3.31.11 (part 2)

Transportation (con't.)

Due to the high concentration of companies in Tokyo, most business people living in the prefectures (counties) surrounding Tokyo, especially Kanagawa, Chiba, and Saitama, work in Tokyo. The vast majority commute by train as the railways are much more efficient than automobile travel. So each person figures out the most convenient route for the time that gets him to the office on time. Some companies have a flex time system, but most do not. Work starting times range between 8:30 for manufacturers, 9:00 for most public services, and 10:00 for most other sectors. The 10:00 start time is later than in other cities in Japan, mainly due to the fact that people have to travel at least one hour to work. "How long does it take you to get to the office?" "Door to door it is about an hour and a half." ("Door to door" has become a Japanese expression.) An hour and a half is considered reasonable.

Trains from 6:30 am to 9:00 am are packed. Even the special class "green car," for which you pay a separate fee for a seat, is full during those hours.

The regular train between the Ofuna area (mentioned in last post with map) to Tokyo is about 50 minutes. The train stops about every 10 minutes. Most people stand in the train for the duration of the trip, both to and from the office, everyday. And you are shoulder to shoulder with everybody else.

About 10 years ago, JR started a new commuter line called the "Shonan Liner." Shonan is the coastline southwest of Tokyo, again in the Ofuna area. This train stops at three or four stations, Odawara, Chigasaki, Fujisawa, Ofuna to pick up passengers and then travels through to the city centers of Shinagawa, sometimes Shimbashi, and Tokyo to drop them off. The whole train is for seated passengers, and the cost is 500 yen (about $5).

Tickets are sold as a kind of monthly pass on the first of each month for the following month. People line up early in the morning in advance of the 6:45 am distribution of priority numbers. You write your name, phone number, and the desired train (there are about 10 different departure times) and hand it to the JR staff. After 4:30 pm that day you go back to the JR office to see if you can buy a liner ticket. (There are some tickets allocated for sale each day for the next day's commute for people who don't need a daily ticket or whose schedule varies.)

In our house, darling husband (DH) has to leave for work earlier than I do, so I am elected to stand in line in the morning. (Fortunately we like about a 3-minute walk from the station.) Each month he has been able to buy a ticket, so the morning commute has been pleasant. The trip takes about 40 minutes, usually spent by taking a nap.

With the current situation in which power is being conserved, our JR line is operating at only 80% to 90% capacity; furthermore, the Shonan Liner has been temporarily discontinued. Current Shonan Liner service is cancelled; April and May Liner services are not scheduled. So tomorrow, April 1, I don't have to go stand in line in the morning.

However, DH, who usually takes the 7:00 am train, has changed his schedule as there is no way he can get a seat on a regular train. So since the earthquake, he takes a train that makes more stops (taking more time) and travels a different route but ends up in the same destination. Because he can get a seat. So now he takes a train leaving at 6:15 am. That is pretty early.