Mamaro provides a place to attend to kids’ needs in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Japan’s rail network.

Clean, punctual, and affordable, Japan’s trains avoid many of the potential drawbacks to public transportation. Still, getting around by train can be a stressful, tiring ordeal if you’ve got an infant or young child with you, especially if they’re getting antsy and cranky because of an empty stomach or a full diaper.

So to make things easier on parents, and kids too, Tokyo-based rail operator Odakyu has begun installing free-to-use baby care booths in select stations.

Called Mamaro, the booths were designed by Trim, a company specializing in child care fixtures. Equipped with seats and a changing table, the booths provide a place for parents to nurse, feed, or change their child, as well as a little privacy and personal space, all of which can be hard to come by in Japan’s busy train network.

Mamaro booths are even equipped with what appears to be a television monitor, which should help keep older siblings entertained while parents have their hands full with their younger brothers and sisters.

Mamaro booths were installed at seven Odakyu-line stations on March 1: Yoyogi-Hachiman and Shimo-kitazawa in Tokyo and Noborito, Sagami-Ono, Hadano, Yamato, and Tsuruma in Kanagawa Prefecture, Tokyo’s neighbor to the south. The booths are available, free of charge, for parents to use between 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Source, images: PR Times
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