What are you supposed to do with your backpack on a crowded train in Japan?

“People wearing their backpacks on their backs” and “people holding their backpacks in front of them” both rank high on list of train riders’ annoyances.

Japan spends a lot of time thinking about manners, and it spends a lot of time riding trains too. So that means, of course, that people in Japan also spend a lot of time thinking about manners related to riding trains.

Sometimes the consensus is pretty clear, such as an understanding that you’re not supposed to talk on your phone while on the train, or that you should stand aside so that people can get on and off the train easily when it stops at a station. The dos and don’ts of riding trains in Japan are a little murkier, though, when it comes to backpacks.

In the Japan Private Railway Association’s survey on train etiquette, respondents voted for “how people hold or place their belongings” as their seventh largest source of onboard annoyance. When asked for the most annoying specific behavior within the category, the top answer was “people wearing their bag on their back.”  That’s not such a big surprise, since there’s a pretty prevalent perception that shifting your backpack so that it hangs in front of you takes up less total space on crowded trains, since you can pull the bag in towards yourself and tuck the top part partially under your chin.

However, a little further down the list, though, chosen as the fifth most-annoying behavior in the baggage-related category, was “people holding their bag in front of themselves.”

The survey didn’t delve into the specific problems with someone holding their bag in front, but there are some common complaints about the practice that show up on social media. One involves people holding their bag in front of themselves and using the top of the bag as a perch for their smartphone, which in turn causes them to stick their elbows out at a wider angle in order to manipulate the touchscreen. Others are bothered by how the extra protrusion in front of a person means that their bag might now be only centimeters away from the face of someone sitting in a bench seat in front of where the bag-holder is standing, which is an unpleasant situation on a swaying train. Walking while holding a backpack in front of you can also be awkward, making for slower, bulkier motions in getting on and off the train, bumping into or holding up other passengers.

So if some people are going to be upset if you have your bag on your back, and others are going to be upset if you have it in front of you, what are you supposed to do? Really, the only other options (aside from committing to the idea that all earthly possessions are meaningless and divesting yourself of them entirely), are to hold your bag in your hands or to put it in an overhead luggage rack, but those are both often easier said than done.

Holding your bag in your hands is doable if it’s light or you’re taking a short ride. If you’ve got the typical hour-long commute that most Toykoites do, though, things get harder, and even more so if you’re carrying a laptop, a thick stack of work/school documents, or any other load that your forearms, wrists, and fingers aren’t capable of having hanging from them for 60 minutes twice a day.

Those issues are resolved by placing your bag in an overhead rack, provided you can lift it up there, and also provided that you happen to be standing near an empty space on the rack. However, the rows of standing people are often several commuters’ deep on Japan’s rush hour trains, so statistically you probably won’t have access to an empty shelf spot.

What do rail operators themselves have to say about the situation? Tokyo Metro, one of Tokyo’s two subway operators, says:

“Tokyo Metro does not prohibit passengers from holding their belongings in their own individual way. While riding the Tokyo Metro, we ask that you show consideration to the other passengers around you.”

Though Japan Railway Company is not part of the Japan Private Railway Association, we wanted to get their take on the matter as well, so we contacted the JR East customer service center, and their response was:

“Regarding the use of backpacks during crowded times, packs worn on the back coming into contact with other passengers has been a source of trouble. Since we have received many comments from customers on the subject, we have in-car announcements asking that passengers refrain from wearing their backpacks in this way during crowded times.”

“As a company, we ask for passengers’ cooperation in holding or placing their belongings, including backpacks, on the overhead rack, at their feet, on their knees if they are sitting so as not to bother other passengers.”

You’ll notice, though, that JR East’s response isn’t “Don’t wear your backpack on your back, carry it in front of you,” but “Don’t wear your backpack on your back, put it down or up somewhere.”

Ultimately, it appears there’s no absolute, one-size-fits-all solution to the question of what to do with your bag on a crowded train. The common throughline, though, is to be considerate of your fellow passengers, and that’s probably something that should flow both ways. If you’re the one with a bag, be aware of the space you’ll be taking up depending on how you’re holding it, and try to take up the space that’s going to cause the least discomfort for others. On the other hand, if you’re the one standing next to someone with a bag, try not to get too bent out of shape about the extra crowding, especially if the person has no other viable options.

Source: @Press, Shukan Joshi Prime via Livedoor News via Hachima Kiko
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