On the train...

I love riding on Japanese public transportation. Sitting on the train is like looking into the window of Japanese society. Here you see fashion trends, hear about the latest conversation topics, and observe behavioural patterns.

Once on my train, there were a group of mothers with their rather unruly 5-year old kids. The mothers were busy chatting while their children were clamouring over each other and standing on the seats. Suddenly a man standing next to them, in a fierce tone reprimanded one of the kids, “Oi, suware!” which means “Oi, sit down lah”. He startled the children, their mothers and the whole carriage. For a minute, there was only silence. The mothers stood confounded. At first I thought this guy was one of the fathers, but he left the train after a few stops, while the group stayed on.

I drew some conclusions from this incident:
1) Mothers may tend to be over-indulgent with their children. Japanese women simply dote on their kids. The children on the train were mostly left to their own devices.
2) Women may not usually defend themselves. Do the same thing in America or even in Singapore, and you’ll most definitely get a “what gives you the right to yell at my children??” and then be smashed over the head with a handbag.
3) Men may yield unquestionable power in society. This unimpressive guy doesn’t look over 30, wore a baggy polo-T and slippers, and was probably irritated because he couldn’t read his manga comic properly. He didn't have to shout at the kids though… He probably needed an ego boost.

Those were some of my thoughts after having witnessed what happened on the train that day. Of course these may just be the typical stereotypes being dumped on Japanese society, but it was interesting to see it unfold sometimes.