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Monday, 21st September 2015
In Japan Travel News,
Selfie sticks banned at western Japan's train stations
Selfie sticks have become ubiquitous at tourist sites across the globe, but western Japan is taking a stand against the gadget.
Local authorities have placed a ban on the use of selfie sticks at 1,195 train stations in the area of the country, with the law having come into effect this past weekend (September 19th).
The Japanese are particularly fond of technology, photography and social media, taking selfies are a popular pastime, but more thought will have to be given as to where they are taken.
West Japan Railway, which operates the shinkansen high speed trains in Osaka and the region to the west of the city, gave two reasons for banning selfie sticks.
It stated that the first objection was on the grounds of safety, as many of the train stations have overhead wiring that could be damaged it struck with a selfie stick.
As much of these cables are live, electric shocks could also occur if the gadget came into contact with them.
The second reason for the ban is that groups of passengers have been seen to clog up platforms as they tried to get photographs in front of shinkansen trains.
This has prevented the flow of the crowd, obstructing people trying to get on and off the trains to complete their journeys.
Anyone paying too much attention to getting the perfect selfie is feared not to be thinking about their location and could accidentally end up on the tracks, therefore making the gadget a safety concern.
At present, train stations in Japan that are not operated by the West Japan Railway are still allowing the use of selfie sticks.
It may only be a matter of time before other providers put such a ban in place, but in the meantime, visitors are encouraged to use the gadgets with consideration and safety in mind.
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