Episode Details

This episode was originally released as episode 3 of the Ichimon Japan podcast.

On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: Why do Japanese train stations do that?

• The train system in rural areas versus urban areas in Japan
• Trains in Kagoshima and Ishikawa
• What a Wanmanressha (one man trains) is
• Unmanned rural train stations
• Why Japanese train stations use cute songs to indicate a train is about to depart
• Hasshamero (train departure melodies)
• The use of Nogizaka46's song "Kimi no Na wa Kibō" as a train departure melody
• The logic behind train departure melodies
• A brief history of train departure melodies in Japan
• How the song "Yappa Sukiyanen" by Uashiki Takajin was adapted into a train departure melody after his death in 2014
• How Osaka locals prefer to use "Umeda" when referring the the area in and around JR Osaka Station
• Why there are lines and numbers on the train platforms
• How to line up when waiting for a train
• Women only train cars
• The use of high-pitched noises (17 khz) to disperse people loitering at train stations in Japan
• Standing versus walking on escalators
• How Japanese railway companies are trying to get people to only walk on escalators
• Japanese people's reluctance to stop walking on escalators
• Why standing on escalators can be faster than walking
• Why Japanese train stations use blue LED lights on platforms
• The claim that blue LED lights are extremely effective at preventing suicide
• The role of seken no me (世間の目, the public gaze/the eye of society) on Japanese trains and at Japanese train stations
• Train etiquette
• The claim that cell phones interfere with pacemakers
• Putting on makeup on Japanese trains
• How there's a part-time job in Nagoya where people stand on the escalator all day in order to stop people from walking on escalators
• And more!

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You can check out the Citylab article that is mentioned multiple times during this episode via the link below.

• The Amazing Psychology of Japanese Train Stations

As mentioned in this episode, Nogizaka Station on the Chiyoda Subway Line uses an adapted version of the Nog