Women only train carriages: Australian tourist’s direspectful act in Tokyo, Japan

Turan William Salis, a former sheep shearer turned travel vlogger, has been blasted online after posting a clip of the brazen act and questioning why the country is “segregated”.

The 20-year-old has been on holiday in Japan since mid-August, and has already found himself in strife after walking around without a shirt on.

While not illegal, it is socially unacceptable.

In another video showcasing his time in Japan, the Sydneysider is seen visiting a dog cafe, where people can enjoy drinks and food while Shibu Ibus walk around.

There are strict rules that state you cannot pick the animals up, however Turan is seen picking up different dogs multiple times – who then appear distressed by his actions – before being yelled at by staff.

Pushing the boundaries even further, Turan then uploaded another video that showed him unashamedly entering the strict female-only carriages on a Tokyo metro train.

“You guys, did you know in Japan they have women-only carriages,” he said while standing on the platform, before entering the carriage.

“It is like Saudi Arabia in here. I am the women-inspector, checking there is only women on this carriage.

“Yep yep, there is only women here. Cool. No men. I don’t see a single man in sight.

“Check complete, it really is a women-only carriage guys, wow.”

He was met with confused and furious stares from the female passengers who were sitting in the train.

“This women-only carriage is the last thing I would expect to be seeing in such a free country like Japan,” Turan wrote under the clip.

“Reminds me of something I would see in a country with strict segregation rules.

“Japan was the last place I expected to be seeing strict male-female segregation in public.”

Why does Japan have women-only train carriages?

The purpose of the female-only train carriages is to protect women from sexual harassment and to help them feel safe while taking public transport.

Reports from the Japanese National Police Agency and the Ministry of Justice show that indecent sexual behaviour – such as groping, unwanted touching and intimidation – has been a major issue on trains, especially during peak hours.

In the last few decades, thanks to the introduction of camera phones, there has also been a huge increase in instances of “upskirting”, which is when someone puts their camera underneath a person’s skirt or dress to get a photo of their underwear.

Official reports state that the number of indecent assault in train carriages nationwide in Japan ranges from 300 to 500 each year.

A 2005 investigation found that more than half of female passengers had, at one point in their lives, been groped on trains around Tokyo.

The earliest instance of women-only cars in Japan dates back to 1912, when they were known as “Flower Trains”, however the service ended during World War II.

After the war, many railway companies reserved cars for women and children because it was extremely difficult for them to board the crowded trains.

However, these cars were replaced in 1973 by the system of priority seats.

Female-only train cars began taking off again in the early 2000s, when Toyko offered these single sex carriages on late night trains on a trial basis.

Due to popularity, they became a permanent fixture in 2001, and in the following years, trains

began offering women-only carriages all day long.

They are now a common feature of trains around the country.

In 2023, Japan ranked 125 in the annual global gender gap report, narrowly beating Jordan (127), India (128) and Tunisia (129), and coming behind Maldives (124), Myanmar (123) and Côte d’Ivoire (122).

‘Get out of my country!’

The shocking video has gone viral, racking up over 2.3 million views and attracting thousands of angry comments from people around the world.

“You should get out of Japan, you disrespectful piece of s**t” one wrote.

“They have these carriages to protect them from weirdos like you,” another said.

“This is such a disgrace. You ought to be ashamed.”

“I’m surprised he is Australian, this seems like such an American thing to do,” one user responded.

“How embarrassing for Australians.”

There are currently tons of ‘response’ videos circulating on the app, with one Japanese man’s video talking about Turan’s clip racking up nearly 3 million views.

“Oh my god, are you serious,” he said, in response to the clip.

“I don’t usually make reaction videos to foreigners behaving badly in Japan, but this one really got me.

“You knew that that was the women-only passenger car, which means you can’t go in, men cannot enter.

“But you didn’t care. You broke the rules, you invaded a safe space for women.

“Do you know why we have those? That’s because there are so many creepy men in Japan, who try to go behind the women, try to take pictures under their skirts.

“There has been a lot of physical harassment as well. It has been a very serious issue.

“That is why they had to take these measures. But you dare to call it segregation.

“You don’t know anything about my country. You go there, and you don’t have any intention to respect our culture and rules.

“It’s incredibly disrespectful, I can’t believe this kind of behaviour. If you have no intention of respecting us, then leave my country.

“We are not there so that you can make TikTok and YouTube videos, so that you can be famous.”