B Robson wrote:
> Sryn wrote:
> 
>> Excerpt from http://www.japaninc.com/newsletters/index.html?list=jin
>>
>> <quote>
>>
>> The Saikyo Line of Japan Railways (JR), notorious for gropers,
>> with the highest number of arrests amongst railways in Tokyo,
>> established in April a women-only car during the morning rush hour;
>> men are barred from the first car of ten-car trains. Women in this
>> gender-exclusive car tap out text messages on cell phones, flip
>> the pages of magazines, do their faces.  Men squeezed into
>> contortionist poses in the next car look with envy on the
>> non-strap-hanging sorority.
>>
>> </quote>
>>
>> The last sentence stitched me up.
>>
>> Sryn
>>
> 
> My line just started womens carriages, the very last carriage which I 
> used to use as it was the least crowded. Now the 2nd and 3rd to last 
> carriages are so crowded you have to force your way on to them, the last 
> women's carriage has barely anyone standing. Obviously the chikan 
> problem is not so bad that women are prepared to walk a few meters to 
> avoid it.

I was sure the point of the new debut of shitetsu women's cars was more 
targetability in adverstising.  Who wouldn't want to focus on those OLs 
with their super large disposable incomes?  But since I took the train 
outbound this morning I was able to board what would become the women's 
car on the next inbound trip.  And the adds were all for boob magazines. 
  Somebody is not doing their homework.

Maybe it's all a trick to make the trains seem more crowded and thus 
provide the illusion that most private rail companies aren't better off 
than Seibu?

-- 
Curt Fischer