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Why does Tokyo's transportation network always end up in chaos whenever it snows?

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Does it? Hadn't noticed.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A sudden change in the environment come to mind.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is no worse or better then any other cities around the world.

2 ( +2 / -1 )

I was reading BBC news and they had a headline story about the snow "storm" that hit Tokyo. Apparenly, public transportation was brought to a crawl -- or halt in some cases -- and 46 people died as a resut of -- wait for it -- 4cm of snow. Four centimeters!

For a city that has the vast majority of Japan's wealth, economically, politically, and culturally, Tokyo folks seriously need to man up. Go hang out in Niigata, Aomori, or even Shimane sometime. Learn what real "adverse weather conditions" are like, you bunch of pansies. ;-)

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Maybe because it only snows once or twice a year, the snow is usually gone in a day or two, and it doesn't make sense to keep huge fleets of plows and other equipment on hand for such a rare occurrence.

Apparenly, public transportation was brought to a crawl -- or halt in some cases -- and 46 people died as a resut of -- wait for it -- 4cm of snow. Four centimeters!

It was actually closer to 25cm, with up to 40cm in some parts of metropolitan Tokyo.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Why does Tokyo's transportation network always end up in chaos whenever it snows?

This should read:

Why does Tokyo's transportation network always end up in chaos whenever even small problems occur?

-1 ( +3 / -3 )

I was reading BBC news and they had a headline story about the snow "storm" that hit Tokyo. Apparenly, public transportation was brought to a crawl -- or halt in some cases -- and 46 people died as a resut of -- wait for it -- 4cm of snow. Four centimeters!

That news was wrong. It was the largest snowfall in 45 years. As Stephen Knight said, it was up to 40cm in some areas. I don't think there was anywhere with less than 20. And 46 people didn't die, 11 (or so) did. I think you got your numbers backwards - you probably read early numbers that said 46cm of snow with 4 people dead, and misremembered this as 46 people dead with 4cm of snow. Either that or the news you read was blatantly incorrect.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I think those who run the public transport become overly cautious with heavy weather, earthquakes etc. Torrential rain, high winds or 10cm of snow they slow /stop the trains, I guess the potential risk to many thousands of people if it suddenly all goes wrong is maybe why they seem overly cautious.

Or it might have something to do with the Japanese way, you know when the kid sneezes or gets a sniff the mother bundles the kid off to the doctor straight away.

They are fairly soft in many respects and usually too cautious and safety minded.

Which is nice in a safe kind of way, if you want to live dangerously then buy a large motorcycle and ride the mountain roads at high speed.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I caught two trains and a bus in Tokyo on Saturday at the height of it. Was still far less chaotic than my old Manchester - Bolton commute was on a good day. Anyone complaining has been thoroughly spoiled.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

You could substitute the word "London" for Tokyo in this headline. When it snows in London everything grinds to a halt. For a few weeks people ask, "Why can Sweden cope with 2 metres of snow and London cannot cope with 10cm?". In Japan you can just add "Niigata" for "Sweden".

The answer? It is not worth spending the money in areas infrequently hit by snow on contingency plans. A day of disruption every 5 years is something you can live with live. If you have those conditions for 4 months of the year every year, you have to do something.

Tokyo will always grind to a halt in bad weather - it makes economic sense.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The Timing was perfect though... started Friday night, and mostly gone by Monday morning.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It doesn't snow enough in Tokyo to warrant costly countermeasures to snowfall.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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