Getting around Tokyo

Zachariah Bryan and Jana Wiegand found out the hard way that Tokyo's train and subway system can be difficult to navigate. Without being able to read or speak the language, they rode more than fifty stops in the wrong direction before a train attendant and a kind British traveler offered assistance, directing them to an express train that would expedite their backtracking. In the end, Zachariah and Jana checked into their rooms two hours later than expected.

Although the train system extends throughout Japan, the Greater Tokyo Area has one of the most intricate and extensive railway systems in the world. According to the October 2014 Statistics Brief of World Metro Figures, the annual ridership of the railway network in Tokyo is almost 3.3 billion people. That’s more than 9 million people every day.

So it’s understandable how Tokyo became notorious for its morning rush hour. On the morning of May 23, the group headed to Temple University in the heart of Tokyo and experienced firsthand, most of us for the first time, Tokyo’s infamous rush hour. Commuters squeezed their way into the train cars, stragglers entering the train backwards so that their noses practically pressed against the closed doors.

Katy Spence said the orderly entrances and exits onto the subway surprised her, as did the courteous way in which it was done, despite the way all passengers were jammed together. The silence surprised Zachariah. No one pushed, few people talked and no drinks spilled, because there were no drinks to be spilled. At each station, passengers stepped off the car and stood aside for those exiting. Then, they would calmly get back onto the subway before the new passengers would board.

The constant on-and-off action caused even more confusion when our 18-member group was split between two train cars. At one point, a few people in the group left the train to make way for other passengers to exit. Those of us in the back of the train saw them leave and thought it was the last stop. Swept up in the blur of black and navy suits, half of the group landed on the platform only to see all of the other members still on the train. It was a mad dash back through the crowd to slide into the train before the doors shut. After that incident, every member of the group started to pay more attention to the train route of the day. There’s still a lot of standing on tiptoes and searching for Nadia’s bright purple backpack to make sure everyone gets off at the right stop, but with every trip the station names like Asakusa and Daimon become more familiar.

As our time in Tokyo is ending, most members in the group feel more comfortable navigating the subway system. Now, there’s less reliance on that bright purple backpack for guidance on the trains. With this newfound independence, the group can explore more of Tokyo to chase down stories, though a fair bit of Google Maps is still involved.