Adventures in Japan #1: The Train Creep

So, as I said before, I’ve been meaning to vlog but can’t find the time. And although it is true that some of the things that I tried talking about quickly expired, stories never go bad. So I’ve decided to share them here! How exciting! So let’s begin on this wonderful journey.

It happened one morning on my way to work. I had only been in Japan for about a week so I was still trying to get into the swing of things. This particular morning I was feeling more lazy than usual and so I was running a little late. Although I’m a Filipino, and being late is nothing new, I don’t enjoy it, so I was trying to make the train in time. I briskly walked through the train station and went through the ticket gate with no problems. It was then that I heard the train arrive at the platform below me.

I had gotten into the habit of going down the stairs that are slightly farther ahead than the first set; only because it meant that I did not have to change direction (it takes so much effort!). But today I was in a hurry, there was no time for energy conservation, so I bolted down the first set of stairs and jumped into the nearest door that I saw. I managed to slip in just as the doors were closing. SAFE!!!

Feeling happy with myself I looked for a spot nearest to the door on the side that I exit from (I had learned that trying to fight your way through to the door at your stop from the middle of the train car was not very fun). I was in luck; there was one right next to the door. I walked up and casually grabbed the handle, and prepared to enjoy the ride.

On the opposite side of me stood a school girl who looked like she was doing some last minute studying for an exam (I deduced this from all the other students reviewing the same set of notes). What was strange was that when I snagged my spot, she uncomfortably shifted away from me. This made me ponder for a moment, but I soon dismissed it as a young girl being shy. That was, until a few stops later.

After several stops I noticed that the car that I was in was not as packed as it usually was. By this time I was usually sandwiched between two serious looking business men trying to get to work like me. But there was no one. No one near me anyway. I wondered if there was some kind of holiday, or if a bunch of people had the day off. Then I noticed the car over. It was full of the serious looking business men I had become accustomed to. That’s when the thought hit me. I didn’t want to believe it, but it kept nagging at me, telling me what I had done. Desperately I looked around, looked for something that would disprove this embarrassing truth. Instead I found the opposite. A big pink sticker on the window in front of me confirmed my fears. And it wasn’t just on the window; it was on the wall, doors, and outside of the car. How did I not see!?

“RUSH HOUR: WOMAN ONLY CAR”

It’s not like the women only car was something new to me. I had experienced it in the Philippines before. Also, shortly before leaving for Japan, a friend showed me a post from an American doing the same thing. I even told him, “Hahaha, I would never do something like that. It’s so easy to see what cars are for women!” How ironic.

How did this happen? Well it turns out that the first doors down the first set of stairs are the end of the women only car. I didn’t have to worry taking the other stairs because the women’s car ended before getting that far down the platform (that’s what I get for changing directions).

Immediately, a feeling of uneasiness came over me. I could feel the women’s stares, like judgmental daggers sticking out of my back, “pervert”. Plus, I couldn’t play the “stupid gaijin card” either. I’ve been told on many occasions that I don’t look like any specific kind of Asian, and more than a few Japanese people who had met me had asked if I was even part Japanese. To all those women on the train, I was a perverted Japanese business man.

So how did I cope with this situation? Not well. The American simply jumped off at the next station, but I did not have that option due to my time constraint. While most would simply slip into the next car and go on with their day, this did not occur to me. Instead, I slipped as close to the door as I could, made myself as small as I could, and looked out the window until my stop. To make things better, the door had a big pink sticker on the window as well, reminding me of my fooling mistake.

Arriving at my stop I jumped off that train like a horse out of the gates. It’s safe to say that I’ve never done that again. Strangely enough, I started using the first set of stairs from that day on, but now I make sure there are no big pink stickers.