Finally! Tokyo to Get Cellphone Service in Subways!

It never seems to fail. I could be sitting around at home or in the office all day and not get a single phone call to my cellphone (not really complaining), but sure as the sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning, the moment I get into a subway train, and the door closes, someone will call me.

As soon as the train leaves the station - in between stations - there's no cellphone reception in Tokyo. 


But that's all going to change this year!


CNN reports:

Users of the iPhone in Japan have long had one grievance to share -- the poor lack of signal on phone giant Softbank's network.

Walk underground or stand in an elevator and you can expect the line to go dead on any Softbank phone, let alone on a moving subway train. Of course, one should never speak while in the carriage, but for those wishing to download news or send text messages, each tunnel is a frustration.

Tokyo Vice Governor Naoki Inose and Softbank president Masayoshi Son agreed at a meeting at the municipal head office to resolve the issue whereby a phone signal can be found in the passageways under the city, but not while moving between stations -- affecting millions of commuters.

According to the Mainichi, Son "proposed that e-mail use be enabled in subway trains because doing so would raise people's productivity."

......

The antennas will be paid for by a consortium of the three telephone giants, Softbank, NTT Docomo Inc and KDDI Corp, so should serve all phones, and could be up and running by the end of 2011.

I don't really want to talk to people on the trains, but would love to be able to read the news on the Internet or check stock prices or watch Youtube.

I hope they do arrange this as soon as possible. It looks like Osaka will have this service in 2012!

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Are Japanese Trains Still as Crowded as Before?

I'm on vacation until the 19th, and have no internet, but still wanted to give my loyal readers something fun to check out everyday while I'm gone. You will love this!

I  sometimes get mail from people asking me all sorts of questions about Japan. Recently, even though I mentioned in a former post that trains in Japan are not as crowded as they used to be, it seems, that in some places they still are....

So, to answer the question; "Are Japanese Trains Still as Crowded as Before?" I guess I should answer,

"Is the Pope catholic?" 

Women's Only Explosion! (Uh, don't say "explosion" when talking about airplanes!)

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I guess there must be a lot of perverts and gropers in Japan. I mean perverts  and weirdoes who grab women in crowded areas like the inside of packed trains. That's why now we have cars on trains that are for women only.

I think just about everyone has heard of "Women's Only" cars in Japan on trains that run in the mornings. Right?

Long ago, I produced a very early morning radio show in Japan for many years and I never rode in the early trains (work on that program began at 5 in the morning. There were no trains, so we always took taxis). When that show was taken off the air, I did get a chance to ride the early trains. I didn't know anything about the "Women's Only" cars and didn't pay any attention to the signs on the trains...

I sure paid attention to the glares that the ladies gave me though when I stood at the entrance to the "Women's Only" car the first time. Finally, one women walked up to me and pointed out that the line I was standing in was for "Women's Only" cars... "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know!"

She probably told me because she thought (correctly) that I was just a dumb gaijin who couldn't read Japanese (or English as the signs plainly say "Women's Only" in both languages).

Well, now in Japan, this "Women's Only" deal has been taken one step further. This morning I stumbled upon this short news release from Feb. 2010 stating that All Nippon Airways - Japan's #2 carrier - is now introducing women-only lavatories!

It says:

"ANA introduces women-only toilets

All Nippon Airways is introducing women-only lavatories on its international routes in response to “numerous requests for this service”. The Japanese carrier joins Korean Air as the only other commerical airline to offer such a service."

Well, I guess this couldn't be in response to being groped in those tiny airplane lavatories... You don't have enough room inside those to change your mind! But I will guess that this is in response to guys being slobs and not washing their hands nor closing the toilet seat cover when they are done...

Warning! Women are also guilty of this too! Proper manners for the toilet seat is to close both the seat and the lid upon finishing. Many women complain that guys do not lower the seat when they are done but those same women are often guilty of not properly closing the lid too!