06/15 - Mannin Densha
I thought I had rode on the real deal last weekend on the way back from Akihabara,
but today proved me way wrong. The packed train is one of the most spectacular
aspects of Japanese life.
What it was
On the way back from Akiba, we were in a train where there were a few inches,
and quite a few more centimeters, between each person. There was not really any
room to move, however, so I thought it was a full train. However, today, riding
from Kamakura up the mountain to the station nearest the Daibutsu I experienced
it for the first time. I was one of the first five or six people to go in the
door, so I was pretty close to the opposite door, and, once there, I was constantly
forced further into the person behind me by people jamming themselves in the entrance.
How I knew it was normal
Every time I would get smashed into the lady behind me, who was over a foot shorter
and probably one hundred pounds or more less than I, I kept saying gomen nasai
and suimasen, apologetically. One of the Chiba University students
finally told me "no it's ok" though, because she had seen mannin
densha before and knew it was completely normal. I was pretty shocked when
the lady completely ignored my apologies and then I was told that.
But it must be done...
For the salaryman, there is no late. He or she must take whatever train that comes
no matter how packed, because there are just no other reasonable options. I'm
not sure if much smaller interpersonal space was a part of Japanese culture before
the western-seeming corporation-driven white-collar economy emerged in the middle
of the 20th century, but if it did it explains why this is totally acceptable
and if it didn't it explains why it became acceptable.