Japanese Manner Posters: Please be silent!

One of my hobbys in Japan is taking pictures of "manner posters". This pastime is a form of applied anthropology if you will.



If you have ever traveled on a Japanese train during rush-hour, you might wonder whether the following hint is really necessary, so quiet it is in the stuffed coaches.

Okay, you might meet the depicted fellow occasionally after rush hour. But they are few compared to other countries. But then, maybe it is exactly because of these constant reminders that more people mind.


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Japanese manner posters: Please don't beat up your train conductor

One of my hobbys in Japan is taking pictures of "manner posters". This pastime is a form of applied anthropology if you will.

If you have visited Japan you might wonder why Japanese seem to be so obsessed with posters that are asking them to behave well. Aren't they so well behaved, orderly, clean and peaceful already? 

But see it this way: Maybe they are all this exactly because of the posters. Because they are constantly reminded to behave well that they behave well. 

Today on the menue:

Violence (against subway personel as the small print explains) is a crime. According to the poster it is a growing problem, rising from 554 cases nine years ago to 828 cases in 2013.