Riding the bus in Tokyo

What the bus looks like on a quiet weekday afternoon. Now just imagine wall-to-wall people during the evening commute!

      First observation: It's clean, but it's also REALLY crowded at night when I take the outgoing bus to Meguro ku. This can probably be attributed to the obvious reason that people are commuting out of the city after their work/school day has ended and therefore more people have to try to share the space. Even though it is very crowded, Japanese people tend to avoid shoving or ignoring other people who are forced to share the space. There is a great amount of consideration taken and the word Sumimasen! (Excuse me!) is actually used. Some will shove but it's a great deal easier to deal with then a group of Americans grappling for space and swearing at each other when their is no compliance for their selfish needs. I'm American, and yes, I can say those things about my country because in many places, and at many times it has been true. Been there. Experienced that.

 Second observation: Protocol is quite different than on a bus in the US. If you're lucky in Boston or NY, the usual situation is that the driver will occasionally shout into their microphone with a gravely, often cigarette-induced voice that you've arrived at a stop. The bus will screech to a halt, and if you don't get off fast enough you'll be stuck there until the next stop. People might sympathize with you and give you that knowing look of "yeah, I'm sorry," or they might laugh at your misfortune, or exclaim "That sucks!" right to your face. It's quite the experience, really! And yeah, I know it's not ALWAYS like this, but I'm sure everyone from a major city in the US can attest to that terrible bus ride they had once where everything seemed to be gross or going wrong around them.

 The bus in Japan is based on a much more planned out system. When passengers want to use the next stop, they look up at the screen and see their stop is next. After seeing this, they will press a little red glowing button in front of them that says "Tomarimasu!" (Stop, please.) and it will make a friendly little "Ding Dong" noise to tell the driver that you wish to get off at the next stop. He then announces with his microphone someting like, "Wakarimashita! Tomarimasu!" (Roger! I will stop!). Not only are stops written in Kanji/Hiragana on the screen in front of you, but they will also scroll by in Romaji text (English text) if you can't yet read what your stop looks like. I've sort of memorized the Kanji for my stops now but for new-comers to Japan this is really helpful and kind of them to do. The same thing doesn't really happen as much, from what I've been told, in China or Korea (or for that matter, outside of Tokyo!) so I'm thankful that Tokyo bus companies seem to be willing to help visitors out.

 Observation #3: You think your bus in your local town is clean? I have ridden some rather clean Greyhounds back in the states where it looks like the bus is brand new and just rolled off the assembly line, but I still can't get over how clean they keep interiors of ALL the buses over here. I mean, really! They are super nice! When I sit on a cushy seat I'm not worried that it will be wet, ripped or bumpy and uncomfortable. Also, there isn't any trash kicking around on the bus, or butts from old cigarettes. That's pretty nice, in my opinion.

 Observation #4: People are very quiet. This is a trend in Japan that has evolved probably in response to observations of shared space and cultural etiquette. I'm not saying that some quiet chatter on the bus isn't okay - what I'm saying is that as guests in another country you might want to think about respecting the local etiquette and go with the flow. If it's quiet, maybe you should be quiet. If people are talking, then whatever. That's what being a good guest is all about!

 So hopefully I gave you a somewhat encompassing picture of the bus. I just wanted to give you a more comprehensive picture of what riding the bus in Japan is like.

 Signing out,
 Lady Lara Jones