This unassuming little piece of paper is pure gold. If your morning commute train is delayed for any reason at all – a carton of instant ramen noodles smashed on the tracks, torrential rain, an umbrella hopelessly fankling up one of the doors – rail company officials stand inside the ticket gates and hand these “late train excuses” to every exiting passenger.
The pass is printed with the name of the train line so scofflaws can’t cop one from the ever-delayed Chuo line even though they take the reliable Yamanote, and punched to show the date and the length of delay. If you’re as lucky as I was, you’ll get the maximum “over 120 minutes” punch, allowing you to saunter into the office (or, in my case, class) two hours late without affecting your all-important attendance record.
The flip side is that if you try to tell your boss that you’re late because of a problem on the train (instead of that you threw your alarm clock against the wall when it rang at 6:00), you’re toast if you don’t hand him one of these.
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Would you like to be whisked away to Japan, wherever you are?
“The Samurai’s Octopus…is a truly remarkable book, one that surprised and charmed me at every turn of the page. You’re in for a treat.”
—James Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity Award-winning author of the Ellie Stone mysteries
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Only In Japan 