How do you commute to school? For those of you who are residing in the United States or Canada, you might answer “by car.” For those of you who are living near school might say that you commute “by foot.” However, in Japan, most of the students and working adults commute by train because their homes aren’t located that close to schools and workplaces. And for some people, they have to spend over two hours in the train there and back. By the way, I’m one of those students who have had a “long” journey from home to school and vice versa, for the past 3.5 years. What scares me the most is that during “rush hours” (the hours when many people commute than any other time) is that it’s so overcrowded inside the train.
Photo by Francesco Ungaro
When I just started college, I thought that commuting was such a waste of time. I used to think because of commuting, I don’t have enough time to study well. I really wished I could just move near school, but for several reasons, I wasn’t able to do so. Then, I learned that instead of just sitting on the train and occasionally looking at my phone, I could use the commuting time as an opportunity to catch up with any of my works. As a girl who isn’t too good at focusing, I still don’t do well with progressing my works during my rides (I do much better on it at home or school library), but I’m trying my best on it – even after 3.5 years, haha.
If you ever choose to study or work in Japan, and need to take over-an-hour-ride to school or workplaces, here are five things I recommend you to catch up with during your ride (but don’t force yourself to do any of those things during “rush hours,” as you need to protect yourself first):
1) Read a book. Either this is for an assignment for school, or just for pleasure, reading is a great skill to have, and this can be brushed up while commuting. You can also read newspapers, magazines, and so on. If any analog resources are too heavy for you to carry around, then you can read anything digitally via smartphones, laptops, Kindles, tablets, and so on. But don’t read things out loud, as it can disturb the person sitting next to you on the train.
2) Do your work on your laptop. Whether it is an essay for school, a presentation for an internship, an Excel task for work, you can at least brainstorm for some ideas on your rides. Try to go further and write a few paragraphs or at least make any progress to any of your works on your laptop though. Just make sure not to type too hard (that’s too loud!) and let the speaker volume be at zero (unless you attach your headphones to your laptop) so that the people near you can also focus on their tasks inside the train as well.
3) Send replies to e-mails, social media, etc. Any messages that require urgent reply need to be answered right away, whether you are on a train or not. However, if it’s a message that doesn’t need a quick reply, then you can work on that inside the train if you’re just too busy at any other time of the day. But don’t make any phone calls while commuting; it’s not just that the other people will feel disturbed, but not talking on the phone is also part of train-riding etiquette in Japan.
Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo
4) Talk to someone you know (or have met in school/workplaces) in person. Well, this only applies when you end up in the train with someone, but you never know, you might be going part way home on the same line (same train) with your friends and/or colleagues that you meet. You can always learn from talking to people, and you’ll feel less bored while you make a soft, quiet chat with someone that you want to know more about. However, don’t talk too loudly, and more so, don’t talk to people you only see on the train for the first time. That’s too dangerous, and many Japanese people tend to freak out talking to any faces that they have never seen before.
5) Listen to music. Put your headphones on the device, click on your favorite song, and close your eyes. That’s a great way to relax. Just make sure the volume is not too loud so that people won’t start dancing to the music in the transportation that can already be congested (haha).
As you probably recognized, people in Japan prefer to spend their time in a place that is not too noisy. Thus, being quiet (or in other words, not too loud) inside the train is the manner that you need to follow when you come to Japan. Also, don’t eat inside the train. I know you might get very hungry, but that only brings cravings for food to all the other people on the train. And don’t do your make-ups inside the train. I know that means if you choose to wear make-up, you need to sacrifice your sleeping time and do it at home, or just make touch-ups in the powder rooms at any facility. It’s just part of the manner for the ladies to have their make-ups done way before your ride, or otherwise, just show up without putting on any foundation powders.
No matter how long it can be, commuting is not a waste of time, but an opportunity to learn more, and catch up with our works. As long as you know that you can follow the manners inside the train, you’re more than ready to experience this commuting-by-train in Japan!