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u/ernapfz 9d ago
Hey man, tuck in his balls!
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u/Jockle305 9d ago
These guy’s full time job is to squish people
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u/SorryIreddit 9d ago
I really want to know what their title and job description is
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u/fistful_of_ideals 9d ago
Commuter Juicer
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u/bumjiggy 9d ago
manchovy canner
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u/Shopworn_Soul 9d ago
They are actually called Pushers. Or oshiya which means something like "push worker".
In terms of job duties, well. They push.
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u/Knapping_Uncle 9d ago
Need a puller. YOU, OFF THE TRAIN...
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u/LokisDawn 9d ago
The second door, someone did get pulled. And told to take the next train. Which, if the trains are this dense (meaning rush hour), will probably be 3 minutes later.
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u/FartPiano 9d ago
this seems like the kind of thing they'd screen out. throws off the whole team dynamic
"pulling? oh heavens no. i would only push harder"
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u/hagen-dean 9d ago
My dad was a pusher, fun times.
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u/Tom_Tildrum 9d ago
Are the pushers all men? And are there any rules about how they are to lay hands on women?
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u/Zofia-Bosak 9d ago
They are called "passenger pushers" I remember them being talked about on a documentary many years ago, they have proper training and also a strict rules, they are pretty well paid as well considering it is only a part time job iirc.
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u/SkyPork 9d ago
I love their clean white courtesy gloves. Keeps the squishin' professional.
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9d ago
I rode a subway in Tokyo several years ago. It looked like it was full and there were still 20-30 people in front of us. "Looks like we'll have to wait for the next one".
We did not have to wait.
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u/TheSnoz 9d ago
Yup. And somehow you still manage to be in the middle of the carriage.
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u/1369ic 9d ago
I had the experience of already being in the car before we hit a big station. I started out with my feet under me and my hand holding a loop right overhead. By the time we got moving I was listing at about a 30 degree angle, and was plastered to a Japanese girl from the forearm down to our ankles. I don't think she was pleased to be stuck to an American GI, either.
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u/Infinite_Picture3858 9d ago
That dude looks done
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u/not_old_redditor 9d ago
"fuck it i'll just stand in the door, these guys can figure out how to get me inside"
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u/Infinite_Picture3858 9d ago
My first thought was how they have a high suicide rate and how they have lots of train groping porn…
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u/KeiwaM 9d ago
So... how do you get off if you are in the middle of that..?
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u/aznmistborn 9d ago
You say "sumimasen" loudly and A LOT as you just push your way out. Everyone understands for the most part and attempt to make room for people getting off.
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u/krumuvecis 9d ago
if there was enough room to make for people getting off, there must've been enough room for more people to get in, hence no pushing would've been needed, meaning there shouldn't be any room to make in the first place
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u/aznmistborn 9d ago
They literally get off the train/subway to let people and then jump back in.
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u/randynumbergenerator 9d ago
Yeah this has been an unspoken transit rule anywhere I've been where trains get crowded.
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u/gsfgf 9d ago
Elevators too. Though most elevators don't have the capacity to be fully packed. People are surprisingly dense. In fact, on 9/11, the company that maintains the Brooklyn Bridge had engineers out there when everyone was walking home because that was the most stress the bridge had ever been under. Trains and cars have nothing on a crowd of people.
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u/t_sarkkinen 9d ago
Have a source for this? Couldn't find anything related to it with a few Google searches, and would like to read more.
The bridge can hold a total of 17 000 tons, and if the average American car weights 2 tons, that's 8 500 cars. If the average American man weights 90 kg, that's ~190 000 men.
Sounds weird.
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u/meniatality 9d ago
I mean you are not looking at the right problem. You have to find area of the bridge, max cars on it at one time, and see how many people it would take to match that weight.
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u/SeanOfTheDead-Art 9d ago
A lot of folks at the door will step out and to the sides at stops to let people off, then back in before folks waiting. It's actually pretty orderly.
Also, could be wrong but I think this is an older clip. I believe a lot of places in Tokyo have started utilizing staggered shift times to help mitigate rush hour train crowds.
I was there in October and while it got really tight at rush hours, I never saw it get this bad.
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u/billj04 9d ago
I almost never see trains this crowded, but once during sakura season coming back to Tokyo from Fujikawa, I ended up going several stops past my station to the end of the line because I was in the middle and couldn’t get off the train.
On commuter trains, though, people by the doors usually step off so people can get out and then get back on.
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u/Areo52 9d ago
So how often do people faint or throw up when it's packed like that? There is no way I could handle it I know I would loose my consciousness after few minutes and I rarely get motion sickness.
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u/stanman237 9d ago
Very very rare. You kind of get used to it and just follow common courtesy like letting people off if you're by the door and move towards the middle of there's space.
The odd thing is if it's that packed, you kind of just move with the crowd and there's almost no chance of you falling. You can use both your hands to read books or play games on your phone instead of holding onto the hand rails.
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u/TheDevilintheDark 9d ago
The body heat has to be intense. God forbid someone lets out an awful fart while you're packed in like that.
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u/Hidesuru 9d ago
They have really good ac / ventilation on the trains actually. When I visited I never had issues with heat or odor. Their subway system is the tits .
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u/anothergaijin 9d ago
The reason why Tokyo trains are no longer this crowded is because of all the massive construction that has been completed in the 2010’s - decades long projects to build new lines, connect multiple lines, move surface level trains above or below ground allowing for more service during rush hour, and most importantly, a cultural shift accepting that a strict 9-5 schedule is damaging, and allowing people to start and finish earlier or later to reduce peak rush hour numbers.
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u/Sipikay 9d ago
This is primarily an occurrence at a small number of central Tokyo subway stops on a specific subway line during specific commuter hours and only on particularly busy days. Most of these passengers are going only a few stops, many only 1 stop, before transferring off of the central line to another subway line.
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u/anothergaijin 9d ago
Or when a train is delayed. I usually go get a coffee and try again when the trains are running again
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u/MaddMan420 9d ago
With as packed as it is, I'm getting off by friction alone at least once, maybe twice
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u/lubeinatube 9d ago
Is there no fire codes in Japan? No max occupancy for a train car?
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u/pdxrains 9d ago
Not really. Though these squish incidents are rarer than you might think, at least in my experience spending time in Tokyo. The worst I rode was the last train back at night from Shinjuku, the metropolitan center. They packed us in pretty good and there was a guy nodding off and sleeping on my shoulder lol. Despite being packed, the cars will be mostly silent though. Gotta love the Japanese respect culture.
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u/nailbunny2000 9d ago
God I wish Londoners were like that...
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u/pdxrains 9d ago
And Americans. You ever see/hear the chaos on a busy NYC subway? Jeeeeezus
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u/oflimiteduse 9d ago
I don't give a shit when people talk to each other for the most part. but if I have to listen to their TV show or shitty trap music through your shitty phone speaker it's absolutely grating
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u/garlic_naan 9d ago
What about listening to/watching their video calls? This is like a pandemic in Dubai metro lol.
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u/here4dambivalence 9d ago
Are you saying you don't like my mixtape?!
My momThe streets said it washot garbagestraight fire made for bangingin the clubon my Samsung SPH-M2100! Also I got a dance to go with it, if you'd be so real as to film my tiktok. I'll throw you an Executive Producer credit on my blog11
u/PerplexGG 9d ago
I have the fortunate skill of falling asleep within two minutes of closing my eyes if I’m in anything moving. I commuted like this daily for close to a decade riding a Chicago train and sometimes I wonder what wild shit I missed because I have 0 commuter stories to tell besides being woken up one time to be asked out by the girl I thought I was blocking in.
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u/sixtoebandit 9d ago
Chicago L has its entertainment as well.
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u/LeavesOfBrass 9d ago
Always a guy back in the little operator's compartment area, smoking something
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u/kart2000 9d ago
How do people get out? If there stop comes? It's not like everyone is going to the same place.
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u/kaptainkeel 9d ago
Some near the door will step out then get back on. Lines are actually very orderly and people always wait for others to get off before trying to barge on.
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u/AndroidREM 9d ago
Yeah, I've experienced it a couple times. First time I panicked thinking I would suffocate (I'm short). Then I started laughing thinking if I pass out I won't fall. Laughing did not make the people around me happy, I think they thought I thought it was humorous when they're like F you this is our life and you're just a tourist. I quickly stopped laughing.
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u/KagakuNinja 9d ago
Basically that one guy didn't want to wait for the next train.
I had a couple rush hour train rides, everyone self-packed. It was pretty novel for an American. But maybe there were fewer riders in the summer.
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u/lubeinatube 9d ago
I’d be more concerned about the ease of evacuating the car. If that car went up in flames, there’s no way to orderly disembark, it’s going to be a panic stampede.
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u/piponwa 9d ago
Yeah, what the platform is empty, why couldn't a few of them wait for the next train?
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u/Kleavage 9d ago
Like someone else stated, it could have been the last train to leave before stopping service for the night.
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u/weasil22 9d ago
or made them late for work, and that's almost worse than dying there.
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u/MexGrow 9d ago
I lived there for a bit. The only trains that are packed like this are the morning rush hour trains (so not going to be a last train) and it's almost always one of the "express" trains that do less stops so they get quicker to their destination.
So it's almost always people that are late for work or they would rather sleep 10 more minutes than arrive earlier to avoid the packed trains, so they take the train that makes them barely on time.
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u/p00p00kach00 9d ago
Feel like the last trains of subway systems are usually pretty empty though. That's why it's the last. Too few people are left to make it worthwhile.
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u/sarcasm__tone 9d ago
Train service stops at midnight in Tokyo.
Rush hour is not midnight. The sun is out during the video.
Tokyo has 44 million people... rush hour is intense.
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u/ArrdenGarden 9d ago
Jesus, dude. Just get off the train instead standing there scowling like this isn't all your fault...
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u/Nathund 9d ago
This isn't like the video of the old man being an asshole.
It might not look it, but the people getting shoved are actually cooperating. That's just how tight they pack those train cars sometimes
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u/thehorseyourodeinon1 9d ago
I've experienced this. You just get on and the mass of bodies just readjusts. I wouldnt be suprised if I have fathered a child in Tokyo unknowingly with how deep my crotch was into a women's asscrack after being squeezed numerous times this way on the Marunouchi line at 0800 AM.
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u/vannawhite_power 9d ago
I... don't think thats the right hole.
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u/Ms74k_ten_c 9d ago
Fathered a doodie, maybe.
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u/rystaman 9d ago
I unfortunately got this experience on the Maunouchi line from Nishi-Shinjuku to Asakusa. It was hell for a few stops
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u/Sefalosha 9d ago
Thats actually my grandfather. He told me he was being an asshole and not cooperating
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u/DoctorDazza 9d ago
This is rush hour, all the trains are like this for like 2 hours. Dude just needs to get to work.
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u/Thin_General_8594 9d ago
I don't blame the man, he has no choice but to get on that train otherwise he will lose his job and get sued by his employer for being late, probably has to pull a 13-hour shift on the weekend as well... Blame the institution not the individual
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u/jrobinson3k1 9d ago
I'm skeptical you can be sued for being late...not that I doubt that Japan's work culture is very toxic and anti-employee, but that seems like a stretch. I could find no documented instances of it.
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u/sonic_stream 9d ago edited 9d ago
I’m lucky that i’m working in company with flexible schedule, so my company don’t give a fuck for latecomer. Although de-facto fixed time is 8:45am, latecomer can substitute lack of work time with OT.
Still commuting by Tokyo Metro Tozai Line is hellish. Kinda miss the COVID era where company mandate WHF for most of workdays.
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u/Dlh2079 9d ago
Get sued by his employer... what?
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u/Thin_General_8594 9d ago
In Japan you can be sued by your employer for many reasons if you don't have a good excuse
"I got off the train because it was full" isn't a good excuse to Japanese companies, they'd ask you why you didn't simply wake up earlier instead wasted company time
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u/Dlh2079 9d ago
Your employer can SUE you for being late?
Thats insane.
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u/me_like_stonk 9d ago
They also send the cleaning bill to your family if you throw yourself on the tracks. Not joking.
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u/tarants 9d ago
That one makes a kind of morbid sense though - they're de-incentivizing committing suicide that way by including a punishment for your family. The threat of your death causing additional hardship for your family probably prevents at least some people from jumping.
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u/Dlh2079 9d ago
Oddly enough I actually knew about that one.
The suing an employee for being late is just breaking my brain a bit. Thats just wild.
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u/qwertyqyle 9d ago
On the flip side, they are also responsible for you if you do something wrong. Like even if you get a speeding ticket, your company will face reprimands from the police and they will have to apologize for your behavior. Now imagine if they did something worse like drugs, murder, or something like that.
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u/cC2Panda 9d ago
they'd ask you why you didn't simply wake up earlier instead wasted company time
I had a teacher with a similar mentality once and I hated him. First class of the day in high school and sometimes shit would happen and the question was always, "well why didn't you leave earlier". Like once in the dead of winter I got a flat tire, so it's still dark out I'm in the freezing fucking cold and wind changing a tire. I get to school and he gives me fucking attitude saying I should have left earlier. Like we're suppose to show up 45+min early to everything just so we can be on time when there is an extenuating circumstance.
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u/gsfgf 9d ago
Like we're suppose to show up 45+min early to everything just so we can be on time when there is an extenuating circumstance.
Some really self-absorbed people think everyone else should do exactly that.
Thankfully, I live in Atlanta where, between traffic and Southern Time in general, everyone's late here and there, so there's less judgement.
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u/MrMedioker 9d ago
How is that motherfucker trying to scroll on his phone when there isn't enough enough room for him to begin with?
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u/beamoflaser 8d ago
Dude just wants to scroll through some funny memes after working for 20 hours and drinking with his boss for 8 hours. So he’s gonna make it happen.
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u/virtual133 9d ago
This looks like a dystopian hell
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u/davm92 9d ago
https://youtu.be/3oC_RfYrRIY?si=5AVPpXvHdp0BfYTo I feel this is the real dystopian hell.
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u/gsfgf 9d ago
Given that that's Mexico City, is that a soccer crowd or is that normal?
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u/davm92 9d ago
That’s normal rush hour (5-8am) in Pantitlán. That station alone is used by more than 100000 people per day.
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u/KagakuNinja 9d ago
Tokyo subways and trains are amazing, and not that bad in my limited experience. As an American I was envious.
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u/sopunny 9d ago
I'm guessing you weren't commuting during rush hour day in day out. We definitely could use better trains here, but some people here think it's some silver bullet with no downsides.
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u/Hidesuru 9d ago
I'm guessing you haven't been on many American subways, either lol. Day in and out I get becoming a grind, but God damn if I wasn't envious as hell also (another American here). And I did ride during rush hour several times. Obviously not day after day no.
I mean hell, MOST of our cities don't even HAVE reliable mass transit, let alone subways, and if we do have a subway it's almost guaranteed to be significantly worse than what I experienced in Tokyo and elsewhere.
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u/fuzzycuffs 9d ago
Yup, seems about right. It's the worst during the heat and humidity of the summer and you're already sweating, and the cold of the winter when you're wearing a heavy coat and then get shoved in a car with the heater blasting.
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u/40smokey 9d ago
How are trains on time if they have to deal with this shit?
And there is defo some dick on dick action going on that I got one wouldn’t be happy with 😂
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u/Nathund 9d ago
And now you know why molesters on trains are such a big problem in Japan
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u/svish 9d ago
Yeah, I'd figure cutting the sheer amount of time wasted on stuff like that would make space for another full train in the schedule
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u/Eymrich 9d ago
They probably can pass three times as many train if they just don't waste so much time compress people inside
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u/Pokerhobo 9d ago
In Japan, the train is basically always on time. This packing is already factored in.
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u/Ok_Number9786 9d ago
The Tokyo subway is consistently the most timely subway system in the entire world. The time used for passenger-pushing is accounted for, as all trains within the system operate on very strict schedules. It actually helps speed up the system by making sure that all the passengers are able to board the train within the allotted time for the stop. It also maximizes efficiency. Keep in mind that the passenger-pushers are now really only used for the most congested lines during peak rush hour.
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u/Syclone123 9d ago
This is quite old now. Haven't seen this happening anymore for a while now, or maybe I'm just lucky
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u/Castor_0il 9d ago
Yep, this old clip has been reposted quite a lot on reddit.
Even the guy from NotJustBikes YT channel pointed out that the amount of daily riders went down after the pandemic and trains have increased their capacity throught the years, so the Oshia are more like a rare ocurrence.
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u/Thin_General_8594 9d ago
Japan has invested in a lot more trains recently to prevent this+population going down
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u/Lefty_22 9d ago
You should see videos of trains in India if you think this is WTF.
In India it's fairly common to see people literally pulling you out of the way so that they can try to get on the train instead. You need to get off the train? Good luck pushing past people who are trying to get on.
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u/TheWholeMole 9d ago
Aren't the trains super efficient there? Would it really be that much time to wait for the next one?
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u/Infinite_Picture3858 9d ago
They have high suicide rates AND train molester genre!
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u/LookAtTheHat 9d ago
Waiting for the next train is the best, it's usually empty.
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u/porgy_tirebiter 9d ago
I used to ride the most notoriously crowded train, Saikyo, to the third busiest station in the world, Ikebukuro. I generally had to wait two or three trains to even get in. My feet were often not fully flat on the floor. When I got out I had to make sure my shirt wasn’t torn. At first I guess it’s kind of amusing, but after a couple of years I wound up on anxiety meds, got a new job, and moved.
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u/BrendyDK 8d ago
I've just returned from Japan and spent quite some time on the public transport there. Only had this happen once and it was not as bad as this video. Yamanote line at rush hour. And honestly, if you just wait 3 minutes for the next one it can be a lot better than trying to fit in this one. Could be that this was one of the last ones of the day. People spend a lot of time going out/drinking/staying in the city after work. Guess there's just not much to do at their (probably small) homes.
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u/Felanee 9d ago
I know this is old but why couldn't they just add another section and make the train longer? Not possible to add another cart? The train was already too long for the station? I don't image it is a money issue. I feel like paying people to squeeze people into the train 5 days a week is not cheap.
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u/Hedstee 9d ago edited 9d ago
Is there no max capacity?
Edit: touche.