Tokyo trains tackle groping problem

Tokyo trains get very packed at times

Women-only carriages are to be introduced in Tokyo trains to address the growing problem of drunken men groping women commuters.

We felt this was a problem that should be dealt with

Railway company spokesman

The service is to be provided on late-night trains over the holiday season, beginning on Thursday.

"There have been problems with women being groped on the trains, and we felt this was a problem that should be dealt with," said a spokesman for Keio Electric Railway Company, which operates trains from central Tokyo to the capital's western suburbs.

"Given that the holiday season is especially crowded, we thought it would be a good time to test the idea of separate carriages," the spokesman said.

December is marked by "Forget-the-Year" parties - the Japanese equivalent of Christmas parties - and late-night trains are crammed with drunken, boisterous male commuters.

Serious problem

Groping is a serious problem for Japanese women on the long commute home, where they are often forced into close proximity with men on packed subways and commuter trains.

17% of female passengers had been groped at least once

The Keio spokesman said the company had received 351 complaints about groping in the year up to March 2000 - an increase of nearly 100 over the previous 12 months.

The real figures are likely to be much higher, as the vast majority of cases go unreported.

A company survey found that 17% of female passengers said they had been molested at least once.

Keio said that, if passengers responded positively to the service, it would consider introducing the system on a permanent basis.

This is the first female-only train carriage in Tokyo since 1973, but a railway service in Osaka has run special carriages for female high school students since 1954.

Japan's Ministry of Labour received 9,500 reports of sexual harassment last year.