On the way to work, the guy next to me on the train kept falling asleep. This isn’t unusual as I have found that Japanese people are able to fall asleep in virtually any moving vehicle. What was unusual was that his head kept drooping to the side until it was resting on my shoulder. Being a polite Canadian, I kept trying to gently nudge him away with my shoulder. This didn’t work very well at all.
On the ride home there was another guy sleeping next to me, snoring loudly. I was shocked when the passenger on the other side of the sleeping man elbowed him HARD. This briefly stopped the snoring. Every time the snoring started again the sleeping man received another vicious elbow.
What I learned was that it is now okay to elbow people on the train. Watch out drunken businessmen, beware nosy grandmothers, caution screaming children: my bony elbows are coming for YOU!
Drinking in Japan 