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Apology After Japanese Train Departs 20 Seconds Early (bbc.com)
Several readers share a BBC report: A rail company in Japan has apologised after one of its trains departed 20 seconds early. Management on the Tsukuba Express line between Tokyo and the city of Tsukuba say they "sincerely apologise for the inconvenience" caused. In a statement, the company said the train had been scheduled to leave at 9:44:40 local time but left at 9:44:20. Many social media users reacted to the company's apology with surprise. "Tokyo train company's apology for 20-second-early departure is one of the best things about Japan," a user wrote. The mistake happened because staff had not checked the timetable, the company statement said.
When the Light Rail leaves a whole two minutes early all we get is a hearty "fuck you!"
Is it a coincidence it happened only three days after Pocky Day? I think not!
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Tokyo train company's apology for 20-second-early departure is one of the best things about Japan
And reinforces one of the worst things about Japan.
This extreme fastidiousness is also why Japan's suicide rate is higher than the US homicide rate and suicide rate combined.
So how many posts until someone makes a harakiri joke?
...the company announced that the train engineer will commit seppuku.
[Just kidding ;-P]
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
My company received an apology from a Japanese supplier because a shipment of parts were a week late after the 2011 earthquake.
Meanwhile other suppliers were apologetically late for no good reason.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
I've ridden these trains. There are marks on the platform showing where the doors will be. There is a timer counting down until arrival. You can stand at the mark, and when the timer hits zero, step forward onto the train. It will be there with the door open right on that mark. Not even German trains are as punctual as Japanese trains.
That's one explanation for this behavior . . . .
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
No trains were running in the capital yesterday due to industrial action. The French and Korean companies that run them have been trying to claw back conditions from employment agreements they agreed to when they won the operating contract, so the workers went on strike after 6 months of failed negotiations.
During normal operations, I did notice Japanese trains run to the second when I was there a while back. There's no similar sense of urgency here in the US.
I don't know if a society so focused on punctuality is a good thing though...not being allowed to be late (or early) means that there's no room for error in other parts of one's life either. I imagine it's very difficult to come back from a personal failure in Japanese culture. In the US, it's certainly not impossible...I know tons of people who just weren't ready to grow up when they turned 18, and they either drifted or joined the military and grew up, then got their lives on track. That must be way harder in Japan if you can't even leave 20 seconds early without triggering an apology.
I wish my wife was that forgiving about 20 seconds.and my apology...
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
The professionalism here on slashdot is outstanding! On this date 11/16/2017 I shall always remember where and when I first heard this vital life changing news of a train departing 20 seconds early in my memories.
http://saveie6.com/
Or you have a train at all. Here in Austin, there is a rail system... with one route that stops by a downtown hotel, and no other relevant spots in the area. You have buses that run... sort of. Cycling? If you can use the Greenbelt paths, you are A-OK, but if not, better get a cycle cam for front and back, as hit and runs are extremely common. So, you pretty much take your car places. The local council is divided into districts, and none of the districts have any interest in doing anything for the better city, so any meaningful discussions on transportation issues get tabled indefinitely.
As many people note, you can set your watch to arrivals/departures of trains in Japan - but I'm amazed at how much the Japanese take it for granted.
They don't see it as anything special, this is a service, like always getting a dial tone when you pick up a phone in North America.
I'm wondering how this could be translated to Canadian culture - I don't think the Toronto subway system (http://www.ttc.ca/) could ever get their collective heads wrapped around the idea that they MUST be on time, ALWAYS & FOREVER.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Are you kidding? Those people don't ride trains! They ride Greyhound!
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
"We apologize for getting you to work 20 seconds earlier."
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The best part of the whole thing was the reason: "The mistake happened because staff had not checked the timetable, the company statement said." Based on personal experience, the staff of subway systems and commuter trains in the US are consulting time tables that must round only to the nearest ten minutes.
This is indicative of the kind of mindset that led to the tragic train crash of 2005. A train was running 90 seconds behind, and under tremendous pressure from his superiors, the operator sped the train up and ended up derailing it. If it weren't for the new automatic brake systems installed, this would likely happen again (because I see no change in the culture)
Amagasaki rail crash
Japanese train - scheduled to leave at 9:44:40 Amtrak train - scheduled to leave around 10, give or take an hour.
Look at it this way : the Japanese apologize for trivialities but they NEVER apologize for the real crimes. Such as war crimes and other such niceties. Trump compared to the Japanese is a baby.
Amtrak train - scheduled to leave around 10, give or take an hour.
That's exemplary service for Amtrak. The last Amtrak experience I had was when the train I was dropping someone off for was four hours late.
Wow, it says in Antigua and Barbuda the suicide rate is zero.
> In Italy, the trains are on time most of the time.
Suprisingly, Italy has a very good national railway system, despite the common perception of "digo" being a lazy and careless race. Italian rail is more than just public transport: the state's train company "FS Trenitalia" considers itself the very force that holds the nation together and I dare to say they are probably right.
Stations are in the middle of cities, towns and often even villages have them and they more or less act as temples of national unification, which happened only around 1860-1870 for Italy. Italy has a separate national agency for railway policing and their staff are rather visible at most stations, though pick-pocketing is a serious problem affecting tourists.
Italy has the most cars per capita in Europe, even more than Germany and there are further countless many moto-scooters on the roads but most italians dislike driving long distances. That's because driving habits change drastically north to south. (Traffic lights give orders in Milan, provide advice in Rome and serve as disco balls in Naples...)
Thus trains are always well patroned and often full. Being a tourist in Italy or at least the part Rome and to the north of it, doesn't require a motor vehicle, it would be a burden to be ties to a car, since many historical centres are de-motorized areas.
Traction electrification is extensive in Italy and essentially all carriages have HVAC, although my personal experience is mostly for the region north of Bologna. Allegedly the south of the boot is less blessed by the winged wheel? There are several kinds of italian pax carrying trains:
Regionale: stops at every bush and village pump, cheap
Regionale Veloce: stops at towns and major villages, cheap, up to 160km/h
Intercity: considered low-tier long distance travel, cheapish, up to 200km/h
Freccia (Arrow): national HST network, eg. Turin-Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples
Freccia Bianca: replacing Intercity, better carriages, 200km/h, usually affordable
Freccia Argento: max. 250km/h, used on routes towards e.g. Switzerland
Freccia Rossa 500: max. 300km/h, equivalent to japanese bullet trains, often $$$
Freccia Rossa 1000: max. 350km/h, latest and greatest from the national railways
NTV 575: max. 350km/h, bullet trains of private operator (!) Italotreno, sometimes more affordable
Pricing for Intercity and up are like low cost airlines, if you can buy 2-3 months in advance insane dirt cheap prices are possible, like 9-15 euros for Venice to Milan or Bologna to Turin (2,5-3 hour journey on HST). Regional trains are fixed price and cheap but without seat reservation.
Japanese tourists often marvel at Venezia Santa Lucia, as that station is located in the middle of the lagoon, gondolas literally float in front of the entrance and to the side. It has only 4 tracks leading to mainland, yet receives and departs at least 280 trainsets every day. Hard to grasp how that's possible, considering the extreme safety protocols for railways for time and distance based separation of moving trains.
Even though I live in Hungary, a european country with a dense rail infrastructure, I can only dream of ever seeing the same kind of dedication and precision which italians paradoxically put into their national trains network.
The Japanese apologize for 'trivialitities' because they are often insults - leaving early is an insult to those who missed the train. Insults are not trivial things in Japan. The Japanese never apologize for the 'real crimes' because they don't believe they have insulted anyone. Commiting war crimes during WWII was not an insult to the American soldiers, those were honorary executions of the enemy.
Not right or wrong, just a different point of view.
Privately-owned, competing railroads provide good service. Wow. Who knew...
Meanwhile, government monopoly NJ Transit would not only can leave 1-2 minutes early sometimes (when they aren't 20 minutes late), they would kick a passenger off the train for pointing it out...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
...is that the rail company apologized even though nobody actually complained about it - now that's honesty!
The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
I am sure the "Comfort Girls" would disagree.
I'm Canadian, but I lived in Atlanta in the early 90s. This was when Atlanta was the violent crime capital of the USA. I found Canadian kids are more violent than their American counter parts. They tease, bully and particularly in sports resort to fighting far more often.
The Canadian apology is part de-escalation, half social signalling (and part programmed reflex). When I apologies for someone else bumping into me I'm avoiding a fight and I'm showing confidence that I'm big enough not to be offended. Call me an idiot, I'm not going to take the bait and get a penalty. I will let you go first through the door to show I'm organized, and not in a rush. (yes, I'm guilty, I've been in a few Canadian standoffs) .
In work, if something goes wrong, I'll take the blame and then work on the solution. This is doubly effective in some cultures as I'm remembered as the one who took charge and solved the problem and also saved someone else embarrassment.
One last note. I did find the people of the American south the most friendly, open and genuine people I've ever met. They will always start a conversation and will tell you anything you want to know.
I would not be surprised if the apology was a stunt by the railway PR department: a way of saying ''look how punctual we normally are''.
1. Shielding a Nazi Officer Wanted for War Crimes
2. The Internment of Japanese Citizens During World War II
3. The Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii
4. The Tuskegee Experiment
5. An Apology for Slavery and the Jim Crow laws
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-times-united-states-officially-apologized-180959254/
SIG FAULT: Post index out of bounds.
...we can be happy to have a train come to town maybe once or twice a day. I gladly take 20 seconds early any time in exchange for a decent regional train service.
Trying to overtake us Canadians as the nice folks on this planet!
I tend to rant.
I use mass transit and I mean I have for years. The apology actually makes sense to me, as in mass transit, being early can be worse than being late.
As a rider we often plan our arrival to the stop based on the bus or train being on-time. Now, if the bus or train is late, we stand and wait the extra one to five minutes. In my case, missing the bus/train could mean standing from 20 to 45 minutes waiting for the next to arrive, if there is a next one.
So, in my case, I'd rather the bus/train be 1 minute late rather than 1 minute early, as do most of the experienced riders on my route.
Not to mention the residents of Nanking
How about the import of captured Africans as slaves requiring a major war to free them. There are still folks that believe the descendants of these slaves are less worthy than themselves.
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
Trump compared to the Japanese is a baby.
A man-baby to be more precise...
Ever take the Connecticut/New York trains?
They are dual power, and antiques on wheels.. Complete with original bathrooms :(
The Japanese never apologize for the 'real crimes' because they don't believe they have insulted anyone. Commiting war crimes during WWII was not an insult to the American soldiers, those were honorary executions of the enemy.
(1) To deunk with reality : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
(2)One of the well-travelled young (still in 30s) Japanese I used to work under had this assessment:
Not only had they apologized to so many people, everytime the Chinese and Koreans asked for one more apology it is ususally another ruse for Asking compensation yet again
(3) Disclaimer : I'm an ethnic Chinese and the following said will, in no way, lessen the Japanese atrocities during the war:
Quite a significant portion of the very organized, politically-backed South Korean Comfort woman (that is still living is strangely large number) protesting in 2017................are also actually not comfort woman from more than 72 years ago, but rather prostitutes (admitedly, "forced" by every tough situations and war and post shoartages. Post-war ones are total frauds) that was allowed to tag on to the grievance seeking team because
(a) The vastly missing or non-existant records after multiple changes of adminstration within 10 years
(b) compounded with Korean war around 1951 that turned SK into a rubble (figuratively)
(c) Anyone whose records are stored north of 38th parallel north being totally inaccessible,
As a result people just had to take everyone's word for it. when a woman claimed that she was a comfort woman and she's with the team. And despite of previous compensation to the SK administration decades ago ( when it was still military-ruled - seems like money went straight to the army and the victims didn't get them), South Korean comfort woman, who have a significant voice internationally as a humanitarian issue, did a great job in reinforce in people's minds the factually incorrect "Japan never apologizes, Japan never compensate" "common knowledge".
In one state, the genius government ordered trains that are too wide for the existing stations, resulting in two years of delays and track closures while they fix the problem, while in another, the cut-price trains the genius government ordered have the driver's seat in the wrong position so the driver can't see the trackside signals clearly. And the brakes don't work.
Yasukuni Shrine is a can of worms, I know.
The problem is that large parts of their parliament continues to go to the Yasukuni Shrine, even though they know how much that pisses off China and S. Korea.
Things is, the original purpose of this ancient Shrine is to honor the people that have died for their country, and that is the custom since Meiji Restoration and not likely to have been done to anger neighbors on purpose. The fact that the Japanese soldiers (multi millions are just civilians and teenager boys hastily pulled in to fight the war, especially latter part of it when Japan is losing millions of soldiers) has not changed. The problem is that the Shrine currently hold remains of some of the worst "Class A" (crimes against peace) war criminals - And for that, even many Japanese (including good portion of the decedents of the Class A war criminals) wants the War Criminals (Mass Murderers) among the war dead removed from the compound and only worship the civilians that fought protecting the country. I'm an Asian and I'd have no qualms about the Y-Shrine if they just removed the Mass murderers.
Lastly, the insincere apology - Most people actually have no idea that circa 2017, Japan is still paying "humanitarian aid" to South Korea................ So in short, apology SK won't accept on insincerity, money given they won't acknowledge. Japan has done wrong in the past but the current situation is, PR-wise, a no-win situation.
The current situation is that apologies have been issued, but for a variety of reasons there are demands for more. It could certainly be argued that there is a case for further apology and compensation for some groups, but the situation has become so politically charged now that it's almost impossible to resolve.
In addition, there is a feeling in Japan that since almost everyone involved in the war is dead now and the younger people who are three or four generations removed can't be burdened with apologising for those crimes any further. The main argument against this is that Japan has not done as much as Germany to teach children about what happened.
At this point I think the policy is to just wait another 20 years for the issue to go away by itself.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Winners donâ(TM)t have to apologize. I donâ(TM)t see any Italians or Greeks or Scandinavian people apologizing for their war crimes.
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> ... There's no similar sense of urgency here in the US. ...
I disagree. Amtrak (U.S. passenger rail) is very good on timeliness -- you can just about set your watch at their departure. And when there are expected or potential delays, they are very good about notifying customers.
My experience has been in the "north east corridor" - travelling between NYC and WDC.
In the US, if your train is early, it's most likely the train that came before being late.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Yes, but that hole in the ground has a room around it. Hence bathroom.
What did you expect, a bathtub?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Well thats a bit of oranges and lemons i'm afraid ... Abe did not commit warcrimes and Trump did not sponsor the nazi party in the early 1920s-30s or set up Eugenics in New York and California and what not ... Actually he didnt even sponsor Al Qaeda nor did he flatten Iraq and gave birth the the I(slamic)S(tateof)I(RAQand)L(ybia)
so one could say Trump and Abe might be very much alike ... shrewd politicians who know how to win (Trump did, after all, and Abe's snap surprise election was probably a master move too :-)
Apologizing for a 20 sec diff on a train however, i think that's worthy of praise ...
Free speech was meant to be free for all... how can anyone grow up in a nanny state ?