Fun adventures in Japan, pt 2

JR Line Shuts Down Due to Fire

Where is Pt 1, you may wonder?  Part 1 involves me on a bike in Osaka in the rain wearing a suit and heels.  This happened when I visited in the spring, before I really started the blog.

So here's how it goes down.  I go to a party.  JR line is working fine.  I leave the party with a bunch of other people.  We get to the JR station and are confronted by masses of people staring at the monitors which say that there has been a fire along the railway somewhere and all the stations through Kobe City are shut down.  

So we, along with the other hundreds of people who wanted to take the JR line, switch to the Hanshin line.  Now of course the Hanshin line is not equipped to hand that many extra people.  When we got on, it really wasn't that bad, a little on the extra crowded side, perhaps, but nothing worse than rush hour.

However.  By the time my friends got off at Sannomiya, people are packed in more or less like sardines.  The platform is full, lines extend back to the wall and line the wall (it's a biggish station, so that's a lot of people).  For every person who gets off the train, 5 more get on.  No seriously, at every station I thought it was as full as it could get and they always got more people in anyway.  By the time I got off, the situation was getting a bit dire.  

Unfortunately, I was not near the door, so I had to squirm my way out from my little corner.  It was pretty bad, but everyone was really nice, yelling at people outside that they couldn't get on yet cause people were trying to get off and moving as much out of the way as they could.  I felt a little like in Finding Nemo where they're bouncing through the jellies and then suddenly burst into the open sea.

Here's the situation in the station:

 (At this point, the driver has tried several times to close the doors, but can't b/c people can't fit all the way inside the car.  People on the outside who will be waiting for the next train were pushing people on the car further in so that the doors could close)

 (I have never seen this station so crowded.  And this is after we have crammed as many people

as possible into both trains)

Everyone who was left behind, waiting for the next train.

Strangely enough, there was only one person who seemed perturbed about all this.  (He kicked an emergency telephone.)  Every one else was pretty calm and patient and helpful-making sure people got off who wanted off, helping people to squish in, etc. Thinking back, I'm sure it wouldn't be nearly as orderly in the States.  Of course, usually only have one line going anywhere, so if it broke down people would have to take taxis or buses.

I hope they get things fixed up so we can all get to work tomorrow.

Dear JR: refrain from any fires in the future for the next 2 yrs.  thx, me