Segregation has also taken to the skies. In response to complaints from female passengers about being stuck next to men who were drunk, Skymark Airlines now reserves a block of 10 seats for women on its flights between Tokyo and Fukuoka, in the southwest. Back on the ground, Tokyo's Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu has set aside 46 rooms for women. Businesswoman Mari Taguchi welcomes the idea. But separate facilities deal with the symptoms and not the root causes of a deeply engrained social malady.
Activists argue that it is time to work on changing male attitudes.
What men need is an education to deal with the new situation. The Keio rail company says it has received some complaints about its service. Part of the problem is Japan's tolerance of pornography that promotes men's fantasies about sexual dominance over women. Tolerance for such behavior in public is waning, as women increasingly speak out against sexual abuse and discrimination. Public pressure has forced the police to crack down on gropers.