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Tokyo railways reluctant to introduce 'women only' carriages
January 26, 2005
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officials are pushing for the introduction
of more women-only carriages in Tokyo trains to crack down on molesters, but
railway companies are digging their heels in, saying such a system would cause
delays and be difficult to introduce.
In recent years the number of groping incidents in trains has continued to
climb.
Last year the MPD made apprehensions over 2,234 molestation-related incidents.
Many of these incidents occurred on trains.
Police approached several Tokyo-based railway companies at the end of last year
and submitted documents to railway executives, asking them to introduce
women-only carriages, albeit on a trial basis.
However, officials have hesitated to implement such a system, giving such
reasons as that it would make it harder to evenly disperse crowds in different
carriages.
Women-only carriages were first introduced in 1947, under the Japan National
Railways. In a bid to protect women and children from crowding on trains on the
Chuo Line, "women and children only" carriages were introduced on the line, but
they were abolished in 1973 because they did not "suit the times."
However, a recent rise in the number of molestation incidents on trains revived
talk on the introduction of the carriages, and from December 2000, the Keio
Electric Railway Co. began to gradually increase them after installing them on
a test basis.
Nationwide, 13 companies now operate women-only carriages on 31 lines,
according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The majority of women-only carriages are used in the Kansai area, with 23 lines
operated by eight firms. However, in the Kanto area they are used only on Keio
lines and the JR Saikyo Line.
On Keio lines and the JR Saikyo Line, women-only carriages operate only at
night, and only in one direction on the lines, but they are generally supported
by women. Some men also favor the implementation of women-only carriages,
saying it saves them from being mistaken for gropers.
In July last year, the MPD and Tokyo Metropolitan Government held a meeting
with the East Japan Railway Co. and Tokyo subway officials discussing measures
to prevent unsociable activities in trains and stations. Since surveys showed
overwhelming support for women-only carriages, an MPD official met with
executives from three railway companies in December and handed them a written
request asking for women-only carriages to be introduced, albeit on a trial
basis.
However police said the firms showed little enthusiasm for the idea, saying
there was a difference between Tokyo and Osaka when it came to crowding of
trains, and that it would be difficult to introduce such a system in Tokyo.
Tokyo Metro Co. officials said evening out crowding would be difficult if such
carriages were introduced, and would possibly lead to train delays. Tobu
Railway Co. officials, meanwhile, said the size of trains varied, and that
guiding passengers into trains would be difficult. They added that few requests
for such carriages had been received.
Another cited difficultly was that some lines connected to others run by
separate companies, and it was impossible to implement changes only on one
railway company's line.
"All police are thinking about is controlling crime," one official said. "It's
not as simple as that."
An MPD official said that even if introducing women-only carriages was
impossible, there should be other ways to counter the problem of women being
molested.
"Even if it is impossible in terms of whole carriages, they should be able to
do something like create women's zones in the same way they have seats reserved
for senior citizens," the official said.
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