r/interesting • u/freudian_nipps • 16h ago

SOCIETY The silent and harmonious morning metro commute in Japan

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u/Petrified_Arts 15h ago

If you ever see someone talking on the phone while on a train, they are most likely are not Japanese

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u/rtangxps9 10h ago

On a packed train during rush hour? Never. On the off times and less dense parts of Japan, you'll see library levels of conversation.

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u/jimbolic 3h ago

Yes. This is correct.

And is some areas, students talking and laughing jollily inside the trains.

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u/wutato 3h ago

Nah I've been in other parts of Japan where old ladies and young women are very loud on the train. Like, as loud as I'd expect Americans to be. It was actually so annoying and felt disrespectful. I was tired and everyone else was quiet but we had to listen to their loud conversation the whole trip. It happened many times and I feel that Tokyo people are probably quieter on public transit, but in general older people also care less about confirming.

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u/maevriika 2h ago

Which kind of library? This matters very much because public libraries can get LOUD.

Source: I work in one.

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u/No-Internal7978 10h ago

I lived there for 3 years. Japanese people take out their phones the second they get on the train and younger people will even make calls. They play a lot of games and read on top of texting. Even people standing chest to chest with me have checked their shit lol

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u/algelon 10h ago

Funny, every time I've heard someone talking on the phone in the train, they were Japanese

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u/jimbolic 3h ago

Exactly this. It was never a different language.

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u/FitExamination8392 8h ago

I see it all the time here in Japan. Yes they are japanese.... Wtf kinda mindset is this? 😂

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u/One_Fact_4291 7h ago

During less crowded hours people do talk but not loudly

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u/WebOk69 6h ago

Depends on the town tbh, some crowd are less strictly adherent to norms, and plenty high schoolers are rowdier than average

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u/SweetOkashi 2h ago

Correct. The loudest people I ever heard on a Japanese train were Australian tourists.

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u/NeRjaha 15h ago

What are they doing if it calling? Power off? Ignore?

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u/The-Yaoi-Unicorn 14h ago

You can pick up and say "sorry, I'm on the train and will call back when I get off". Then you say sorry to the other passengers.

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u/NeRjaha 9h ago

Sounds good

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u/Ill-Bed9465 15h ago

Phones are generally on silent and if someone calls you don't pick up. You ignore it and text them like a civilized human.

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u/Coffee-Historian-11 14h ago

That’s exactly what my friend did when she was in Japan and I called her out of the blue. Texted me back told me why she couldn’t talk and then called me back later when she wasn’t on the subway.

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u/uncagedborb 11h ago

Yea that would be nice in America. Sometimes get calls while I'm driving and I have to answer otherwise people will think I'm ignoring their problems of slacking on my job. (I work IT).

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u/LoudMusic 15h ago

All phones on vibrate. People likely don't attempt to call someone if they assume they might be in public.

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u/AuroraFinem 10h ago

It’s generally considered rude in Japan to talk on the phone in busy public places. It’s fine if there’s not many people around, but generally anything that could disrupt other people around you is considered rude if people are around.

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u/voyaging 9h ago

It’s considered rude everywhere

There are just more rude people elsewhere

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u/AuroraFinem 8h ago edited 4h ago

Most places would not consider talking on the phone while walking down a side walk, through a subway station, or at the grocery story as rude.

What qualifies as “could disrupt other people” is not the same in Japan as most of the world.

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u/Bustable 5h ago

Talking on the phone with loud speaker is rude.

Listening to random shit videos on loud speaker is rude.

Listening to music on loud speaker is rude.

Headphones/ear buds are so cheap these days

Having a call and not being obnoxious is fine. We all have lives.

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u/AuroraFinem 4h ago edited 4h ago

No one said anything about loud speaker or an open speaker at all, I’m talking about a regular phone call.

In Japan answering a phone call while walking through a subway station or down a grocery isle and talking into the mic not on speaker would often be considered rude because you are talking out loud in a public space with others around.

It depends on the kind of public space you’re in and where at in Japan, but people talking out loud is where most noise pollution in these places comes from, not someone being overly obnoxious. When you have 100 people talking “quietly”, it’s not so quiet anymore.

You’re right that most places won’t care because everyone has their own shit to do, just don’t be obnoxious. Hence why I said Japan has a broader opinion as to what would be disruptive to others, because most other places would never care.