Is it true that in one of the regions of Japan they were banned from walking along the escalator?

In the spring of 2021, the news appeared that the authorities of one of the Japanese prefectures adopted a law prohibiting walking up and down the moving escalator. We checked whether this news corresponds to reality. 

Notes on the unusual law were published on thematic resources About Japan, and on ordinary news portals. Messages about the introduced prohibition soon appeared in Twitter And "VKontakte". The authors of texts about the news that came from Japan clarify that we are talking about the Prefecture of Saitama near Tokyo.

Escalators are an integral part of the railway platforms and metro stations, and the underground and aboveground railways is one of the most popular and sought -after modes of transport in Japan. Only Tokyo Metro trains daily transport Almost 7 million passengers. At the same time, for 2018-2019 it was Fixed More than 800 cases when the Japanese were injured during a trip on the escalator. Many of them were called The fact that in Japanese megacities, as in many large cities in other countries, people run around the escalator instead of standing calmly on the step.

The authorities in the Prefecture of Saitama decided to fight the local custom: when traveling on the escalator, residents of the prefecture form two rows and either stand on the left in the direction of movement, or run on the right (by the way, in some other regions of the country, passengers come evenly vice versathat creates additional problems). March 26, 2021 local parliament Accepted A decree aimed at eradicating this potentially dangerous habit. Deputies Obligated Companies engaged in servicing escalators from October 1, install signs calling not to walk along the escalator, and citizens - follow these recommendations. However, no sanctions for non -compliance with this order have so far been provided.

Masakazu Toki from Edogav University in a commentary for NHK agency He emphasizedthat the issue of "escalator etiquette" appeared in Japan for a long time. According to him, such rules have been discussing for about ten years, but Saitama became the first prefecture, which adopted the relevant legal act. Commenting on the absence of the prescribed punishment for violation of the rule, the current noted that “the goal is to put this issue at the forefront and hope that people will find time to properly change their behavior. This may not seem so effective, but in some cases this is enough for significant changes. ” However, some residents of other regions of Japan have already criticized innovation.

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What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14311750
2. https://japantode.com/category/national/sitama-officially-forbids-walking-up-and-down-escalators
3. https://www3.nhk.jp/news/html/20210326/k10012937541000.html