Is it true that in one of the regions of Japan it is forbidden to walk on an escalator?

In the spring of 2021, news appeared that the authorities of one of the Japanese prefectures had passed a law prohibiting walking up and down a moving escalator. We checked whether this news is true. 

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

Escalators are an integral part of railway platforms and subway stations, and underground and elevated railways are one of the most popular and in-demand modes of transport in Japan. Only Tokyo Subway trains daily transport almost 7 million passengers. Moreover, in 2018–2019 there were recorded more than 800 cases of Japanese people being injured while riding an escalator. Many of them were caused by the fact that in Japanese cities, as in many large cities in other countries, people run along the escalator instead of standing calmly on the step.

The authorities in Saitama Prefecture decided to fight the local custom: when riding an escalator, residents of the prefecture form two rows and either stand on the left in the direction of travel, or run on the right (by the way, in some other regions of the country, passengers arrive evenly vice versa, which creates additional problems). March 26, 2021 local parliament accepted regulation aimed at eradicating this potentially dangerous habit. Deputies obliged Companies involved in servicing escalators will, from October 1, install signs urging them not to walk on the escalator, and citizens to follow these recommendations. However, no sanctions have yet been provided for failure to comply with this order.

Masakazu Toki from Edogawa University in a commentary for NHK emphasizedthat the issue of “escalator etiquette” appeared in Japan a long time ago. According to him, such rules have been discussed for about ten years, but Saitama became the first prefecture to adopt the corresponding legal act. Commenting on the lack of a written penalty for breaking the rule, Toki noted that “the goal is to put the issue front and center and hope that people will take the time to change their behavior accordingly. This may not seem as effective, but in some cases it is enough to make a significant difference.” However, some residents of other regions of Japan have already criticized innovation.

Mostly true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

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