Japan’s Women Only Train Cars

As we’ve travelled around Japan, I’ve been stricken by the number of women only train cars, and women only lineups. And women only seats in certain reserved train cars. I say stricken because I worry about a culture where men and women are so unable to be together in the same train car that it’s important for women to have their own reserved space. Our Japanese friend Tak explained that it is because some Japanese men are prone to inappropriate touching of women in crowded train cars. I wonder if it is because they feel like they can get away with it? 

The very gendered distribution of labour in Japan is extremely evident. So far we’ve seen numerous women bicycling their children, but only one man. When I say bicycling their children they have in genius arrangements to have one child in the front and one child in the back of a single pedal powered bicycle.