About crowded trains

We are planning a trip - Tokyo - Kyoto - Kanazawa - with side trips from each of these places.

Like many people I have seen videos of station staff in Japanese tran stations helping and pushing people onto trains that are very full.

My wife has a serious heart complaint and she is fearful of being in such a tight situation. There could be a serious risk to her health.

Is this crowding only on trains within cities or is it also on inter-city trains?

And on urban trains what is your recommendation to avoid this crush? For instance:

- is it much easier to travel outside the rush hours?

- If so when are the rush hours?

- Is it much less crowded outside of rush hours?

- is there a viable alternative (perhaps taxis) in Tokyo and Kyoto?

Thank you.

- is it much easier to travel outside the rush hours?

Yes, completely different!

- If so when are the rush hours?

The morning rush before 9am is worst. Some trains can also get quite crowded in the PM rush around 5-6pm-ish, but less drastic. Only weekdays have extreme rush hours. Also, the situation is most extreme in Tokyo. Less dramatic elsewhere, but still better to avoid the morning rush hours.

- Is it much less crowded outside of rush hours?

Yes.

- is there a viable alternative (perhaps taxis) in Tokyo and Kyoto?

Avoid taking urban ans suburban commuter trains during the rush hours. Taxis are indeed a good alternative if you have to move during the rush hours.

You might like to check the dates on those videos - most of them would be old. I haven't seen seen staff pushing people onto trains for years.
Some segments are more crowded than others. Travelling outside peak commuter times is very easy, and in reality the hype is not the norm. After 9 a.m. would make sense, plus a lot of attractions are not open early.
For Kyoto there are few rail lines and I don't find them crowded (maybe Fushimi-Inari to Kyoto, but that is only two stops in JR) - the buses get crowded, but use taxis - much nicer.
Inter-city - get a reserved seat.

I used to ride through Shinjuku Station on my way to school. That's where I saw the "pushers" during morning commute period only. As mentioned above, I don't see them anymore.

There are women-only cars during rush hours, also.

We were unable to avoid a rush hour (8am) trip on the Osaka subway, and were definitely pushed onboard, but it was in 2010! It is the only time in 8 trips we ever traveled in morning rush hour.

It also depends on which way you ar travelling: if you are going away from a central business area then it will be less crowded

Kyoto buses can be crowded at any time, so avoid them where possible, or at least if you start at Kyoto station just wait for the next tone so you are first in line and can sit at the exit (front) of the bus.
The subway, JR and Keihan railways on Kyoto can get you to most places; and then there are taxis.

Kanazawa will not be a problem.

Given the decline, a little bit of research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pusher#Japan_2
The following article lists the most congested routes. I used to get the Nambu line regularly in rush hour, and yes it was jammed packed for some sections (not the whole way). Outside of rush hour pretty easy to get a seat. My main transport to/from central Tokyo is on the Chuo Line (Rapid, and yes it is busy for the morning/evening, but outside of that not bad.)
https://www.nippon.com/en/features/h00255/japan%E2%80%99s-most-congest...
I cannot find a current reference that "pushers" are used anymore.

Note that the first car or two in many of the local trains in Tokyo tend to be less crowded, although it isn�ft always easy to figure out where to stand to get on those cars, and if you are standing in the wrong place you might not get into the train at all�c

If a train you want to board looks so bad that it is likely to trigger a cardiac episode, just wait for the next one. Also, bear in mind that most local trains in Tokyo have short distances between stops and typically run pretty often, so if you start feeling really uncomfortable before you get to your destination, it is generally workable to just get off the train and wait for another one. Realizing that you have these options tends to take the stress off.

A lot of trains have seats on one end that are set aside for �gseniors�h or people with special needs. If one of these seats is available, your wife shouldn�ft feel any hesitation about using it, even if she isn�ft elderly, pregnant, disabled, or otherwise visibly �gworthy.�h

I think it depends on what you are used to. As mentioned above there are rush periods and if you are on a rain during one, each time it stops you are expecting people to get off and more squeeze in, it is pretty daunting even if they dont have pushers. I have the personal view that the much lauded Japanese politeness isnt really in evidence on crowded trains, it is pretty much everyone for themselves, and the train stations can be pretty feral as well - Shinjuku, I'm thinking of you.

Now for taller people this isnt such an issue because our heads pop above most of the crowd, but for shorter people like my lovely wife, you are pretty much trapped in the swarm. It isnt so much frightening as uncomfortable. For those of us unaccustomed to people pressing up against us, it is not pleasant.

I wont go on about how crowded trains tend to be in Kyoto during peak times of year, pretty much regardless of rush hour or not. Some posters seem to think they are pretty much empty but in my experience they are pretty crowded, but the distances are pretty short and in a pinch you could get off, and I've never thought it was that bad that we needed to.

Taxis are an option but the costs add up pretty quickly, we took one from Arashiyama to Gion in Kyoto because I didnt want to get back on the train with luggage, I think it was about 8000JPY and took ages because of traffic, but that is a pretty decent trip (12km or so) in the middle of Autumn, probably the busiest time of the year, it is unusual in my more recent experience to get out of a taxi in Kyoto without spending 3000JPY

Avoiding crowded trains is easy once you get the hold of it and as long as you're not in a hurry.

I have seen videos of station staff in Japanese tran stations helping and pushing people onto trains that are very full.

Long story short, there aren't any pushers any more. I suppose they keep running 4-decade-old videos just to fascinate people who haven't seen real Japan.

Professional pushers mostly existed on the Yamanote Line, but I commuted to school and work during the most crowded era of the 1970s-80s, including the 4 years of using the Yamanote Line, and never encountered them.

Back in the days, however, I was indeed often pushed by commuters who wanted to board that specific train. I could've avoided that too, but I was always the slow person late for school/work and couldn't risk waiting for another train. But ever since I quit being a company employee to be given the choice to ride slower trains or less convenient trains, I've never experienced pushing/squeezing, even in central Tokyo. In all the months of being pregnant in the early 90s and onward, I always had the choice to ride trains where I was hardly pressed, and a lot of times I had the choice to sit which I still do.

Anyone is also free to obtain a "Helpmark" tag from a Metro station. It would help you be noticed by others so that they would surrender their seats for you.
https://translation2.j-server.com/LUCAIFUKUS/ns/tl.cgi/https://www.fuk...

There are also priority seats on trains.
https://www.mlit.go.jp/hakusyo/transport/heisei10/index131/c6.html

I myself use the tag and seats when my knee starts hurting again. And I'm a grey-haired elderly anyway.

I should also add that I ALWAYS have the choice to sit on suburban trains I use here in Greater Tokyo where I live with family who commutes to central Tokyo on a daily basis. The trick is to wait for a slower train that makes more stops.

I also agree with the other poster about choosing segments. At big stations, avoid staying near the stairs of the platform, and you're likely to find fewer people. Or best, you can watch one train coming in to see which wagons are less crowded. Then you can move to that segment and board the next train.

If I travel to the countryside, of course it's easy to get a seat in many of the less crowded trains, unless it's a special amenity train for tourists.

You can, of course, try the trains and give up for a taxi if you feel the trains are too stressful. Another option is to hire a local guide. A goodwill guide would cost you less/none. Local residents would know better about how to avoid the regular crowd.

You can also try to choose a hotel at the tip Tokyo rather than the center of it.

So, there are numerous ways to avoid crowds. I hope you and your wife have a pleasant stay here in Japan!