A Japanese train conductor is gaining a huge popularity in Japan’s social media for his “surprisingly” good English skills.
Amazed passengers aboard a Tokyo train have expressed their fascination upon hearing one conductor deliver live English announcements. Many say that the experience was like riding a passenger airplane. While hearing pre-recorded English announcements is really nothing new for Tokyo commuters, listening to live updates coming from an English-speaking train conductor is definitely a rarity.
Some passengers got so impressed that they would even record the strange phenomenon on their smartphones and share it on social media, RocketNews24 reported.
A passenger riding JR East’s Ueno-Tokyo Line, for instance, shared a video on Twitter with the caption, “The train conductor’s fluent English even extends to the train delay information.“
列車の遅れ情報まで英語でペラペラの車掌さん pic.twitter.com/Nv5eVh98QF
— 木宮 (@Berries_shop) November 12, 2016
Here’s the announcement in full verbatim:
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Tokyo. Get out on the right side of the landing. Please make sure (to) not forget any luggage.
This is the Ueno line train for Atami. Stop after Tokyo will be Shimbashi.
We are now delayed for approximately 8 minutes because of a fatal accident in Yokosuka Line.
We apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you.”
The announcer earned praise for his English proficiency, with many netizens expressing their pleasant surprise via such comments as these:
“I felt like I was on an airplane!”
“Wow – that’s not a recorded broadcast!”
“This sounds so cool.”
“He should get a job as an interpreter!”
“He has the voice of a handsome man!”
The identity of the mysterious voice is still not publicly known but many are becoming more and more curious regarding what the man looks like as his popularity online grows even more.
Part of his appeal may be due to the fact that passengers are used to hearing polite, recorded female voices making the announcement. Who knows, the mysterious Japanese train conductor may turn out to be a famous celebrity like the popular female voice announcer from the Niigata Station.
