The job of pushing passengers at train stations in Japan

Appearing in uniforms and white gloves, Oshiya - the people who push passengers into the train cars to make sure the train runs on time - do not receive much sympathy.

Japan's rail system is world-famous for its punctuality. In the capital Tokyo, nearly 40 million passengers use the train every day, far more than buses or private cars.

Most lines arrive every five minutes and stop for two to three minutes. About 24 trains run each hour in the same direction. Despite the large number of trains, the subway system is very crowded, especially during rush hour. According to 2007 statistics from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, almost all trains run at overcapacity, with some lines running at 200 percent overcapacity.

Oshiya working at Shinjuku Station, Tokyo in 1967. Photo: CNN

Because they have to carry twice as many passengers in each train car, at the stations there are teams of uniformed staff called oshiya (or pushers). Theywearing white gloves,whose job is to "cram" as many people into a carriage as possible so that the train can run on time. This job is really unbelievable and you have to see it for yourself to see what it's like.

When the oshiya first appeared at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, they were called the "passenger sorting team" and were mostly made up of students who worked part-time. Today, station attendants and oshiya take turns working during rush hour.

The oshiya's job of pushing passengers onto trains is not well-received. Photo: Alamy

Although a new phenomenon in Japan, the job of pushing passengers onto the subway was an American invention in New York City a century ago. They were not well-liked because they had to push passengers in a somewhat tense state and were nicknamed "fish stuffers".

In 2012, Hong Kong-based photographer Michael Wolf created a series of photos called Tokyo Compression, documenting the faces of passengers crushed on the subway. The series shows the dire conditions inside the subway system. Passengers’ bodies are squeezed so tightly against each other that they cannot move. Shorter people bear even more weight.

Tokyo Compression - Faces squeezed on the subway. Photo: Michael Wolf

According to VNE