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Although eating on the subway isn’t exactly easy, hungry visitors should abstain from snacking on Japanese metros. In Japan, a nation famous for its order and cleanliness, the seats in metro cars are often arranged like benches, facing toward the middle, so you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow riders. If it’s crowded, you may have to stand, holding onto rails for support. These positions don’t lend themselves to eating, and chomping down a sandwich or granola bar risks covering your outfit or your neighbor in crumbs. Many of us would also consider this environment unsanitary, with the circular flow of passengers, the easy spread of germs, and the lack of onboard bathrooms to wash hands. In short, passenger should wait until they return to street level to address rumbling stomachs.<\/p>\n
In Japan, even the act of nibbling a snack is considered taboo in the subway, and the same goes for bottled drinks. While Americans might innocently open a bag of Fritos on the Chicago L and wash it down with a swig of Coke Zero, Japanese riders would frown on this behavior. In the same way that\u00a0subway passengers in Japan generally observe the unspoken train etiquette rule about backpacks<\/a>, people are expected to abstain from eating or drinking while traveling in the subway or waiting in the station. This isn’t just good manners \u2014 food consumption is often prohibited.<\/p>\n