Japan’s trains have become the new front in battle of the sexes

Train companies in Japan introduced the first dedicated women-only carriages nearly 20 years ago, but a measure designed to protect female passengers from predatory chikan – the Japanese term for gropers – has become a new front in the battle of the sexes.

More men are openly defying the polite signs on platforms and in carriage windows that designate women-only carriages, claiming the practice is discriminatory and unfair because they have to pay the same fares for more crowded mixed carriages.