世論 What Japan Thinks

At the start of December last year, MyVoice surveyed its internet community on the subject of train manners. 13,586 people successfully completed an internet-based questionnaire. 54% of the sample was female, 3% in their teens, 21% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 24% in their forties, and 13% aged fifty or older.

Interestingly enough, the most common gripe I hear from other foreigners about the trains in Japan, that of people reading porno manga openly, irritates just 6.6% of the sample, and is seen as bad manners by barely three in ten, less than the number who consider putting on make up as a sign of poor breeding.

For me, snuffling without blowing one’s nose is the most boorish activity on trains, but that’s just my westernness showing! Not bothering to turn one’s phone to manner mode would come second, and it is mostly people who seem old enough to know better who do this, sadly.

Q1: About how often do you use trains, buses, or other public transport? (Sample size=13,586)

Almost every day	14.5%
5 or 6 days a week	16.0%
3 or 4 days a week	5.0%
1 or 2 days a week	10.5%
One day every two weeks	9.5%
One day a month	12.7%
Less than that	25.1%
Don’t use public transport	6.6%

Q2: Within the last few years, do you have unpleasant memories of the actions of those around you when riding on public transport? (Sample size=public transport users)

Have many	22.2%
Have some	54.2%
Don’t really have many	20.5%
Have none	2.5%
No answer	0.7%

Q3: What sort of things gave you unpleasant memories? (Sample size=public transport users, multiple answer)

People in a group talking loudly	52.4%
Talking on a mobile phone	52.3%
Misbehaving children not being scolded by their parents	49.9%
Leaky headphones	47.4%
Boarding train without waiting for others to alight	45.1%
Not squeezing up to let others sit	41.5%
Queue-jumping	38.9%
Mobile phone ring tones	32.8%
Littering	32.5%
Doing make-up	31.9%
Crowding round the train doors	29.3%
Sitting with legs stretched out	28.2%
Drunkenness	27.3%
Luggage getting in the way of others	24.3%
Not giving up seat to old folks	23.6%
Smoking outside of the smoking areas	22.5%
Eating food	21.0%
Opening up newspaper fully to read	17.3%
Not turning off the phone in the priority seating area	14.4%
Doing email or playing games on mobile phone	11.3%
Brazenly reading sexual material	6.6%
Other	5.5%
No answer	4.2%

Q4: What did you do when you felt uncomfortable in Q3? (Sample size=public transport users, multiple answer)

Moved somewhere else	32.1%
Gave up my seat instead, picked up litter, etc	9.8%
Warned the person	7.2%
Informed station staff, guard, etc	2.3%
Other	3.7%
Nothing in particular	53.3%
No answer	4.4%

Q5: Which of the following do you think is bad manners? (Sample size=13,586, multiple answer)

Queue-jumping	71.0%
Misbehaving children not being scolded by their parents	71.0%
Boarding train without waiting for others to alight	68.5%
Smoking outside of the smoking areas	68.0%
Littering	67.8%
Talking on a mobile phone	67.3%
People in a group talking loudly	66.0%
Not squeezing up to let others sit	63.2%
Leaky headphones	61.6%
Crowding round the train doors	58.1%
Sitting with legs stretched out	51.1%
Not giving up seat to old folks	49.7%
Mobile phone ring tones	44.4%
Luggage getting in the way of others	42.8%
Drunkenness	42.4%
Opening up newspaper fully to read	41.6%
Not turning off the phone in the priority seating area	35.3%
Doing make-up	34.8%
Brazenly reading sexual material	30.1%
Eating food	27.2%
Doing email or playing games on mobile phone	9.5%
Other	3.1%
Don’t think any are bad manners	0.6%
No answer	0.8%