so attempts I made to use it to get to college. A mere 3 miles away. Then I gave up and just walked or drove. Eventually attended a town hall, and the higher-ups claimed no knowledge of any of this. Last I heard it was still performing at the same level.

I assume they were either skipping our stops to fake a normal round-trip time, or just disappearing for an hour or two to smoke.

Re: The Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

#90

Post by mistermann »

tbabb wrote: post #20
pwaivers wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It said that the lights led to a 84 percent decline in suicides attempts. That may not be true, but it is definitely way higher than "regression towards the mean" would cause.

One could not say what is "expected" without knowing either the statistics of suicides in Japanese train stations, or the statistics of where installations happened. If per-station variance is high, or if the installed stations were significant outliers (or both), 84% would be perfectly within expectation. I find it very hard to believe that the color of the light in the train station would sway a person's life-and-d…

Emotions themselves are very woo-y things.
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