The point that supports the accuracy and reliability of the railway system in Japan is 'confirmation of pointing'

by Rog 01

The Japanese railway system that carries 12 billion passengers annually by diamonds assembled in seconds has been evaluated as "the world's best" because of its accuracy and reliability. In the behavior of the person engaged in the work of the railroad, it seems that "finger pointing confirmation" seems to be strange from people coming from overseas.

Why Japan's Rail Workers Can not Stop Pointing at Things - Atlas Obscura
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pointing-and-calling-japan-trains

JR gestures | The Japan Times
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2008/10/21/reference/jr-gestures/

The trigger for the birth of "pointing confirmation" was that in the Meiji era, Mr. Hori Yoshikichi who was driving a steam locomotive had confirmed the signal to the instructor assistant many times to reduce vision, The rule of the Kobe Railroad Administration Bureau who did not know was taken into the rule as "wonderful thing". In the "locomotive crew clerk teacher" published in 1913, it is stated as a " responder response " by one person to repeat the confirmation work done by one person. It seems that the pointing confirmation done by one person like today is born after 1925.

The action itself is very simple, "to lift your finger" and "to voice", but in the usual case it is possible to reduce the mistake for 100 actions from 2.38 times to 0.38 times, nearly 85%.

In the following front vision image, it is seen that the driver pointed and pointed over and over again.

Why do Japanese train drivers point at everything? - YouTube


In Japan, it is an action that can be seen everywhere when riding in public transportation, but in reducing Japan 's mistakes, emphasis was placed on raising the accuracy of a person engaged in work, whereas in Europe and the USA it is a machine and system It is hardly seen because the emphasis was placed on changing direction. Therefore, even if trying to introduce "pointing confirmation" at overseas factories, it is an action that has never been done before so that he says, "I'm doing stupid things" and will not do it.

Exceptionally, the New York City subway has been conducting "pointing confirmation" confirming that the train stopped at the correct position of the platform since 1996. According to a spokesperson, errors in stopping position decreased by 57% in 2 years from introduction.