The reason why seats at many train stations in Japan do not face the tracks

One design that may upset many people in Japan is the fact that some train stations have waiting seats facing away from the tracks.

Osaka in the Kansai region and Tokyo in the Kanto region are famous for having very different customs and habits, from the way they ride escalators, the way miso soup is placed on the table, or the way they eat rice balls. But there is one difference that observant people will notice at train stations.

Specifically, if you observe a train platform in Tokyo, you will see.

Seats facing the tracks.

Meanwhile, in Osaka, the waiting seats face away.

Seat facing away from the tracks.

Soranews24 reporter discovered this interesting fact and wondered if this difference had any meaning or was just some accidental arrangement. To answer this question, he went to the railway operator in the area and asked. West Japan Railway Company's answer gave 3 reasons for the above design.

PV: I've seen this at stations in Osaka and Hyogo so I wanted to ask - why are the seats facing parallel to the platform? That's something you don't see in Kanto…?"

Well, the main reason is to prevent drunk passengers from falling (onto the tracks). Until they were installed, there were many cases of drunk passengers sitting on the seats standing up and falling off the platform.

So it's to stop drunk people falling off the platform? Does that mean the design is different than before?

Well, it would take me a while to check when they were officially introduced, but as far as I remember the new seat configuration first appeared around 5 to 6 years ago .

Hmm. But if the purpose is to prevent falls, shouldn't there be platform doors instead? I feel like we're seeing more of them at downtown stations.

Platform gates like this appear more in Tokyo than in Osaka.

I understand what you're saying. However, Kansai has a complex network of lines, so it might be a bit difficult to install platform doors everywhere. However, major stations such as Osaka, Tsuruhashi, Kyobashi, and Sannomiya all have platform doors.

I see. I guess installing platform doors must be expensive. Chairs might be a more cost effective countermeasure.

I don't know the details of the cost, but I think that might be part of the reason. West Japan Railway Company has changed the seating configuration at a large number of platforms in the past few years.

Well, that clears things up! Thanks!

Posters explaining the reasons to passengers.

It turns out that the main reason for the unusual seating arrangement is to protect drunk passengers from falling off the platform . Soranews24 also noted that when they passed by several other stations in the Kansai region, they noticed posters explaining the seating arrangement.

Drunk falls are a big problem at train stations across Japan, so much so that you'll often see posters warning commuters of the dangers. That's one reason why platform doors are installed at some stations, but given the costs involved and the fact that Japan's rail network is so vast and varied, a nationwide rollout would be a difficult and time-consuming task.

In that situation, the solution of installing slightly different waiting seats can be an effective initiative, contributing to increasing passenger safety and receiving much praise.