(The Asahi Shimbun posted the following story on its website on July 8.)
TOKYO — Violent acts by passengers against train employees soared to a record 445 cases in the last business year, Japan Railway officials said.
One of the factors behind the rise, according to JR officials, was an increase in passengers in their 20s or 50s, most of them men, attacking train staff without provocation.
The 445 cases, which were reported by six JR companies, represent an increase of 46 cases, or 10 percent, from the previous fiscal year.
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) reported 350 cases, or 80 percent.
Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) logged 45 cases; West Japan Railway Co. (JR West), 48; and Shikoku Railway Co., two.
Kyushu Railway Co. and Hokkaido Railway Co. are still tallying.
Of the 146 cases reported by JR East’s Tokyo branch, 70 percent were caused by drunken passengers, JR East officials said.
People in their 50s topped the list of assailants from fiscal 1998 to fiscal 2001. But twentysomethings took over first place in fiscal 2002.
The nature of attacks has changed in the last five years or so, according to officials. Before, passengers would erupt into violence after arguing with train employees. Recently, however, passengers have been attacking staff before uttering even a word.
In one case, a conductor who warned a man puffing at a non-smoking seat on the Sanyo Shinkansen in Yamaguchi Prefecture in August was beaten senseless.
“People must be stressed out, especially middle-aged company workers worried about being restructured and young people who see little hope,” said a JR East executive.
To protect its staff, JR East distributed a manual to deal with hot-blooded customers.
Tips include standing beside a passenger, not in front, when waking them up.
In recent years, JR companies have increasingly filed criminal complaints against violent passengers.
JR East’s Tokyo branch has been particularly willing to go to the police. The ratio of complaints to cases for JR East has ranged between 40 and 50 percent since fiscal 1999. During the same period, the Tokyo branch reported between 60 and 86 percent of cases to police.
Last fiscal year, JR Tokai lodged complaints on 84 percent of its cases.