You can call it Top 10 Ways to Annoy The Japanese in a Train, or Top 10 Ways to get yourself assaulted by The Public in a Japanese Train. This article may be useful for anyone wishing to visit Japan. This is actually the results of a survey, which i took from sankakucomplex website. They do post useful stuff at times besides 18SX stuff.
1. Getting on the train before waiting for the people on it to alight from the train.
The most basic rule - stand aside and wait for the people in it to disembark before alighting.
-Malaysians race to be the first to alight in order to secure a seat.
2. Talking too loudly
Conversing is permited but usually done in muted voices, or whispering. Note than Japanese Commuters are usually very silent (equivalent to your study area). Conversations at Malaysian style and volume is likely to attract unnecessarily unfriendly reactions and stares from the entire carriage.
-Malaysians? An approved custom!
3. Talking on a cellphone
Nobody, except drunk or an uncouth foreigner will be seen talking on a phone in a commuter. It is best advised to hang up a call, and keep your phone in silent mode too.
-Malaysians SMS, talk, and play games on phones - without headsets and volume turned on.
4. Not budging up to free up a seat
Typical Malaysian attitude, right? The proper seating behaviour is to occupy the corners of empty seats first, then the spaces equidistantly between these 2 points. At all times don't seat close to a stranger, except only when no space remains can a seat between 2 people be taken, and at this point it is polite to reshuffle seats to maximise seating number.
-Malaysians occupy the whole seat by lying, or placing their shopping bags on seats. =P
5. Cutting in line when boarding a train
The recommended way (or should i say, a must) is for 2 orderly queues to form at the door markings on the platform, which then move to the side to make way for passengers to disembark before alighting the train.
-Malaysians board buses and trains like a swarm of bees.
6. Letting noise leak on headphones
Since main activities on a Japanese consist of staring into space, reading books, fiddling with a phone without noise, and sleeping, slight noises may irritate the ones sitting next to you.
Malaysians - trains are too noisy that using noise-proof headsets prove to be futile even if you want to enjoy music from your iPod to past time.
7. Leaning on a stranger
Usually a problem with seated sleeping passengers. It's common sense though, but guys consider being leaned on by a sleeping woman a rare blessing. Hey, it happens.
-Malaysians - So far never heard or seen such a thing. Malaysians sleep in carriages by lying across a whole seat (which is rude although plenty of other spaces might be available).
8. Eating or drinking in a train
Nobody except utter barbarians is ever seen eating in a train. In fact, being seen eating an ice cream when walking in a mall is also rude, but it is the way to satisfy your sweet cravings in Malaysia while shopping simultaneously.
-Malaysians prepare a junkyard of snacks to enjoy on trains and buses.
9. Letting your luggage interfere with other passengers
Luggage is normally stowed overhead in luggage compartments like those see in express buses and airplanes. Other than those storage spaces, allowing your luggage into getting the way of others will annoy the passengers.
-Malaysian's custom is to place all your shopping bags on the seats and not moving them even you you see a senior citizen or a pregnant woman.
10. "Others"
You think of it! Don't do anything else either! Probably stuff such as excessive farting, harassing others, or typical nuisance issues comes into your mind. But, things that you won't expect usually applies to trains in Japan.
-Malaysians practice a law called "selfishness" in this section. Anything that makes their life easier applies in Malaysian trains (and perhaps, all public transports).
Well, i can say this is indeed an important guide for those who wants to visit Japan. Haha. The list above is no kidding stuff. Malaysian culture sure is ... rude in general. I do agree with some of the rules, but the extreme silence is kind of a bit awkward.
