on a bad day

Above is a short video of my usual morning commute on the JR Keihin Tohoku Line. As you can see, its quite an intense commute. At first, I hated the fact that I had zero room on the train. I still kinda loathe taking the trains, but I've gotten used to the crowds. Japan train platforms used to have "train pushers" to help cram people into the train, but, as you can see in the video, commuters tend to just cram themselves in now. I've seen train pushers, but they're usually never around when I'm commuting.

0:13sec Note: the amount of people on the platform
0:34sec Note: the almost empty platform
0:41sec Note: example of people cramming themselves onto train

Today's journey to school was particularly ugly. It was raining all day, and with so many commuters, all with long umbrellas and soaked shoes, the windows on the trains fog up and it gets really muggy and humid on the trains. Along with the usual glum looks on half-awake salarymen and near silent stations and train rides, the presence of rain just reinforces the dull commute. Oh yeah, there are a ridiculous number of people on the train, if you haven't noticed. At the end of the video, you can see people who are literally smashed up right up against the doors. Note: the doors on the trains have no sensors, so if your jacket gets stuck, well, too bad...

Riding inside the train during rush hour is quite an atmosphere. No one talks. In fact, its considered impolite to talk on the trains, especially during rush hour. If there's room, people are on their cellphones watching TV or emailing. I've become accustomed to being able to take powernaps on the train - standing up. I'd rather close my eyes than look up at the advertisements or catch the stares of other commuters who think I'm staring at some gorgeous woman's boobs or something. When your head isn't able to move at all, and your field of vision is limited to a well-dressed and pretty office lady smashed up against you, its very hard to appear as if you're not a creeper. Looking up at the LCD screen advertisements is one way to look uninterested. But, as I've stated earlier, I prefer the powernap. If there's no room, which is typically the case during the morning commute, people spend their time closing their eyes and taking quick naps while attempting to maintain their balance when the train jerks forward or stops. It's quite a feat actually, trying to balance yourself without holding onto anything. Any unanticipated train movements can send a whole wave of people all leaning forward, some losing their balance and throwing themselves onto others. All this while being unable to move your arms or turn your head.

I remember one train ride in which I was crammed against one of the doors opposite to the train platform. I put my headphones on, switched on my iPod, and closed my eyes for a quick nap. By the time the passengers on the next station got on, I was squished even more, with no room for me to adjust my headphones. But, I was too tired at this point to actually open my eyes to see how much more people had crammed onto the train. All I knew from my other senses was that some person's body and bag were squished up against me. When i finally opened my eyes from my quick 2 minute "nap," i realized that a girl's face was literally right in front of me. Her nose was about 2 inches from mine. At this point, I closed my eyes again. I can definitely say it was an interesting commute that morning. Welcome to Tokyo.