No Wonder We Got Seats

I forgot to post this a couple of weeks ago.

I was working an extra shift on my day off and another teacher and I rode the train home together. This scene greeted us when we got on the train.

Unfortunately I can't move the crap at the right side of the screen so that the full video is viewable from this website.



Public intoxication is really common in Japan and isn't frowned upon. I've seen more drunk people stumbling around the streets here than I ever did at university. And no one cares.

More Strange Subway Stuff

I wrote 3 months ago about some strange stuff I saw one day. I've since seen much more pornographic sandwich board advertising and have even seen more of the little Michael Jackson impersonator. But until today I hadn't seen much more strange subway stuff.

I was riding home from school practicing Japanese and two Japanese girls sat down beside me. I didn't give them much thought and went back to trying to learn 3000 kanji so I can read a Japanese book (only ~2850 to go!).

A few stops after the girls got on the train I noticed a guy shoving himself through what was now a crowded subway car. He wasn't excusing himself as he pushed his way from one end to the other. He was making for the other end of the car but when he was perpendicular to the girl two spots to the right of me he made an abrupt turn toward her and pushed his way past a couple more people to stand in front of her. He grabbed two of the rings hanging from the ceiling and then leaned in, bringing his face about 4 centimeters from hers.

From the moment I noticed this asshole shoving himself through the crowd to the point where he leaned into this girl's face was about 10 seconds. At first I thought he was just a rude asshole; then I thought that this rude asshole must know this girl because he made an abrupt turn toward her. But he didn't.

Immediately after leaning into her personal space he repeatedly shouted "Sumimasen! Sumimasen!" ("Excuse me! Excuse me!"). He shouted for about five seconds and then, disgusted that the girl didn't acknowledge him, resumed pushing his way through the crowd to the other end of the train car.

I was totally fixated on this guy: from the moment I noticed him pushing his way through the crowd, to when he was shouting at the girl, to when he stormed off in anger, I didn't take my eyes off of him. And I was the only one. Not a single person cared that he was pushing his way through the crowd; not a single person cared that he was shouting at some girl; and not a single person cared when he resumed shoving his way through the crowd. The strangest part was that the girl he was shouting at didn't bat an eyelash while he shouted at her.

When the screamer exited the car I looked over at the girl and she was gorgeous - and very composed. Her beauty explained why the guy took an interest in her but I wasn't able to figure out how she remained totally serene. It bothered me more than it did her that she got screamed at by this guy. She acted as if he hadn't existed. Maybe she's adjusted to these kinds of things the same way women in North American adjust to being hooted and hollered at?

If I spoke better Japanese I would have loved to talk to her about the whole episode. If I ever see her again I'll have a leg up on the competition, too - I'll know not to break the ice with a "Sumimasen."

Strange things...

I saw three very strange things today. In order of strangeness: a 5 year old boy dancing to Michael Jackson in the street; a man wearing a sandwich board advertising porn; three girls on the train touching each other's breasts. All of these events were within an hour of each other.

The boy in the picture above was dancing where these guys usually dance. He must be a good dancer if he can scare off those greasers. Kidding aside, the kid was quite good. He was dancing to "Smooth Criminal" and he definitely was one.

The man wearing the sandwich board with scantily clad women on it was kind of creepy. He was handing out tissues (handing out packages of tissues with information about your product on them is a mainstay of Japanese advertising) which had the address of some sort of strip club on them. I was most intrigued by the look on the man's face. He was just as resigned to his crappy job as anyone else I've seen doing something they hate. It didn't seem to bother him at all to wear a sandwich board with pictures on it that 13 year old boys would happily masturbate to. Although with the advent of the internet I imagine 13 year old boys now need something more racy than women posing provocatively in their bras and panties to get off...

The young girls touching each other's breasts was the strangest thing I saw all day. I was riding the train home from work and these girls got on the train and stood next to the door. One of the girls had a loose bra strap so she asked her friend to tighten it for her. I'm sure just this act would give a lot of Japanese men something to think about for the rest of the evening. After it was tightened the girl admired herself in the glass door. When she turned around her friend poked her in the breast. Then the pokee poked the other girl in one of her breasts. After a few more rounds the poking turned into groping. It's like they were feeling for growth. I'm sure young girls do this all the time - at home. Everyone is curious about their bodies and there is nothing wrong with that. However, you don't explore your body and your friends' bodies on a train that, from 5am-9am and 5pm-9pm, has women only cars because of problems with sexual assault in crowded trains.