The Smell of Trains
Before I began my current stint as a student at Sophia, I moved from my
apartment near Yokohama Station to my current abode in Jiyugaoka. At
first glance, one would think my move was motivated by a desire to be
closer to school or closer to the center of Tokyo. I admit that was a
factor; taking a taxi home after a night on the town is still expensive
but affordably so, the trip to places on the western side of Tokyo such
as Shibuya, Shimokitazawa, and Futako-tamagawa require much less time.
However, to Sophia University, I gained only measly ten minutes in
train time.
No, the primary motivation of my move was the smell of the
Tokaido and Keihin-Tohoku lines which I would have taken to get to
Sophia. Although I have not experienced many of the other crowded
commuter lines, I have experienced mornings and evenings in a packed
train on these lines. Having lived in Jiyugaoka for a year and a half
now, I can firmly say that the smell is noticeably more pleasant than
what I call the two “salaryman” lines.
What is this smell that I
am talking about? Sweat and body odor mostly, and I believe that it is
related to the demographic of the people who use the trains. The Toyoko
Line runs through upper middle-class residential neighborhoods for most
of its way to Yokohama while the Tokaido and Keihin-Tohoku Lines get a
variety of commuters who may come from as far away as Odawara. The
perhaps as a result of the demographic of the Toyoko Line, the average
age (based on my casual observation) seems to be younger as well as
include more women. After the morning rush hour the average drops
significantly due to the many colleges located along the line. The
destination is also a factor in determining the demographics with
Shibuya being the final stop for the Toyoko Line.
The two lines I sought to avoid, by contrast was significantly
male, older and much more crowded. The lines are much longer bringing
people as far away as Odawara and Zushi to Kawasaki, Shinagawa and
Shinbashi–destinations of the “salaryman” as opposed to women. Being
much longer and more crowded as well as employing older trains with
older air conditioning systems, the smell of sweat and body odor (much
more pronounced in the summer than winter but nevertheless prevalent
year round) accumulates in the long commute. It is enough to make more
than one person gag in each car. In the summer, the smell is often
combined with the sea air of Yokohama–and when that sea is rotting
with algae (akashio or red tide), it is what Japanese say, saiaku–the worst. How anyone puts up with it, I will never know.
And this is all part of the city of Tokyo. Train lines and
their dynamics play an important role in determining where people
choose to live, and has arguably replaced the traditional geographic
notion of “place”. One does not choose to live in Setagaya, one chooses
to live on the Toyoko Line, the Denentoshi Line, the Keio Line, the
Odakyu Line. Setagaya is a non-place devoid of coherency and meaning,
but the train lines that run through it are not. Food for thought.
