Why I commute by motorcycle

Via Japan Today, Kyodo News reports:

About 2,000 passengers were trapped in two trains of the Yamanote Line, Tokyo's busiest circular line that connects the major city centers, in the morning rush hour on Wednesday after its operations were suspended due to mechanical trouble of another train, East Japan Railway Co, the operator of the line, said.

Two 11-car Yamanote Line trains with about 2,000 passengers on board were stuck between Shinagawa and Osaki stations for about 40-50 minutes after the other train was unable to move at Osaki Station around 9 a.m., according to JR East.

If you've never ridden a major Japanese train line during rush hour, you might want to warm up by trying something easy first, like running with the bulls in Pamplona.

Remember that Seinfeld episode where Elaine is stuck on the subway? If she had been in Tokyo, you wouldn't have been able to see her because she would have been entombed within a scrum of salarymen completely packing every inch of space from wall to wall. And yes, in certain stations there really are guys whose job it is to physically stuff as many commuters as possible into each train car.

I can't imagine being crammed in there like that for the better part of an hour while the train sits immobile.