Tokyo trains

Topic: Japan Commuting

When I lived in Tokyo, I was always very grateful that my company paid for my housing, so I was able to live near Meguro Station on the Yamanote line, which meant that I only had to go a few stops to get to work. So I never had to resort to the tricks detailed in this book.

I do remember getting on a train at my station one day, and then waiting for 45 minutes before the train started moving. This was unusual, to say the least, and when I got to work my colleagues told me that someone had been pickpocketed in another station on the same line, and to prevent the thief from using the train to escape, they had shut it down — this was in central Tokyo, mind you, during rush hour. Everyone also made sure I knew that the pickpocket was Korean, because of course no Japanese person would ever do such a thing.