Riding the Shinkansen or “bullet train” is a must-experience tourist activity in Japan. However, as with most tourist activities these days, it’s becoming a sore spot among Japanese people, as some ill-mannered tourists ruin it for everyone else. One debate that sprung up recently on a popular Japanese news site saw some arguing that tourists should even be slapped with fines.
It feels like tourist manners make headlines here now once a week. Whether it’s people treating Shinto torii gates like jungle gyms, trespassing through private parts of Kyoto’s geisha district, or yelling at staff who can’t speak English, Japan travelers – fairly or not – are earning a bad reputation.
The Shinkansen is no exception. Some selfish tourists put their luggage in spaces reserved for seating. Others take up two full seats in the non-reserved seating section. Residents have complained on social media that some tourists fail to correct their behavior even when asked nicely.
Perhaps the most vexing issue, though, is people taking a reserved seat when they purchased an unreserved ticket.
Some Shinkansen lines, like the Nozomi, are reserved seating only (指定席; shiteiseki) during peak travel seasons. Most lines have cars with both unreserved (自由席; jiyuuseki) and reserved seats, with reserved seats costing more. However, some people are entering reserved-seat cars with unreserved tickets, convinced they can sit anywhere they want.
Fines for taking someone’s reserved seat?
In a recent article for Norimono News, writer and artist Akagawa Kaoru tried to give tourists the benefit of the doubt. She argued that, in Europe, conductors will check tickets and prevent people from entering the wrong car.
Additionally, when reserved seats do exist, they’re limited and require reservations well in advance. Contrast that with the Shinkansen, where people can buy reserve seats at any time. An “empty” reserved seat on a train may fill up a few stops later.
Thus, Aragawa says, this might lead many Europeans to believe that, since there’s no conductor and no clear marking that a seat’s reserved, every seat is free seating. She advocates better signage for reserved cars to solve the issue.
I’m not sure how far Aragawa’s argument flies. In particular, I’m not sure whether it extends to Asian tourists, who are by far the largest group visiting Japan. European visitors are a drop in the bucket compared to Korean, Chinese, or Taiwanese visitors.
At any rate, Japanese commenters on Yahoo! News Japan did not take kindly to Aragawa’s argument. The top user comment, at 35,000 likes, argued that “the responsibility for breaking the rule you weren’t aware of lies with the user who was unaware of it.” They proposed a “penalty fee” for taking a seat that isn’t yours.
Others were kinder and proposed friendlier – and more workable – solutions. One proposal is to install a QR code reader or an IC card sensor so that only users with a reserved seat ticket can board.
Automation makes the most sense to me. It takes humans out of the equation and decreases the odds that either local passengers or travelers will have a negative experience.
Either way, with Japan saying it wants to welcome 60 million tourists by 2030, someone better come up with a solution quickly.
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