holla!

This is a story of the American staff’s experience when I worked for some foreign company.

He said ,” When I first came to Japan why people didn’t like to sit next to me in the train. I wondered like many foreigners why people didn’t like to sit next to me in the train.
Often passengers would be standing for a long distance although there was a seat available right nest to me.
At first I was worried.Did I have a bad smell ? Perhaps they thought I was a molester of women .
Of course it was for none of those reasons. It’s a simply that many passengers might think that I would speak to them in English. What would they do if they couldn’t answer ? It’s difficult for foreigners to understand what difficult situation this is for Japanese.”

Recently, quite the same story was in the article on Japan Ｔimes.

I think Japanese people are sometimes too shy to talk and they think they might be laughed at when they speak incorrect English . I think people should be more encouraged and should have more courage to speak like Nova students.
The most important thing is not to hesitate to talk. We have to talk a lot.

Never assume…it makes an ‘ass’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me’

Morning, I only know a couple of people with cars, and they live way out in Saitama. They never drive to Tokyo cause it’s easier just to take the train.

But anyway, I’ll totally ride in your car even if you’re a bad driver. I’ll keep my eyes on the road for you…like a co-pilot.

As you said, the final train is around at 1 AM. If we miss it , we have to wait until around at 4～5 AM.When I was a student, I worked for Japanese restaurant as a part timer in Kabukicho in Shinjuku. When we had a drink ,sometimes we had to go home by the first train.
And when I worked for some foreign company, sometimes I had to use a taxi or stay at the company.Anytime,missing the final train causes a large opportunity and a financial loss.

I understand your anger well.
However, in this case I think the Tokyu railway company should have waited for the arrival of Nanbu Line for the same reason as Nanbu Line. Or I think the final train of Tokyu might have waited for the arrival of the Nanbu train.

If you were able to ask the local station attendant in Japanese at that time , “Can I take the final train of Tokyu from Musashikosugi?”, it might have been very effective.

Cheers from Madrid Spain!

Nicolas and Nora
http://whatsupinmadrid.blogs-de-voyage.fr/

Sometimes it annoys me when people can’t wait their turn to get off the train. Their pushing and shoving to get off first just makes the process take longer.

One time, the train was so packed that my arm was stuck behind one person, and my foot was trapped behind another. The kooks on the train were in their usual panic to get off first, and I got shoved face-forward to the ground.

As my arms were stuck, there was no way to break my fall, and I thought I was gonna land flat on my face! Luckily, I managed to wiggle my leg free just in time to save myself.

One of the fools behind me kept pushing really violently, so I made sure to elbow him as hard as I could right in his rib-cage. He backed off after that.

I swear, it’s like a herd of wild animals stampeding off the train, and you’ve gotta be careful you don’t get trampled!

Your opinions are very useful.If neighboring people are interested in the others’ abnormal behavior, the suicide might be decreased, as Noriko said.

I think if you feel symptoms of depression , such as ,loss of confidence, sleeplessness,loss of a appetite , unexplained headaches, digestion problems, go and talk to a doctor. There is nothing wrong or embarrassing about feeling distressed. The next step might be to realize that it is not your value as a human being that is at stake here, but that you are one of the many victims of the present state of the economy.

It’s very difficult to pinpoint the reasons behind these acts of despair, in most cases, layoffs, unemployment , professional insecurity seems to be the main factors. There are a lot of people who were not able to pay back the loan borrowed from banks to build their houses especially in the Japanese bubble term
and couldn’t pay back their consumer credit.

As you know, the number of people who committed suicide last year reached more than 32,000.That is more than three times the number of people who died in traffic accidents during the same period. Around 90 people committed suicide every day in Japan.This is a very serious problem as well as declining birthrate.

Moreover, the almost perfect symmetry between the graphs of unemployment and suicides in Japan for these 10 years indicates that there is a strong correlation between the tow.

Kazu, it’s good to hear from you! But I’m sorry that you had to see such a traumatizing thing up close and personal. I agree with you about suicide. I can’t really say if it’s right or wrong, and suppose it depends on the situation.

For example, if someone has terminal cancer, and will die an extremely painful death in the next few months, do they have a right to decide how they should die? This is a big issue now in America, where some places want to allow physician assisted suicide in cases like this.

I also agree that people who commit suicide should consider the impact it will have on other people who witness it. The thing I saw in Kawasaki happened in the middle of the afternoon, and there were a lot of small children there.

I’ve also heard stories about the Chuo line being the most famous for suicide. Another reason I heard for people jumping in front of the Chuo is that the orange color of the train attracts them to it.

Noriko, I also think incident is a better word to describe what these train suicides, but agree that it’s probably easier for family members if they call it an accident. It must be really hard for them to cope with something so sad.