On my way home, about to get on the train at Naka Meguro and the girl in front of me drops her keitai (mobile phone) in the gap between the train and the platform. She's kind of stunned, stands there, mouth open. The train pulls away.
Her keitai is ok - it's just lying next to the track, out of the reach of any train wheels. But she's panicking, running up and down the platform not sure what to do.
Everyone else is pretending nothing's happened.
I step forward and say to her, "It's OK, it's not near the track, they'll be able to get it back for you".
"What should I do?" she asks me.
"Just go and ask one of the station staff to get it for you" I replied. "I'll stay here to mark the spot where it is."
About 15 seconds I turn around in surprise as the emergency alarm sounds - she's pressed the button to stop the trains!
Oh cripes. That's kind of embarrassing. A bunch of station run onto the platform, radios in hand. The woman stands at the edge of the platform, and points to her phone below.
Realising it's not an emergency they turn the alarm off. She thanks me and I try to disappear, I don't want to be associated with this scene, all this trouble for a phone (now if it had been an iPhone it would have been a different matter!)
Looking back at what's just happened, I'm reminded of something that I think is a bit sad about life in Tokyo - people will generally not help other people in trouble. I've witnessed a violent fight in Kichijoji station, someone coming off their motorbike at speed in Koenji, and numerous other little accidents where the victims were simply ignored by all those around them - and it was left to me (and on a couple of occasions other gaijin in the area) to help.
The koenji motorbike accident was particularly shocking for me, as literally no-one else came forward to help the guy lying in the road. I'd not been in Japan long and hadn't been aware that even when people were in trouble you were not supposed to cross the barrier and interact with strangers.
Personally I think it's a form of self-defence. In such a crowded place you could easily go crazy if you interacted with all those around you. It's much easier to switch off, and just focus on yourself. Don't invade the space of others (I think the overcrowded but silent morning commuter trains are the best example of this).
I'm not angry about this, I just feel it's a little sad.
And of course it's a warning too - if you're going to have an accident in public, don't do it in Japan!
If you saw someone who'd had an accident, what would you do?
Joseph
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