A poster inside Omotesando Station announces the start date for women-only cars.

Each of the nine railways bound for central Tokyo are providing one women-only car on each train until around 9:30 a.m., railway and subway officials said.

"I am glad to have a separate car because I don't like being touched by men in the train," said Takako Shimizu, a 32-year-old office worker, after using a women-only car on the Hanzomon subway line.

Railways in the Kansai region, centered around Osaka, have already been operating women-only cars. Tokyo-area railways have been slower to introduce them, citing their much more crowded platforms.

In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Yokohama municipal subway system introduced women-only cars in 2003, becoming the first subway to offer the service in the area at the busiest time.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 14, 2005
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