I see what you mean but this is the way train stations look in most places in the world, also in US – and there is a fair amount of accidents with US trains as well. Of course, in the US you don’t have the same kind of high speed trains, actually most of the trains in US are very slow, but never the less: There are plenty of train stations that are completely open, just like the ones on the picture. Now, of course, I have only travelled limited stretches by train in US, but still. Can you name some stations that are safer? I am not talking about the underground, I am talking about train stations, and I am curious, because I really lack examples that match the post?
Ann-Katrin

Aah, I see. Makes sense. Thanks. :)

This reminds me of a blog post I once read about a baskin robbins in Japan throwing a chunk of dried ice on a container of ice cream to keep it cold because they knew the customer would be taking it home instead of eating in the store.

The author was implying that this was another example of the great customer service in Japan, but I just kept on thinking what if some idiot (or small child) reaches down to remove the ice and burns themselves. Just seemed like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Mh, ist this about train stations or suicide?
I’m a little confused by the “open” platforms. Or rather: What are the “not open” platforms you have in the US? Like the barriers with doors in some Japanese cities? Cause I’ve never been on a platform which is not “open”, there’s just the yellow line.
Anyway, trains beeing dangerous is the wrong conclusion. If people want to commit suicide, they will. If they can’t get a train, they’ll take a rope, or a knife or pills or whatever you can use.
Sure, there is the potential danger of falling on the tracks, even if you don’t want to, but I’d say it’s rather small, as long as you keep behind the line. And allways secure the baby carriage, mums!

“For whatever reason, Japanese culture isn’t as litigious as US culture.” Don’t you think that applies for just about any culture? (Indeed, from my ethnocentric viewpoint, I would phrase that “For whatever reason, US culture is more litigious than Japanese culture”, because, you see, USAmericans are infamous in most parts of the world for their sue-happy behaviour…. ;-) )

Those train stations in the Japan don’t seem particularly unusual or unsafe to me.

I think they need to make the world dangerouser, they should have the platforms slope down towards the lines and the lines should be filled with sharp spikes and saws.

If the world was more exciting and challenging people wouldn’t try to kill themselves.

Ideally everything should be more like takashi’s castle but with more sharp things.

You get a lawsuit! And you get a lawsuit! Everybody gets a lawsuit!!!

Just put a fence there, with some space between the edge and the fence. Then open the fence once the train arrives. Boom! Problem solved. Keeps people away from the edge and therefore from falling/jumping off the edge. The cost could probably be partially offset by the occasional reduced downtime due to people that fall/jump on the tracks, and the trains wouldn’t have to be stopped to clean up the traumatizing mess (I’m fairly certain that being hit by a train, or being run over by a train, would be a fairly messy and painful death).

Seriously, it took me about 30 seconds to think of that. Should I write a letter to the Japanese government with my idea?

A highly exclusionary society = no avenue for deviance or failure = suicide when one falls out of favor with their community and/or fails to fulfill its expectations. Unlike in America, where being different presumably makes you quirky and fun (and there are any number of subgroups tailor-made to your desired level of fun quirkiness), being the nail that sticks out (or falls out or breaks, for that matter) in Japan entails a particularly hard psychological fall. Imagine if the only social support network you’ve ever known suddenly, collectively looked down upon or shunned you for something you either did or failed to do. If you’re exceptionally strong-willed and independent (which is not a cherished quality in this part of the world), you go one to write amazing novels. If you’re like most people, however, you start looking for the off switch. The epidemic of suicide in Japan is not a communicable psychological disease but a phenomenon endemic of a culture which fails to accommodate differences. Don’t get me wrong, I love Japan (otherwise I wouldn’t be perusing this site), but this aspect of their culture smothers not only its own citizens but its ability to engage with the outside world (a most unfavorable quirk).

Just gonna throw out that a LOT of the roads don’t have rails or curbs or anything whatsoever to keep you from falling off a mountain or right into a ditch.

And, you know, we can compare Japan to America’s warning label mania and suggest that Japan is just better at not-dying than America. Perhaps. But there is a line where you stop trying to be understanding of a new culture and you have to say, “Stop. Just fucking stop. This one-lane/two-way road has no railing and that is a 400 foot drop into a river and someone is trying to pass me. Just…fucking stop, everyone. This is not right.”

The lack of safety measures in Japan, I think, is an objective issue, not one of culture shock or ethnocentrism.

In the UK recently, it made national news when a woman sued a gas station because she tripped over the curb in the dark and hurt herself. But I guess in the states that’s pretty normal?

Aah, I can see the lawyers prancing around

Hashi, I think you need to start going a bit more in depth with your articles. I’m often left wondering what the point you are trying to make is, and you rarely provide any evidence beyond your own assertions.

The shinkensen do not all have barriers. Shin-Kyoto, Shin-Yokohama, Tokyo and UTSUNOMIYA didn’t have barriers at all. I could jump on the tracks at anytime (not that I am dumb enough to do that). The only time I ran across barriers was one Kyoto subway station and one station for the Shinkensen (don’t recall it though).

The only reason the US is so…”safe” is because of the litigation. I love kaitenzushi, people can handle putting their own hot water in their tea, they do it at home. The same goes for okonomiyaki restaurants, nabe restaurants, yakiniku restaurants. I love eating out in Japan, and I always think about how hard this would be to do in America. Just one more reason I’ll stay here.

The real question is whether she WON the suit. I won’t say it’s guaranteed, but there is too high a possibility in some regions here that the woman could win the suit, because the curb should’ve been “more well lit” or reflective paint or something. Personal responsibility seems undervalued to me in the current culture.

EVERY station has emergency buttons on EVERY platform (like every 25m on a pole), even every railroad crossing has one. There was a poster campaign recently on how to use them correctly and to use them without hesitating. It seems that, just like you, even many Japanese people never noticed they are there….

Just got back from Japan, and it did strike me how many tripping hazards there were. Irregularly spaced steps, odd curbs were everywhere. Lots of uneven flooring, even in major malls and train stations.

Except I’ve had shabu shabu and hotpot numerous times in the US without warnings or incidents. They trust you with a boiling hot vessel and a propane stove. A quick search shows a couple of yakiniku places in town as well.

“cultural attitudes towards suicide” – LOL