The apology may have taken longer than the delay.

Enough has been said about the extreme punctuality of trains in Japan that it’s become as famous a cultural feature as sushi or decorative manhole lids. It’s so much a part of life here that people rely on its precise, to-the-minute accuracy, and even a slight deviation can throw someone’s itinerary completely off.

That is why JR East’s Aomori division had to issue a public apology for a three-minute delay due to a conductor not waking up from her nap on time.

▼ Naps can improve cognitive functions and boost work performance, but there are pitfalls such as sleeping too long, or sleeping on your laptop’s trackpad, that can negate these benefits.

According to JR East, a Hayabusa 24 on the Tohoku Shinkansen was set to depart at 1:52 p.m. from Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station bound for Tokyo. A short while earlier, the conductor in question was taking a nap in the employee break room. She had set an alarm to catch her train but slept through it, eventually waking up around 1:50 p.m. and missing her appointed time by a few minutes.

Although there was no word of any actual complaints, JR East said, “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers. We will strive to prevent this from happening again.”

Readers of the news online had mixed reactions. Many felt this was a complete non-issue and there was no need for an apology, let alone a report by a major Japanese news agency. Others disagreed and felt letting something like this slide is a slippery slope to behavior that can endanger people’s lives.

“JR East makes the national news for a three-minute delay due to oversleeping.”
“Just give her a stern warning and move on without making a big deal of it.”
“The Shinkansen won’t wait for a passenger who’s three minutes late, but for a conductor it’s OK?”
“Napping is a good way to increase work performance. They shouldn’t be too hard on her.”
“That’s forgivable. Everyone’s working hard, and delays happen sometimes.”
“I noticed JR East employees have a really lax attitude these days.”
“A lot of people say this isn’t a big deal, but if we tolerate these small lapses in attention, it will eventually lead to larger ones.”
“If you allow three minutes, then where do you draw the line? Is five minutes still OK? 10? Any delay should be treated equally.”
“It’s kind of impressive she overslept and was only three minutes late.”
“That’s just long enough to make instant ramen.”
“A Hayabusa train can easily make up the lost time, lol.”
“I thought they used those inflatable pillow alarms.”

A few years ago, JR East also made the news for their unique choice in alarm clock. A timer controls an air pump connected to an inflatable bladder by a hose. When the alarm goes off, the bladder, which is placed under the head or back of the sleeper, swells up and lifts the person out of bed.

It sounds like this employee just had her head on a break room table rather than sleeping in a full bed, though, so it probably wasn’t an option in this case. Nevertheless, with no one injured or outrageously inconvenienced by this delay, life will go on. Just be thankful you don’t have a job where being late makes headlines.

Source: Kyodo, Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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