No Spitting On The Train…Staff or Conductor. Japan Commuter Etiquette #1

Violence against station staff is a crime–and JR reportedly will be releasing a new series of posters this year to remind passengers to show a little curtesy to railway staff–even if the train is 15 minutes late.

This isn’t the first time that JR has used posters to get a message across. In 2011, JR launched one of their biggest campaigns with slogans such as “It’s a crime to spit on the station staff.” The poster shows a male wearing an orange shirt and jacket, who just missed the train by a few seconds, spitting at a train conductor.

There’s no knowing whether they had an effect on behavior from passengers, but they did generate snickers.

The latest “stop the violence” poster is here. It’s not quite as memorable as the others before. And clearly “violence” (暴力）doesn’t have a Pasmo card or it would be whisking on past the gates.

On a serious note, violence against train staff is a problem, and it is true that some passengers spit on or lash out at staff. However, whether the new posters get anyone’s attention remains to be seen. Violence against train staff is no laughing matter and these new posters, reflecting that spirit, aren’t very funny.