What Not To Do On The Train

What are the unspoken rules on the train in Japan?

1) No Talking On the Cellphone
Though there is no huge sign saying this, it is not appropriate to talk on the phone on the train. Phone must be on a manner mode and you can actually use the phone to send messages, the phone should not make any sounds.

2)  No Eating (Unless you are on the Shinkansen/Private Car)
When you are on the regular train, it is considered very rude to eat on the train unless you arein Shinkansen or Express train where you have assigned seats.

3) Give Seats To Elderly,Pregnant, Or People with Special Needs
There are priority seats for those who are more likely to need the seats but of course when the seats are all full, it is a manner to give up seats for those who need the seats more than you.

4) Put Your Bag In front of You
In a train with many people, you need to keep the bags close to you.

5) No Taking Pictures of Strangers
There were instances of strangers taking pictures of random girls with their phone so that all Japanese cellphone are set to make sounds so that people can recognize when their pictures are being taken .

6) Line Up
In Japan, it is require to line up in two lines/three lines before getting on the train. There's no written rule but it is just what we do automatically.


I believe that pretty much covers unspoken rule. Perhaps there are many rules that became part of my everyday life that I don't notice anymore. What are the rules in your country?