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.
Security
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.
hippopotami, chobe national park, botswana
Safari
Chobe NP, Botswana

Chobe: A River on the Border of Life with Death

Chobe marks the divide between Botswana and three of its neighboring countries, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia. But its capricious bed has a far more crucial function than this political delimitation.
Faithful light candles, Milarepa Grotto temple, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 9th Manang to Milarepa Cave, Nepal

A Walk between Acclimatization and Pilgrimage

In full Annapurna Circuit, we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). we still need acclimatize to the higher stretches that followed, we inaugurated an equally spiritual journey to a Nepalese cave of Milarepa (4000m), the refuge of a siddha (sage) and Buddhist saint.
Architecture & Design
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
Salto Angel, Rio that falls from the sky, Angel Falls, PN Canaima, Venezuela
Adventure
PN Canaima, Venezuela

Kerepakupai, Salto Angel: The River that Falls from Heaven

In 1937, Jimmy Angel landed a light aircraft on a plateau lost in the Venezuelan jungle. The American adventurer did not find gold but he conquered the baptism of the longest waterfall on the face of the Earth
Balinese Hinduism, Lombok, Indonesia, Batu Bolong temple, Agung volcano in background
Ceremonies and Festivities
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
City of Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde
Cities
Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde

The Miracle of São Vicente

São Vicente has always been arid and inhospitable to match. The challenging colonization of the island subjected the settlers to successive hardships. Until, finally, its providential deep-water bay enabled Mindelo, the most cosmopolitan city and the cultural capital of Cape Verde.
Obese resident of Tupola Tapaau, a small island in Western Samoa.
Meal
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
shadow of success
Culture
Champoton, Mexico

Rodeo Under Sombreros

Champoton, in Campeche, hosts a fair honored by the Virgén de La Concepción. O rodeo Mexican under local sombreros reveals the elegance and skill of the region's cowboys.
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.
trip around the world, symbol of wisdom illustrated in a window at Inari airport, Finnish Lapland
Traveling
Around the World - Part 1

Traveling Brings Wisdom. Find out how to travel around the world.

The Earth turns on itself every day. In this series of articles, you will find indispensable clarifications and advice for those who make a point of going around it at least once in their life.
Ethnic
Viti levu, Fiji

The Unlikely Sharing of Viti Levu Island

In the heart of the South Pacific, a large community of Indian descendants recruited by former British settlers and the Melanesian indigenous population have long divided the chief island of Fiji.
sunlight photography, sun, lights
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
royal of Catorce, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Chapel of Guadalupe
History
Real de Catorce, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

The Depreciation of Silver that Led to that of the Pueblo (Part II)

With the turn of the XNUMXth century, the value of the precious metal hit bottom. From a prodigious town, Real de Catorce became a ghost. Still discovering, we explore the ruins of the mines at their origin and the charm of the Pueblo resurrected.
Albreda, Gambia, Queue
Islands
Barra a Kunta Kinteh, Gâmbia

Journey to the Origins of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

One of the main commercial arteries of West Africa, in the middle of the XNUMXth century, the Gambia River was already navigated by Portuguese explorers. Until the XNUMXth century, much of the slavery perpetrated by the colonial powers of the Old World flowed along its waters and banks.
Sampo Icebreaker, Kemi, Finland
Winter White
Kemi, Finland

It's No "Love Boat". Breaks the Ice since 1961

Built to maintain waterways through the most extreme arctic winter, the icebreaker Sampo” fulfilled its mission between Finland and Sweden for 30 years. In 1988, he reformed and dedicated himself to shorter trips that allow passengers to float in a newly opened channel in the Gulf of Bothnia, in clothes that, more than special, seem spacey.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Literature
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Ostrich, Cape Good Hope, South Africa
Nature
Cape of Good Hope - Cape of Good Hope NP, South Africa

On the edge of the Old End of the World

We arrived where great Africa yielded to the domains of the “Mostrengo” Adamastor and the Portuguese navigators trembled like sticks. There, where Earth was, after all, far from ending, the sailors' hope of rounding the tenebrous Cape was challenged by the same storms that continue to ravage there.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Natural Parks
Lijiang e Yangshuo, China

An Impressive China

One of the most respected Asian filmmakers, Zhang Yimou dedicated himself to large outdoor productions and co-authored the media ceremonies of the Beijing OG. But Yimou is also responsible for “Impressions”, a series of no less controversial stagings with stages in emblematic places.
Fort São Filipe, Cidade Velha, Santiago Island, Cape Verde
UNESCO World Heritage
Cidade Velha, Cape Verde

Cidade Velha: the Ancient of the Tropico-Colonial Cities

It was the first settlement founded by Europeans below the Tropic of Cancer. In crucial times for Portuguese expansion to Africa and South America and for the slave trade that accompanied it, Cidade Velha became a poignant but unavoidable legacy of Cape Verdean origins.

Visitors to Ernest Hemingway's Home, Key West, Florida, United States
Characters
Key West, United States

Hemingway's Caribbean Playground

Effusive as ever, Ernest Hemingway called Key West "the best place I've ever been...". In the tropical depths of the contiguous US, he found evasion and crazy, drunken fun. And the inspiration to write with intensity to match.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Beaches
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
holy plain, Bagan, Myanmar
Religion
Bagan, Myanmar

The Plain of Pagodas, Temples and other Heavenly Redemptions

Burmese religiosity has always been based on a commitment to redemption. In Bagan, wealthy and fearful believers continue to erect pagodas in hopes of winning the benevolence of the gods.
End of the World Train, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
On Rails
Ushuaia, Argentina

Last Station: End of the World

Until 1947, the Tren del Fin del Mundo made countless trips for the inmates of the Ushuaia prison to cut firewood. Today, passengers are different, but no other train goes further south.
young saleswoman, nation, bread, uzbekistan
Society
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, The Nation That Does Not Lack Bread

Few countries employ cereals like Uzbekistan. In this republic of Central Asia, bread plays a vital and social role. The Uzbeks produce it and consume it with devotion and in abundance.
Saksun, Faroe Islands, Streymoy, warning
Daily life
Saksun, streymoyFaroe Islands

The Faroese Village That Doesn't Want to be Disneyland

Saksun is one of several stunning small villages in the Faroe Islands that more and more outsiders visit. It is distinguished by the aversion to tourists of its main rural owner, author of repeated antipathies and attacks against the invaders of his land.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Wildlife
Valdez, Alaska

On the Black Gold Route

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker caused a massive environmental disaster. The vessel stopped plying the seas, but the victim city that gave it its name continues on the path of crude oil from the Arctic Ocean.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.