Railway fans go too far - 15th April 2022

For a long time, the Japanese railway system has been admired across the world. Its use of the latest technology and its excellent timekeeping has attracted trainspotters at home and abroad. The five million train lovers in Japan are generally polite and gentle people.

But there's a newer group of train photographers, or 'toritetsu', which has changed all that. Competition to get the perfect photo of an approaching train sometimes results in noisy or violent behaviour. One trainspotter, Tsutomu Okawa, feels very upset by their activities.

Tsutomu Okawa: "I hear some fanatic train fans went overboard and even stopped a train. It's too much, too heated. Train companies have also had to give warnings that some fans' behaviours may be dangerous. I myself want to show train operators that some fans like me are well aware of safety when taking pictures. In that way, I want to remove the impression that the 'toritetsu' fans are notorious."

Most fans get pleasure from riding on trains or focusing on the station bento box lunches. They enjoy looking at timetables or recording the sounds of the trains.

Masao Oda, now in his seventies, has been spotting trains since his childhood. He blames the rise in bad behaviour on digital cameras.

Masao Oda: "The number of train fans has increased since digital cameras became mainstream. Now anyone can take train photos with a digital camera. People flock to a place like this more casually, not like before when we had to get a position very early in the morning. And we have better tripods too. Now we are banned from using ladder steps or tripods at a platform. The manners have gotten worse for sure."

To prevent fans from getting dangerously close to the trains, some rail firms have increased security. However, the major East Japan Railway company is trying a unique approach. It's uploading the photos of the toritetsu onto social media channels. The goal is to build a sense of community among the train lovers to improve behaviour.