Japan is celebrating 150 years of train travel, and the country's largest railway company is inviting people to combine business and travel — and responding to changing work habits and lifestyles in the country.
The East Japan Railway Company (known as JR East) transports about 13 million passengers a day through Japan's eastern mainland. On more than 300 of its high-speed bullet trains, the company has designated one carriage to be used as an "office car". At no extra cost, passengers can take advantage of seat dividers, noise-cancelling headphones and smart glasses to keep their screens private and block out noise while they type away on laptops, make phone calls and join online meetings.
People in European and other Western countries may be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about, but in Japan, this is quite a radical development. Yoshiya Amanai, of JR East's management team, told Business Spotlight that telephoning and other noisy activities are normally prohibited inside train carriages because "Japanese people are more comfortable with silence." Amanai has found that, even in the office cars, some passengers are still hesitant about talking on the phone. "There are two types of people," he says. "Some accept this service, but others are resistant to it and ask: ‘Is it really OK to do this?'"
Amanai, who has used the office cars himself, says they are designated only on weekdays and are intended to replicate the atmosphere of an office. In the past, the only place to make a phone call on a train was between the carriages. "This is a very noisy place, so you have to shout into your phone while having a conversation," he says. "Thanks to the office cars, you don't need to do that any more. You can concentrate on your work a lot better."
The changing world of work
Introducing office cars in 2021 was partly a response to the pandemic. As with other railways around the world, Amanai says, JR East suffered a dramatic drop in passengers during the lockdowns. And things are not expected to return fully to the way they were before. "Covid-19 has transformed the way of working and living in Japan — not only in Japan but all over the world," he says. "Now, we realize that we can choose where and when to work, and we can utilize our travel time to enhance our overall productivity."
According to Amanai, roughly 80 per cent of Japanese professionals take the train to work. Now, with more work being done remotely, office cars are a way to encourage commuters back on to trains. "The next business opportunity for us," he says.
At the latest count, says Amanai, passenger numbers were still about 30 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, but gradually, more workers are returning to the workplace, at least part-time. "Many Japanese people want to return to the office, because they like to mingle, but they don't want to get on a crowded train," Amanai explains. "Crowded trains are good for railway companies but not for passengers."
Part of the appeal of office cars is that they may help to minimize crowding by allowing passengers to take the train at different times without significantly interrupting their work. Whereas before the pandemic, everybody would try to take a train at 8 a.m., more flexible working times now make a wider distribution of passengers possible. "Perhaps they can work from home from 8 to 10, and then get on a train when it's not so crowded," says Amanai. All transport operators thrive on regularity. Office cars could help re-establish some regular commuter habits and solve a puzzle: How do you run an efficient timetable when everybody goes to work if and when they feel like it?
More places to work
Office cars are becoming popular. Other Japanese railway companies have started offering office cars on their trains, too. And this can be seen as part of a wider trend of public workspaces in Japan. The Manuscript Writing Cafe, for example, which opened in Tokyo in 2022, is a coffee shop where people can ask to be encouraged (and even pressured) to meet their writing goals. Asked if public workspaces have become a trend in Japan, Amanai says: "Yes, I would say so. It's characteristic of Japanese people, because we want to be the same as the others. So, if the others are working, I have to work. And if the others are playing, I want to play." He expects more communal workspaces, whether temporary or permanent, for Japan's workers in the future.
As for JR East, after introducing office cars, the company seems to have developed a taste for innovation. It recently tried a one-off train carriage in which passengers could let their pets roam free — instead of keeping them in pet carriers, as is normally required. And Amanai is thinking about other specially designated carriages in the future. "Traditionally, train carriages have had a lot of restrictions," he says. "By relaxing these rules, we can provide new opportunities for our customers."
The Bullet train
- Japan pioneered high-speed train travel. The first bullet trains (known as Shinkansen) began service in 1964, when Tokyo hosted the Olympic Games. Since then, they have provided a major boost to the national economy.
- In addition to speed, the Shinkansen are famous for punctuality (the average delay is less than a minute) as well as safety. In six decades, Japan has had no deaths caused by derailment or collision.
- They are also a green way to travel. Each Shinkansen uses just 12.5% of the energy a plane does, emitting about 92% less CO2 per seat.