New train ad in Japan advocates for leaving texts a while without a response, sparks debate

These new train safety ads tell travelers that any friends who’d drop you for a late response aren’t friends at all.

Your smartphone can do anything these days. Not only can it serve as a music player, it can be a portable games console and even a gateway to your next ninja tour guide. But with all this to offer, are people spending too much time on their phones? So much time that it could prove fatal?

Awareness campaigns for the dangers of walking while texting have cropped up in the most vital areas: public transport stations. One such sign was snapped by Japanese Twitter user @oohira0511 and shared with the online masses.

The striking sign features nothing but black text on a yellow background, instantly commanding attention from any nearby passengers. The text itself reads:

これいいと思います。 pic.twitter.com/yYVUWHs3PJ

— 大平武洋 (@oohira0511) November 2, 2018

“Whatever you lose out on because you didn’t reply straight away, it’s definitely not a real friendship.”

The announcement cuts right to the root of why we’re tempted to stay plugged in to our phones. So many of us want to be reliable for our friends and family, and to be there exactly as we get a call or text. The ad goes on to implore us to stop texting while walking, not only in Japanese and English but also in Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and Korean, too.

即レスって何分以内？#図解作成の基本（#棒グラフ）

10-20代は「3分以内」
30代以上は「5分以内」

がボリュームゾーンですね。
ちなみに、高校生は1時間以内に既読、既読から返事までのリードタイムは「10分以内」でないと、過半数が「反応遅い」と感じるようです。

社会人とは別世界。 pic.twitter.com/4wJxPp5kmL

— 吉澤準特/『図解作成の基本』Amazon全体7位 (@juntoku_y) November 3, 2018

At the bottom of the announcement, the names of all four of the major phone suppliers in Japan are written: au, Docomo, Softbank and Y! Mobile. Clearly this is a great enough issue that they were all eager to sign off on it in the hopes of reaching more people.

これは、LineなどのSNSの事を言っているつもりなんでしょうけど、
・メールを書いて、2分後には確認の電話をする(させる)上司
・定時ぎりぎりにメールを送ってきて、翌朝までに返答がほしいという自称客
にも、これを送りつけてやりたいな。

— 69号機はキミにきめた (@rt19010101) November 4, 2018

Responses to the ad tried to dissect the exact meaning of the simple slogan, especially the term “straight away” which is rather subjective.
It’s true that there’s a time and a place for phone usage, but when you take Japan’s famously busy atmosphere and work-life balance and combine it with a device that can address a lot of needs at once, we’ll probably need a more direct method to tackle this dangerous problem than some bright ads.