In  Front Of The Yellow Line

                                By Shawn Wells

                             Turning Japanese

My trilogy comes to an end with a change of scenery. This time, I'm not here to talk about my home town. Instead, I want to talk about the mind-blowing experience that is transit in Japan. I'll level with you... I really didn't take many bus rides in Japan. But man oh man... Those trains. That train system is freaking awesome.

Historical Blog 3: Tokyo Drift

October 7th, 2018

I've always wanted to travel the world. I've spent most of my 40 years on this planet limited to North America. Until recently, that is. I'm finally making travel a priority in my life. Earlier this year, I made my first ever trip off of mainland North America (with a trip to Cuba) but now I just got back from my first ever trip overseas to the land of the rising sun. "Why Japan?" you may ask. "Why not?" is my answer (followed up by "There was a seat sale.") And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

The first thing to understand about Japan is that it's actually pretty easy for a Canadian to get around. The language, of course, is a major challenge (at least in European countries, I have basic broken French from school and Spanish from Sesame Street to fall back on.) but the country of Japan is prepared for ignorant tourists. Almost everywhere you go you're able to find English translations or picture menus. And when in doubt, Google Translate becomes one of your best friends.

We flew into Osaka which is one of the smaller major cities there. I highly recommend this to anyone who may want to go because it's a great "practice city". I was busy being overwhelmed by culture shock and pure giddiness over the fact that I was on another continent that I may not have been able to handle a city like Tokyo (population equal to my entire country). So, the education of navigation started fairly smoothly.

The train system in Japan is one of the coolest, most complex things you'll ever come across. But man oh man do those Japanese know how to get around. The first thing to understand is that there are dozens of different train companies and just because you have one pass or ticket doesn't mean it'll work on all the trains. Case in point, we bought a pass which gave us admission to the Osaka aquarium and this included transportation. Unfortunately, the pass that we received only worked on certain train lines and we still had to make a transfer and buy a ticket for a second train to get us closer to our hotel. It was the same thing with our Japan Rail (JR) Pass. We bought it because it's cheaper for the bullet trains between cities and it also works on JR lines in the cities, but the JR lines aren't the most convenient and you find yourself taking other trains (therefore paying additional fare) to get around. I will say, although the JR lines weren't the most convenient and therefore not used much by me (really, the biggest appeal was their use on the bullet trains) when I DID use it, I really felt like a VIP because I used a special gate and merely had to flash my pass at the attendant in the booth.

So, here's how our education went in Osaka (and believe me, there was definitely some trial and a whole lotta error) First thing to do is buy a Japanese sim card for your phone. That way you can Google Map everything, find out what station is near your destination, find out how many transfers you'll have to make, etc. Let Google do the trip plan. Then you go to the train station and look at the giant map on the wall. Every different rail line is color coded (conveniently, Google also knows the color codes when making your trip plan.) So, if Google says I need to be taking the "Chuo Line" and it's color coded green, that's the path I'm looking for on the big wall map. Starting from the "you are here" sticker, you follow the route and look for your destination. Each destination along the route has a number above it. So when you find your destination and it has "290" above it, you now need to buy a ticket valued at ¥290. Are you with me so far?

Now you've got your route and the value, it's time to buy your ticket. Bring on the ticket machine. You want to piss off a local? Stand in front of a ticket machine for the first time and try to find the "English Translation" button... It's like a bizarre Japanese Game Show version of Where's Waldo. And of course, just like the trains themselves, every ticket machine is different so the location of the English button is always a mystery. Oh, and let's not leave out the fact that the ticket machines aren't for every train line.... You want the Chuo line? You need to find the machine that dispenses the Chuo line tickets. You know that pissed off local I just mentioned? Now imagine that after a solid minute or two I've finally found my English button, just to discover that I'm not even at the correct machine. By the end of the trip, I was pretty good at it though.

Alrighty... I've now gone through the whole rigmarole of purchasing a ticket (cash only, by the way), now it's time to use it. You take your little ticket and head to the gates, stick your ticket in the slot, walk through the gate and retrieve your ticket (which now has a hole punched in it) on the other end of the gate. As long as you've found the right gates, that is. I know first hand (on a few separate occasions)  that if you stick in the wrong kind of ticket, the machine flashes a big red X and a barrier closes in front of you. That's when a Japanese gate attendant comes over to you and tries to explain in broken English what you've done wrong. But if you've chosen your gate correctly, it's a green arrow for you. You grab your punched ticket and carry on to the platform. (However, sometimes finding the platform, or the correct side of the platform can be a whole other adventure.) Still with me?

"But Shawn" you may say "train systems are like that in other places too." Although I have no doubt that many of these things aren't exclusive to Japan, in my limited world travel experience, it's all very new to me. The train system in my own city is SUPER simple and my only other big city subway experience was in New York City 20 years ago.

At this point, I've successfully conquered the ticket machine, the gate and found the correct platform. Now it's time to wait. Thanks to Japanese efficiency, you don't have too wait long (which is also good because the Japanese don't seem to feel the need to put benches on their train platforms... And garbage cans. Why are garbage cans so hard to find in Japan?!? But there's no litter either. Strange phenomenon.) The trains start coming by and now you have the challenge of making sure you board the right one. Multiple train lines will use the same platform. Luckily, all the train arrivals are announced in Japanese and English and accompanied by a little tune that is distinct to each train line (I remember one that played the first 2 lines of 'I've been working on the railroad'.) This is now where things in Japan may differ from other cities. On the ground in front of you are all the places to form queues to board the incoming train and boy are they accurate.... Those motormen are definitely well practiced at stopping in the right place. Apart from showing you the location of the doors before the train gets there (also color coded for the different lines because the doors line up with the different trains ) they also have helpful instructions on how to properly, courteously and efficiently board the train. Nothing fancy here, just "stand aside and let everyone exit before boarding" complete with lines or dots to show WHERE standing aside is in relation to the doors. The key part though, in Japan, people obey.  The other piece of information on these floor signs  is they will tell you which doors to board at if you have mobility issues... The doors that open closest to the "priority seating".

Another floor sign you're likely to come across on the platform is the "Women only" sign. Turns out that this low crime, respectful society has a seedy underbelly as well. That's because the Japanese businessmen get a little handsy on crowded rush hour trains and start groping the female passengers. The solution? Rush hour cars for the women to ride in, molestation-free.

Ok... So now I'm on a crowded train. Back home, I've been on some crowded trains before, normally after a hockey game or a concert, but it never prepared me for this. The first thing I noticed upon entering the train (other than the sheer amount of people) is how quiet it is (DESPITE the sheer amount of people) My experiences at home or on the New York Subway had people yelling, panhandling, blasting music... Not in Japan. Everyone is reading, napping, playing on their phones or in a few rare instances, having hushed conversations with their neighbors... It's like riding a library. The loudest sounds are the wheels on the track and the station announcements. But what the Japanese lack in noise on the train, they make up for in visual stimulation. Advertising everywhere! On the walls, the windows, doors, hanging from the ceiling. Digital displays announcing stops, television screens showing the route map or announcing delays (with reasons for the delays) in the system. Everywhere you look, something new to see. And that's even without people watching (ever been the only white man on a busy train? I have.)

Now thanks to the quietness of the Japanese subway, I'm able to listen for my station announcement. They're all made in Japanese first, then English. I have to admit that it always made me nervous for two reasons. The first is because the Japanese announcements seemed to go on forever but when the English translation happened, all you'd get would be "Next stop, Osaka-Jo station." Why does it take so many extra syllables is Japanese?!? The other thing that made me nervous is that I soon discovered that I was pronouncing nearly everything wrong. For example Akihabara, which I thought was A-key-HA-Bear-Ah, is actually pronounced in a way that makes you think of "Abracadabra" a-key-ABURA. ("It's LeviOHsa, not LevioSA." Sorry couldn't resist the Harry Potter reference.)  So, if you're relying on audio alone, it's tough. Thank goodness for the digital displays.

Provided that I haven't gotten on the train going the wrong direction (which happened once) or that I haven't overshot my stop (which happened a couple times) or that I read the map at my starting point correctly in the first place, I'm now at my destination. I get off (with right-of-way... Thank you floor signs) and try to keep my wits about me as I'm rushed along in the crowd streaming from the train. This was usually the point that me and my lovely travel companion would try to press ourselves into a corner and let the locals do their thing before trying to get our bearings.

Now, back out the gate. I have to find my punched ticket again and feed it into the gate. This time, if everything goes correctly, I get my green arrow to go and my ticket is eaten by the machine and gone forever. If, for example, I've gotten off at the wrong stop and the amount I paid for the ticket isn't enough for the station I'm in, once again those gates of embarrassment and the big red X will appear and I'll have to pay the difference to the gate keeper. In theory, you could ride a train all day in Japan if you wanted as long as when you finally do get off, it's in the right zone that you paid for. (Incidentally, the buses in Japan work in a similar way. You get a "blank" ticket when you board and pay when you exit, fare amount depending on how far you've gone.)

The only challenge left now is navigating the labyrinth that is a Japanese train station and trying to understand where the signs are actually pointing. After a couple days in Osaka, I felt like a pro at taking the trains. It's easy, once you get the hang of it (but insanely daunting until you do.) Now you too, dear reader, can go to Japan and be an expert like I am. But do like I did, learn how to do it in Osaka because the Tokyo train system is much more complex. And Tokyo has 10 times the amount of people. And Tokyo is 3 times the size.

Just don't start in Tokyo, ok? You'll appreciate the training wheels.

From in front of the yellow line, that's how I see it.