If you come to Japan there's no real way around that, you're gonna be on trains.
You can't really walk...
I mean, technically you could but...
Hello everybody it's The Uwaga Pies again!
This is Ryo, I'm Kris
and we're gonna talk about Japanese trains,
we've got together
some helpful tips for you guys to use Japanese trains in an effective way...
so that you
get to wherever you want to... get to...
ALRIGHT! LET'S BEGIN!
NUMBER ONE!
Avoid riding the train during RUSH HOUR!
This may be a little bit difficult, but if you know the specific times
that it would most likely be crowded, then you could definitely avoid those times.
From 7AM to 9AM in the morning
From 5PM to 7PM in the afternoon
and of course any days from 11PM to 12AM!
The Last Train!
Because the trains in Japan stop running for the night.
If you're only visiting Japan, then you probably
don't have to go anywhere during these hours..
so it's best to avoid it.
Trains are really, really
crowded then, and it's a bit unpleasant to ride them.
Another thing to keep in mind
when using the train during the rush hour, is that it's going to be really difficult
and bothersome for you and everybody else if you carry any big bags with you... or suitcases.
If you have something big to carry around, be DOUBLE careful about not taking the rush hour train.
The NEXT thing is... Giving your seat to an elderly or pregnant women or...
even children.
To children?
Yeah!
You don't really give up seats to kids... where I'm from.
Babies?
Babies... yeah!
Like, a woman with a kid or a MAN with a kid for that matter.
Like, whenever there's a really small baby involved then sure, but not like a schoolkid.
I like to give (up my seat) to kids! LOL LOL More than to elderly.
Okay... okay!
YEAH,
this is just a simple thing. I think like, it's just a common decency.
Especially because, you're not gonna ride the train for THAT long.
It's not like you're
gonna get SO TIRED.
With elderly or pregnant...
women?
people?
Women!
It's only women that
get pregnant, Kris...
There's usually a designated section where they have priority. That's on
the front of the cart. If it's labelled as one, generally you're
not supposed to sit in there. What I find charming about Japan, and being a foreigner
in Japan, is that people make an extra effort to make you seat next to your friend, if there
is two of you. They would change their seating, so that you sit next to each other. That's
very nice. And people do that a lot in Japan.
OKAY, so this is another kinda like a 'end of the train' fact.
Same as the priority seat one...
Basically, in the corners, very corners
of every train, there's usually a space for baby carts and wheelchairs.
Those are this kind of spaces where you go in, and you're like,
HOW WOW THAT'S A FREE SPACE
with no door right behind it.
So, you wanna put your suitcase there, when you're heading from the airport.
But, you wanna try to avoid this, especially during rush hour when everywhere
is crowded and there's like a person in a wheelchair trying to come in. I feel like
this is some kinda tip that you really need to know, cuz they don't really label this
kinda stuff. Yeah, yeah.
On every platform, you can find this pretty cool diagram, that
shows you specific train cars, and which one you're supposed to get on, so that the transit
you're trying to take is going to be the fastest.
So it's really easy to see that, for example,
if you're switching from Yamanote Line to Hanzomon Line, you're supposed to be in car
number 3, if you're switching in Shibuya, for example.
And I think you should definitely
do this one, when you're heading from the airport to your station. Cuz, at every station
there's like ONE corner or ONE car that's... you get out and RIGHT THERE, there's an elevator.
I think you should definitely do this.
You should NEVER take more than one person's amount
of space when you sit down.
I think foreigners are often guilty of occupying too much space...
I mean... Maybe you don't feel like you should say it, so I'll go and say it! Even if you
have a backpack or some kind of suitcase, you're supposed to just take one person's
seat and put this things, STACK them on top of yourself
Just do whatever you can,
to not cross the lines between your seat and the next seat.
AND this is gonna be weird
to say it out loud, but I think, this is one of the reasons Japanese people don't like
sitting next to foreigners.
Because they sometimes DON'T. If it's a foreigner, he probably doesn't
know how to behave, so he's gonna be POKING me. I might be wrong, but...
I'm Japanese,
so I see actual Japanese people, especially older women, and I don't want to single people
out, but a lot of them usually have shopping bags and they don't care! A lot of times,
they'll have those next to them, and it's usually on the priority seat... That's the
kinda stuff (we are advising against). You're supposed to make an effort, nobody's expecting
you to do some impossible... tetris-like puzzle.
You CANNOT drink or eat on the train.
I think that nobody will care TOO much, unless you're eating onion curry on the floor during rush
hour, maybe that might be a bit too much. Well, it's about the smell. It's about the
risk of, for example, spilling a drink on somebody, when you're drinking like Starbucks
coffee on a train. Sometimes you can spill things on people, and that would be real bother
for everybody in the situation.
I don't know... Sometimes you see an old man holding a sake...
in his hand sometimes... so maybe us, Japanese, aren't really protective either. It's funny
that when you first arrive in Japan, because then you see these vending machines with drinks
everywhere. You get a drink just before you hop on the train... What am I supposed to
do with my drink, I just got it!
That is a really good point, yeah!
Reading books, magazines
or newspapers on the train! Yeah... That is, especially on a crowded train, this must be
empathized I think. I personally have a big pet-peeve about newspapers.
They're REALLY dirty.
They're just... ash... SO dirty. It's usually when you're sitting down and the guy
next to you is going like THAT! It is like halfway on your face! When it is a crowded
train-situation, everybody is kinda like, trying to fight for their personal space.
But also, everybody is kind of pretending they're not there. Everybody is so absent-minded.
On their phone, pushing against each other, but not acknowledging the fact. So, nobody
would ever say 'sorry'. It's a weird social construct, crowded Japanese trains. Every
year there's more and more warning signs about being careful when you're using your phone.
I think the biggest problem was when PokemonGO was a thing.
That was CRAZY! What was happening here.
In trains, in parks, everywhere! People were like walking under cars because of PokemonGO.
There's this gym I go to that still has a sign by the elevator,
PLEASE DO NOT PLAY POKEMONGO IN THIS BUILDING.
PokemonGO left its mark on Japan.
VERY huge mark.
If you get lost in a huge station, such as Tokyo Station, Ueno Station... these are REALLY big. Even
Shinjuku (Station), for example.
You should always look up for signs! I'm not really sure
if this is just something I had personally, but a lot of my friends didn't see that. They're
like, 'How do you go to the East exit?!' and then they're like 'OHHH!'
I had to tell them,
look up, look up!
If you get lost and you're very confused, you should ask a station employee
for help and they'll be very happy to help you. Even if they struggle with English, they're
gonna do their best to help you.
It's better to avoid asking other passengers for help,
for different reasons... Japanese people are very helpful and they're gonna go out of their
way to help you but it's gonna be kind of a problem for them... Because you're kinda
taking them away from what they were doing... They wouldn't want to just abandon you...
lost in the wild west of Japanese train station. But, it's just better to ask an employee.
Yeah, I mean, that's what they paid for. They're trained to do these things for you.
If you're visiting Japan and you're gonna be here about a week or more, you should get yourself a
train pass! Which is a SUICA... or a PASMO!
'Suica' means watermelon by the way...
The more you know!
Pasmo' means 'pasmo'.
This is not going to get you any discounts but
it's just much more convenient when you're going through gates, you can just CLICK it
to the gate and it determines the price automatically. Because, if you don't get it then you have
to calculate the price of the distance. This is gonna save you, maybe up to twenty minutes
every single day. I think it has a 500YEN deposit but you'll get it back, when you're
done with the card. Just go to the station, say you're done with it and they'll give you
back like 500YEN minus like tax fees.
And then when you have it, you just charge it with money,
however much you want and anything that you don't spend you can just cash out.
So, this also works as a payment method for some vending machines and stuff
so it's very, very, very useful.
The final point is, always,
ALWAYS,
know which exit is closest to your destination.
If you're at the Shinjuku Station for example,
and you take the wrong exit...
you might be
walking like a few kilometers extra.
I mean, Shinjuku Station is an extreme example,
it's one of the biggest ones, but still...
Passage through the station is usually the quickest
and the shortest route.
As opposed to going around it. If you can't get a specific exit,
then at least get the direction right.
So like, at least use the one of the east ones,
west ones, north, south (exits).
Just go on google maps and just zoom in as much as you
possibly can and it'll say A5 or A4 etc.
Just use Google Maps!
It's super efficient in Japan
it's got all of the latest train times, if the trains are delayed....
it's updated basically live!
It's got live updates.
It's gonna get you the most optimal route every single time.
Google is smart! You just gotta trust it.
I think every time I tried to outsmart Google Maps
by saying 'Ahh! This is bullsh*t, I'm just gonna go with my gut feeling'
I was WRONG
100% of the times.
So please, trust Google Maps
and enjoy your Japanese trains because they're very nice...
there's some rules you have to go by but...
despite that, it's a pleasure to be on Japanese trains :)!