Wow..that's crazy. but im sure people do that frequently here in the US as well..commuting between east and west coast on a regular basis.

Apparently there are a limited number of monthly shinkansen commuting passes for sale! Some people do come from truly far away.

I tried the porn magazine approach to tipping, but the person at the door at the PH objected. Maybe I should have gotten her the Haagen-Dasz instead.

Commuter passes can also be a way to enhance one's salary. When I lived in Osaka, for instance, it cost much more to take JR from Kyoto or Kobe than the cheaper Hankyu line. The company doesn't buy the pass, but rather gives the employee the money to buy the pass, so many people would tell their company that they were using JR and then secretly use Hankyu instead, pocketing an extra $3 or so each day.

Never mind.

Diet members too. They get a free ride on the Shinkansen to get to work.

Geishas too, one came on the train in Hiroshima all decked out and got off in Kobe.

If so, the company likely doesn't mind. This "commutation allowance" is not taxed, so it's a way to pass a bit of money to employees tax-free. Last time I checked, which was some years ago, the commutation allowance was limited by law to a maximum of about Y33,000 a month so it isn't a huge additional amount.

It's a lot more than that if my initial google hit is right. Train and/or bus riders can get up to Y100,000 a month tax-free (to the extent this is needed to cover their commuter pass). Drivers may claim up to Y20,000 a month depending on how far from work they live. Source (nihongo, natch): http://www.matsui-sr.com/kyuyo/1-2tukin.htm

I get a commuter allowance from my employer, but pocket the money and commute on my Suica-enabled JAL card. The cost of a pass generally works out to nine one-ways per week, and I deviate from the direct route often enough that a commuter pass isn't worth it for me.

I wonder what the five parking attendants make that ensure that the occassional car exiting the Omotesando Hills parking lot don't hit pedestrians?

edited

Good job jib, you caught another one! Soon enough you'll have enough in your sack to have your own field of white water buffalo!

I'm also amazed.

Please look carefully at post number 12.

Please look REALLY carefully at it.

I didn't get that far - and yes I missed the non-existent

Problem is, there are too many people with attitudes like that, making the post all too believable.

Again, a warm welcome to the forum!
Alas, you're right.

And this particular theme, for anyone who's hung out in this or the other forums that tackle Eastern cultures for long enough, is one that surfaces time and time again.

One can try to address an insensitive or mistaken attitude seriously (and then risk seeing the thread deteriorate - see this or this)

Or make the same point succinctly with humour.

joejones perfectly summed up the salary situation in Tokyo as I understand it (and I'm well aware there are a great deal of hardworking men and women in the capital who earn even less)

For those in Britain who can see BBC's iplayer, the following documentary is a rare glimpse into this part of Japan.

The film maker starts off (very awkwardly) confessing how badly his other projects in Japan have turned out. Once you see a little more of him it's no wonder, the guy has the grace, charisma and tact of a bulldozer that's just burst its way out of a coalmine.
One of his victims, I mean, subjects stuck with him (not totally surprising considering the size and ferocity of his self-destructive streak) but I have no idea if what resulted is because of, or despite, the Director's bludgeoning, charmless style. Once you're able to blank out Sean McAllister and concentrate only on the people he films, the documentary is a candid, and to my mind, very genuine and touching account of how a significant portion of modern Japanese people are living their lives.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jkry6

It may not be a great film, but compared to Marcel Theroux's recently aired effort where he guilelessly travels Japan with the sole intent of confirming his firmly pre-conceived (and off the mark) ideas of "what is wabi sabi", McAllister's offering is a masterpiece.