Thank you, the people of Minami-Urawa, who rescued a member of your community who was stuck under a train. You reminded people all over the world about our common humanity.
I’m sure that the story has been covered all over the place but I read about it on the BBC website. A train pulled into Minami-Urawa station, just north of Tokyo and a woman fell and got stuck under the train. Because of the tilt suspension of the train, staff realised that they might be able to rock the train and give the woman space to get back up onto the platform.
As they began to push they were joined by around 40 passengers and working together the woman was freed.
In the end the train was only delayed by 8 minutes. Rock on! Of course, everyone was being put out by the delay so there was good reason to help. But just the idea that people would act so promptly to help out their fellow passenger/commuter made me happy.
Thank you, the people of Minami-Urawa.
I went to Japan several years ago to visit a friend who was living in Sanda-Shi. I loved travelling around the country by train. They were always punctual and I loved some of the things that were different to the UK, like being able to stand at the front carriage and look through the window over the driver’s shoulder. You could see him at the controls and see his view. Each time another train went past, the driver would wave a white-gloved hand at his fellow driver. It’s possible British train drivers to this too, but we can’t see.
I also had a negative experience when some people started being racist about me and my friend. These people were talking quite loudly and thought that we couldn’t understand them but my friend replied in Japanese to put them straight!
Jez Smith 