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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.
Is it a coincidence it happened only three days after Pocky Day? I think not!
#DeleteFacebook
...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.
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 conductor will now commit hara-kiri after apologizing for shaming his family.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
I'm surprised. I mean, how do you make out what the operator is saying over the static and the noise?
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Not quite. There are two good reasons why trains need to run on time in Japan.
1 - They are so many of them that small delays can snowball into major delays across the network.
2 - Trains leaving early is bad because you make people who are on time miss their train, and then make them late.
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
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.
This extreme fastidiousness is also why Japan's suicide rate is higher than the US homicide rate and suicide rate combined.
There is more to it than that. In Japanese culture, suicide is often perceived as honorable. So that makes it a more acceptable way to deal with problems.
The suicide rate in Hungary, Poland, and Russia is higher than in Japan. Even in America, the suicide rate is nearly twice the homicide rate.
List of countries by suicide rate
The conductor will now commit hara-kiri after apologizing for shaming his family.
That would be seppuku, not harakiri. The two are closely related, but harakiri is just suicide by disembowelment, while seppuku is the ritualized form done to spare others shame.
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.
Yeah, he wasn't allowed back to work until he completed this.
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.
Sorry to blow away your whole point, but this railway is owned by a "company" which is actually owned by a number of Japanese governments.
Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company ownership (all government bodies): Ibaraki Prefecture, Tokyo, Chiba Prefecture, Adachi Ward (Tokyo), City of Tsukuba, Saitama Prefecture
No competition involved either on this route.
Seems to be well-managed, in spite of this. But your whole premise is blown away, you don't know what you are talking about.
I see that a lot on the Internet, but I don't think that's actually true.
The two mean the same thing, seppuku is just based on the chinese reading.
Same as ninja and shinobi and all that jazz.
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".