Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers


morning transport
A subway car makes its way to the first station on its route where it will soon become crowded.
sleep seat
Several executives sleep side by side in a Tokyo subway carriage.
Safety
Metro lights up an advertisement for a security company starring a famous Japanese actor.
convenient backrest
A seat support provides providential protection for a passenger who cannot get up.
Friend shoulder
Executives sleep on either side of photographer Sara Wong during a subway ride in Tokyo.
bridge to another day
Train travels through the night, above the exhausting life of Tokyo.
Exhausted passenger
Passenger sleeps leaning on his workbook.
urban religiosity
Buddhist monk in traditional dress walks along a busy street in the Japanese capital, near a subway entrance.
metro-sleep
Passenger sleeps in a subway that has been parked for some time at the terminal station.
colorful morning
Passersby cross a bridge over the Harajuku train line in Tokyo.
easy sleep
Salaryman falls asleep on a short subway ride.
Subway in winter
Subway passengers await the arrival of a new train at a Tokyo station. Usually the arrival is announced with the message "mamona ku" (briefly).
of tracks
Passenger sleeps soundly in a subway train that has been stopped for a long time.
Provisions
A subway passenger passes through a corridor decorated with a billboard featuring a famous Japanese actor
double sleep
Executives sleep in tandem in a subway carriage.
Tokyo night
The shapes and tones of one of the largest megalopolises on the face of the Earth, with more than 13 million people.
Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.

It's seven in the morning and Tokyo has been awake for some time.

Just like Kazuya Takeda, who hosts us for a few days and had left home more than half an hour ago, determined not to be late at the main Japanese branch of the multinational DHL.

We got off at Nishifunabashi subway station. We join the human flow that moves in coordination and at great speed towards the center of the city.

Like so many other railway lines, Tozai departs from the far outskirts of the city and transports many thousands of other faithful and punctual workers like Kazuya.

passersby on train, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

Passersby cross a bridge over the Harajuku train line in Tokyo.

The Sleep Sanctuary of Metros and Nippon Trains

The compositions follow each other with intervals that don't reach half a minute. We got into one of the crowded carriages.

On board, the black of the suits of a small army of salarymen and women in matching business attire. Without quite knowing how, shortly thereafter, we detected two vacant seats in opposite seats. Although we are aware of its tightness, we remember that we are going to have another long day of exploration, mostly pedestrian, and we decided to take advantage of the benefit.

We installed ourselves almost face to face. We get to analyze the grim atmosphere in the cabin and the action at each of the stations we stop.

There are 40 minutes to go to Ginza, our final destination but not the metro. Some passengers take even longer trips. We are approaching the middle of the week.

Advertising, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

Metro lights up an advertisement for a security company starring a famous Japanese actor.

Most of them already feel the fatigue caused by the successive early morning awakenings, by the endless commute to and from property and, in so many cases, by the late hours of leaving jobs that they do not want or simply cannot resist.

Labor and Existential Torture of Japanese Salarymen

In the years of rebuilding the Japanese nation following World War II, a Japanese executive maintained a stable life, social status and enviable perks. But with the passing of decades and the strengthening of capitalist competitiveness, these advantages ceased to exist.

Many salarymen they have practically no prestige in the corporate hierarchy of companies. They are now working on endless journeys that prevent them from doing anything more in life than serving the departments they are part of.

There is even the famous notion about Japan that wage earners should follow their bosses even outside the professional sphere, in particular when Friday night comes and their superiors need company to go out, drink till they drop and decompress.

The Friendly Shoulders of Passengers on the Side

It is understandable, therefore, that, exhausted by the hardships of their working life, these servants simply let themselves rest on their way to jobs or property and during the trip, two of them end up landing their heads on our shoulders.

Sleep friendly shoulder, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

Executives sleep on either side of photographer Sara Wong during a subway ride in Tokyo.

Without expecting it, we took in a little of the fatigue of the Japanese nation, a task that amuses us and leaves other Japanese passengers entertained with their latest generation phones.

And yet the inemuri not only does it happen again and again among the Japanese, it is seen as a sign of social and labor diligence. On certain social occasions, even revered by agreed participants.

Despite all the technology employed, subway or train journeys from big niponic cities they can prove, in addition to being long, very uncomfortable.

Even more so when they are on board trains overflowing with people such as those passing through Shinjuku station, known for having the largest human traffic in the world and where dedicated employees have the mission of pushing people inside who get stuck and impede the doors. of closing carriages.

Subway advertising, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

A subway passenger passes through a corridor decorated with a billboard featuring a famous Japanese actor

The Rest of Absolute Japanese Security

But Japanese transport, in the image of Japan in general, strives for absolute safety.

While all over the urbanized planet, sleepy passengers would have to worry, at the very least, about pickpockets, for the emperor's land, any forgotten possessions are left where they were left or, better yet, handed over to the authorities of the station.

This guarantee is, in itself, a rest. Combined with the more than apparent propensity of Asians to fall asleep when rocked by movement, fatigue and routine, the surprising amount of simultaneous naps we were witnessing is thus fully justified.

Executives sleep subway seat, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

Several executives sleep side by side in a Tokyo subway carriage.

As expected, Japan is aware of this reality and is concerned about its incorrigible sleepers.

For some time now, certain inventors have been fighting for the best solution to make their lives easier. They created helmets similar to those of the works that can be attached to the glass of the windows of carriages with suction cups.

In addition to fixing the head, the author of this device also remembered to resolve the issue of early awakening and added a plate to the helmet to insert messages that alert passengers awake to wake the user at the station where they must leave.

Another competing inventor has developed a kind of folding tripod that, when opened, raises a padded chin support, eccentric but allegedly of great use for all passengers who want to fall asleep standing up.

Passenger sleep, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

A seat support provides providential protection for a passenger who cannot get up.

However, both inventions lack the subtlety necessary for the Japanese to use them without embarrassment. For this reason, conventional forms of unsupported falling asleep on trains and the metro continue to prevail.

This is not the case in Ginza, but we also found countless people sleeping in terminal stations, in empty carriages, even as employees of the JR (Japan Railways) or the metro clean it.

Drivers themselves are used to the additional exercise of examining the trains through security cameras and having to wake up exhausted passengers.

Train passenger asleep

Passenger sleeps soundly in a subway train that has been stopped for a long time.

As we approach the station where we had planned to stay, the metro goes back to the pine cone and demands that we prepare the exit. We are forced to shake the sleepers who used us as pillows for their obvious physical and emotional discomfort.

Tokyo at night, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

The shapes and tones of one of the largest megalopolises on the face of the Earth, with more than 13 million people.

At the end of yet another day of discovering Tokyo, we return to Kazuya's home and, after all, we remember to comment on that morning's comic event. Always pragmatic and easygoing, the host confesses without any embarrassment: “I know very well what they are talking about.

As you may have noticed, my schedules are also terrible. And, yes… I have to admit that I'm one of those. Fortunately, it's rare to miss the job season, but it's happened to me more than once that I end up at the terminal on the other side of town.

The worst thing in these cases is the delay with which I get to the office.”

Arrival subway carriage, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan

A subway car makes its way to the first station on its route where it will soon become crowded.

Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
Fianarantsoa-Manakara, Madagascar

On board the Malagasy TGV

We depart Fianarantsoa at 7a.m. It wasn't until 3am the following morning that we completed the 170km to Manakara. The natives call this almost secular train Train Great Vibrations. During the long journey, we felt, very strongly, those of the heart of Madagascar.
On Rails

Train Travel: The World Best on Rails

No way to travel is as repetitive and enriching as going on rails. Climb aboard these disparate carriages and trains and enjoy the best scenery in the world on Rails.
Tokyo, Japan

Pachinko: The Video - Addiction That Depresses Japan

It started as a toy, but the Japanese appetite for profit quickly turned pachinko into a national obsession. Today, there are 30 million Japanese surrendered to these alienating gaming machines.
Bangkok, Thailand

One Thousand and One Lost Nights

In 1984, Murray Head sang the nighttime magic and bipolarity of the Thai capital in "One night in bangkok". Several years, coups d'etat, and demonstrations later, Bangkok remains sleepless.
Tokyo, Japan

Japanese Style Passaport-Type Photography

In the late 80s, two Japanese multinationals already saw conventional photo booths as museum pieces. They turned them into revolutionary machines and Japan surrendered to the Purikura phenomenon.
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's fashion

In ultra-populous and hyper-coded Japan, there is always room for more sophistication and creativity. Whether national or imported, it is in the capital that they begin to parade the new Japanese looks.
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
Tokyo, Japan

A Matchmaking Sanctuary

Tokyo's Meiji Temple was erected to honor the deified spirits of one of the most influential couples in Japanese history. Over time, it specialized in celebrating traditional weddings.
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Tokyo, Japan

Disposable Purrs

Tokyo is the largest of the metropolises but, in its tiny apartments, there is no place for pets. Japanese entrepreneurs detected the gap and launched "catteries" in which the feline affections are paid by the hour.
Tokyo, Japan

The Emperor Without Empire

After the capitulation in World War II, Japan underwent a constitution that ended one of the longest empires in history. The Japanese emperor is, today, the only monarch to reign without empire.
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Okinawa, Japan

Ryukyu Dances: Centuries old. In No Hurry.

The Ryukyu kingdom prospered until the XNUMXth century as a trading post for the China and Japan. From the cultural aesthetics developed by its courtly aristocracy, several styles of slow dance were counted.
Miyajima, Japan

Shintoism and Buddhism with the Tide

Visitors to the Tori of Itsukushima admire one of the three most revered scenery in Japan. On the island of Miyajima, Japanese religiosity blends with Nature and is renewed with the flow of the Seto Inland Sea.
Iriomote, Japan

The Small Tropical Japanese Amazon of Iriomote

Impenetrable rainforests and mangroves fill Iriomote under a pressure cooker climate. Here, foreign visitors are as rare as the yamaneko, an elusive endemic lynx.
Nikko, Japan

The Tokugawa Shogun Final Procession

In 1600, Ieyasu Tokugawa inaugurated a shogunate that united Japan for 250 years. In her honor, Nikko re-enacts the general's medieval relocation to Toshogu's grandiose mausoleum every year.
Nara, Japan

The Colossal Cradle of the Japanese Buddhism

Nara has long since ceased to be the capital and its Todai-ji temple has been demoted. But the Great Hall remains the largest ancient wooden building in the world. And it houses the greatest bronze Vairocana Buddha.
Takayama, Japan

From the Ancient Japan to the Medieval Hida

In three of its streets, Takayama retains traditional wooden architecture and concentrates old shops and sake producers. Around it, it approaches 100.000 inhabitants and surrenders to modernity.
Okinawa, Japan

The Little Empire of the Sun

Risen from the devastation caused by World War II, Okinawa has regained the heritage of its secular Ryukyu civilization. Today, this archipelago south of Kyushu is home to a Japan on the shore, anchored by a turquoise Pacific ocean and bathed in a peculiar Japanese tropicalism.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beach
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Hippopotamus displays tusks, among others
safari
PN Mana Pools, Zimbabwe

The Zambezi at the Top of Zimbabwe

After the rainy season, the dwindling of the great river on the border with Zambia leaves behind a series of lagoons that provide water for the fauna during the dry season. The Mana Pools National Park is the name given to a vast, lush river-lake region that is disputed by countless wild species.
Hikers on the Ice Lake Trail, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 7th - Braga - Ice Lake, Nepal

Annapurna Circuit – The Painful Acclimatization of the Ice Lake

On the way up to the Ghyaru village, we had a first and unexpected show of how ecstatic the Annapurna Circuit can be tasted. Nine kilometers later, in Braga, due to the need to acclimatize, we climbed from 3.470m from Braga to 4.600m from Lake Kicho Tal. We only felt some expected tiredness and the increase in the wonder of the Annapurna Mountains.
Luderitz, Namibia
Architecture & Design
Lüderitz, Namibia

Wilkommen in Africa

Chancellor Bismarck has always disdained overseas possessions. Against his will and all odds, in the middle of the Race for Africa, merchant Adolf Lüderitz forced Germany to take over an inhospitable corner of the continent. The homonymous city prospered and preserves one of the most eccentric heritages of the Germanic empire.
Totems, Botko Village, Malekula, Vanuatu
Aventura
Malekula, Vanuatu

Meat and Bone Cannibalism

Until the early XNUMXth century, man-eaters still feasted on the Vanuatu archipelago. In the village of Botko we find out why European settlers were so afraid of the island of Malekula.
Newar celebration, Bhaktapur, Nepal
Ceremonies and Festivities
Bhaktapur, Nepal

The Nepalese Masks of Life

The Newar Indigenous People of the Kathmandu Valley attach great importance to the Hindu and Buddhist religiosity that unites them with each other and with the Earth. Accordingly, he blesses their rites of passage with newar dances of men masked as deities. Even if repeated long ago from birth to reincarnation, these ancestral dances do not elude modernity and begin to see an end.
Bridgetown, City of Bridge and capital of Barbados, beach
Cities
Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados' "The City" of the Bridge

Originally founded and named "Indian Bridge" beside a foul-smelling swamp, the capital of Barbados has evolved into the capital of the British Windward Isles. Barbadians call it “The City”. It is the hometown of the far more famous Rihanna.
Fogón de Lola, great food, Costa Rica, Guápiles
Lunch time
Fogón de Lola Costa Rica

The Costa Rica Flavour of El Fogón de Lola

As the name suggests, the Fogón de Lola de Guapiles serves dishes prepared on the stove and in the oven, according to Costa Rican family tradition. In particular, Tia Lola's.
Correspondence verification
Culture
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Fruit sellers, Swarm, Mozambique
Traveling
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Jumping forward, Pentecost Naghol, Bungee Jumping, Vanuatu
Ethnic
Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

Pentecost Naghol: Bungee Jumping for Real Men

In 1995, the people of Pentecostes threatened to sue extreme sports companies for stealing the Naghol ritual. In terms of audacity, the elastic imitation falls far short of the original.
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

life outside

New Orleans Louisiana, First Line
History
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

The Muse of the Great American South

New Orleans stands out from conservative US backgrounds as the defender of all rights, talents and irreverence. Once French, forever Frenchified, the city of jazz inspires new contagious rhythms, the fusion of ethnicities, cultures, styles and flavors.
Princess Yasawa Cruise, Maldives
Islands
Maldives

Cruise the Maldives, among Islands and Atolls

Brought from Fiji to sail in the Maldives, Princess Yasawa has adapted well to new seas. As a rule, a day or two of itinerary is enough for the genuineness and delight of life on board to surface.
Maksim, Sami people, Inari, Finland-2
Winter White
Inari, Finland

The Guardians of Boreal Europe

Long discriminated against by Scandinavian, Finnish and Russian settlers, the Sami people regain their autonomy and pride themselves on their nationality.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Literature
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
Tunisian Atlas Oasis, Tunisia, chebika, palm trees
Nature
Chebika, Tamerza, Mides, Tunisia

Where the Sahara sprouts from the Atlas Mountains

Arriving at the northwest edge of Chott el Jérid, the large salt lake reveals the northeast end of the Atlas mountain range. Its slopes and gorges hide waterfalls, winding streams of palm trees, abandoned villages and other unexpected mirages.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Aurora lights up the Pisang Valley, Nepal.
Natural Parks
Annapurna Circuit: 3rd- Upper Banana, Nepal

An Unexpected Snowy Aurora

At the first glimmers of light, the sight of the white mantle that had covered the village during the night dazzles us. With one of the toughest walks on the Annapurna Circuit ahead of us, we postponed the match as much as possible. Annoyed, we left Upper Pisang towards Escort when the last snow faded.
Athens, Greece, Changing of the Guard at Syntagma Square
UNESCO World Heritage
Athens, Greece

The City That Perpetuates the Metropolis

After three and a half millennia, Athens resists and prospers. From a belligerent city-state, it became the capital of the vast Hellenic nation. Modernized and sophisticated, it preserves, in a rocky core, the legacy of its glorious Classical Era.
Characters
Look-alikes, Actors and Extras

Make-believe stars

They are the protagonists of events or are street entrepreneurs. They embody unavoidable characters, represent social classes or epochs. Even miles from Hollywood, without them, the world would be more dull.
Surf Lesson, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
Beaches
Waikiki, OahuHawaii

The Japanese Invasion of Hawaii

Decades after the attack on Pearl Harbor and from the capitulation in World War II, the Japanese returned to Hawaii armed with millions of dollars. Waikiki, his favorite target, insists on surrendering.
Balinese Hinduism, Lombok, Indonesia, Batu Bolong temple, Agung volcano in background
Religion
Lombok, Indonesia

Lombok: Balinese Hinduism on an Island of Islam

The foundation of Indonesia was based on the belief in one God. This ambiguous principle has always generated controversy between nationalists and Islamists, but in Lombok, the Balinese take freedom of worship to heart
The Toy Train story
On Rails
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
Christian believers leaving a church, Upolu, Western Samoa
Society
Upolu, Samoa  

The Broken Heart of Polynesia

The imagery of the paradisiacal South Pacific is unquestionable in Samoa, but its tropical beauty does not pay the bills for either the nation or the inhabitants. Anyone who visits this archipelago finds a people divided between subjecting themselves to tradition and the financial stagnation or uprooting themselves in countries with broader horizons.
Visitors at Talisay Ruins, Negros Island, Philippines
Daily life
Talisay City, Philippines

Monument to a Luso-Philippine Love

At the end of the 11th century, Mariano Lacson, a Filipino farmer, and Maria Braga, a Portuguese woman from Macau, fell in love and got married. During the pregnancy of what would be her 2th child, Maria succumbed to a fall. Destroyed, Mariano built a mansion in his honor. In the midst of World War II, the mansion was set on fire, but the elegant ruins that endured perpetuate their tragic relationship.
Hippopotamus moves in the flooded expanse of the Elephant Plain.
Wildlife
Maputo National Park, Mozambique

The Wild Mozambique between the Maputo River and the Indian Ocean

The abundance of animals, especially elephants, led to the creation of a Hunting Reserve in 1932. After the hardships of the Mozambican Civil War, the Maputo PN protects prodigious ecosystems in which fauna proliferates. With emphasis on the pachyderms that have recently become too many.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.