The Art of Etiquette: Japan’s Train Manners Posters

Posters illustrating the top nuisance behavior to avoid, from fiscal 2020 (left) and 2021. (Courtesy the Japan Private Railway Association)

A series of posters inspired by ukiyo-e drew attention to bad manners like not making space for others to sit (left) and blocking the door. (Courtesy Seibu Railway)

Edvard Munch’s The Scream character cries out while trapped in the train doors after rushing to board. (Courtesy Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation)

A passenger with a backpack collides embarrassingly with Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, who is following the recommended method by carrying her backpack in front. (Courtesy Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation)

”It’s a jungle out there” on the platform. (Courtesy Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation)

An oasis of courtesy in the big city. (Courtesy Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation)

Kanji, such as for 扉 for “door” (left) and 滴 for “drops” or water, become part of the pictures in this Tokyo Metro poster series. (Courtesy Metro Cultural Foundation)

The Good Manners, Good Tokyo series takes the perspective of non-Japanese passengers. (Courtesy Metro Cultural Foundation)