KarunaNews Story

Every train stop in Tokyo has distinctive jingles. Train employees stuff passengers into train cars during rush hour. There is a unique set of unspoken rules for how passengers should act. Tokyo’s unique culture of transit can be traced back to the late 1800s, says Fumihiro Araki, deputy director of The Railway Museum. “When Japan moved from a shogun government [with leaders who were emperor-appointed] to a democratic government in the late 19th century, it was decided that railways were absolutely necessary,” he said. Japan doubled down on trains when rebuilding after World War II, coinciding with a population boom in Tokyo. Today, there are nearly three dozen operators of more than a hundred different train lines spawning the entire city.