Home > Japanese Life & Culture > Selfie Sticks Banned from Japanese Train Stations

Japanese Life & Culture

It is not too long ago that selfie stick got banned from many of museums. Today in Japan selfie sticks are banned even at the train stations. Selfie sticks took the high-tech country by storm as many love photography, latest smartphones, and social media.



Selfie sticks has been picking up a rising number of bans around the world at places such as museums and sports stadiums, however JR West's is one of the first transport related ones to be banning the tool.



The reason of the ban is for the safety of JR West and its riders. In most of JR west train stations, there are facilities with overhead wiring and the tool can damage the wires. It can even give a strong electric shock to the user or surrounding customers if the wire is torn. Also, selfie stick itself might be out of the yellow line- where all passenger should never across for safety reason while trains pass by. If the tool hits a passing train, this can be extremely dangerous too.



This is a very sad news for many of the tourists. Japan is very famous with Shinkansen, the bullet trains which runs at the maximum speed of around 300 kilometers per hour. Many of tourists would love to take a selfie with one of the fastest trains on the planet but since the selfie stick is now banned, it has to be done with the old-fashioned style, stretching your arms and adjust angles. There will be posters banning selfie sticks not only in Japanese but also in English, Korean and Chinese languages.



Train companies expect JR Lines have not banned selfie stick to be used at the train stations. Other train companies might also adopt the similar rule of selfie sticks as there is the same danger that selfie sticks can cause. A lot of tourists and visitors will be in Tokyo and everywhere around in Japan in 2020 for the Olympic. Selfie stick might be banned completely at every train station in Japan by that time.

