"Stop at Lipstick": Is It Rude to Do Your Makeup on the Train in Japan? Japanese Commuters Draw the Line at Powder

What Japanese people said — picked from the top 200 of 5,160 comments

• I don't want it done right next to me, but watching a face come together bit by bit from a distance is honestly kind of fun lol

  隣ではやって欲しくないけど、徐々に顔が出来上がっていく過程を遠くから見てるのは結構好きwwwwwwww

  — @揚げ出し豆腐-m2kMost liked41,495 likes

• Please, no powder products... no highlighter or eyeshadow with a brush... my whole right side is sparkling

  粉物はやめてくれ…ハイライトもシャドウもブラシでするな…キラキラしてんだよ私の右半身が

  — @のん-i7j6t11,420 likes

• A really stylish friend who's great at makeup once said, "Anyone who does their makeup in public is the ugliest person there, no matter how good their face is." I still remember it...

  めっちゃおしゃれでお化粧上手な美人の友達が「公衆の面前で化粧するやつはどんなに顔が良くても一番ブサイク」って言ってた言葉をまだ覚えてる………

  — @sandsandsandsand8,875 likes

• I was riding the train between job interviews when it lurched and the person next to me got makeup all over my suit. I nearly cried, but there was no time to ask for dry-cleaning money, so I rushed into the Uniqlo at the station and bought a new shirt in tears. As a broke student job-hunting with barely any part-time work, that hurt, and ever since I haven't forgiven people who do makeup on trains.

  就活中の移動の電車内で、揺れた時に隣の人の化粧品がスーツにベッタリついてまじ泣きそうになったけどクリーニング代請求とか言ってる時間無いからそのまま急いで駅のユニクロで泣きながら替えのシャツ買った覚えある 就活中でバイトも対して出来ない貧乏学生にはめっちゃ痛い出費だったからそれ以来電車で化粧する人許してない

  — @Small_emi14,560 likes

• Please never do face powder next to me. The powder flies and I hate it landing on me, and even if the train's empty it gets on the seat, and then whoever sits there gets the worst of it.

  隣でフェイスパウダーは絶対やめてほしい。粉飛びして自分についたら嫌やし、空いてたとしても、座席についてて、そこ座ったら最悪やし

  — @りこ-z2c3k2,873 likes

• When I see someone doing their makeup on the train, I think however nicely they put on the powder and eyeshadow, the bad manners cancel all of it out lol

  電車でメイクしてる人見ると、どれだけ綺麗にパウダー塗っても、アイシャドウ塗っても全てマナーの悪さで相殺されるんだよな…って思うw

  — @Duck_kawaiine1,293 likes

• Sometimes when someone has obviously overslept and is doing their makeup, I'm cheering them on like crazy

  たまに明らか寝坊したなって人がメイクしてるとめっちゃ頑張れって応援してる

  — @金木犀最強21,101 likes

• In a car with almost nobody in it, a girl was doing her makeup in the corner facing the wall so she wouldn't bother anyone, and some guy went out of his way to walk over and yell at her. I was appalled. I wanted to tell him he was the real nuisance.

  乗客のほとんどいない車両の隅で壁の方を向いて迷惑にならないようにやっていた子にわざわざ近づいていったおっさんが大声で怒鳴ったのにはドン引きした お前が大迷惑だよと言いたかった

  — @しなのねこ35,782 likes

• Wanted: a society where nobody says anything if you go out with no makeup

  求む:ノーメイクでも何も言われない社会

  — @きしこ-w2x14,105 likes

• Between lipstick and mascara lies an unbridgeable gap between forgivable and unforgivable

  リップとマスカラの間に埋められない許せる許せないの溝がある

  — @an-eq7ew416 likes

• Yeah. Lips are totally fine. Perfume smells, sprays, mists and anything that puffs powder, I can't forgive.

  うん。リップは全然許せる。香水の匂いと、スプレー、霧吹き、粉吹くものは許せない

  — @marinnyan0415162 likes

• An acquaintance who says doing makeup on trains, or anywhere public for that matter, is bad manners once hogged a stall in a crowded restroom for over 10 minutes doing her makeup. I was seriously put off.

  電車は勿論公共の場でメイクするのはマナー悪いとか言ってる知り合いが混んでるトイレの個室10分以上占領してメイクしてた時はマジ引いた。

  — @lala-jg6uh2,436 likes

• On the train an old lady was sitting there smiling while putting on lipstick, and I wondered if something nice had happened. When I got off, there she was by chance outside the ticket gate, meeting her husband for what looked like a date, and she shyly linked arms with him and walked off. I remember how warm that made me feel (*ˊᵕˋ*)

  電車の中でおばあちゃんが座って、ニコニコしながら口紅塗ってて 何かええ事あったんかなぁ？って思いながら下車したら 改札出た時に、偶然おばあちゃんが居って 旦那さんと、待ち合わせデートやったみたいで 照れたように腕組んで歩いて行ったの見て めっちゃ、ホッコリしたん覚えてる(*ˊᵕˋ*)

  — @gara742825,496 likes

• If there aren't many people around, I think a little is OK. Honestly, I don't want people seeing my face while I'm doing makeup anyway lol

  人がそんなに居ないんだったらちょっとくらいならしてもいいかな。 てかそもそも人に自分がメイクしてる時の顔を見られたくないw

  — @UoxoU123,876 likes

• When I really had to do my makeup, I used to ride the Green Car. Brings back memories. These days I go anywhere bare-faced.

  どうしても化粧したいときグリーン車乗ってたな、懐かしい 今はすっぴんでどこまでも行ける

  — @Riley_o232i286 likes

• Once my kid's tantrums nearly made me late for work and I ran out bare-faced. My job doesn't allow no makeup, so I had no choice, and apologizing over and over in my head, I did a full face in my seat (a two-person seat with only me in it, so nobody next to me). I used to be in the "makeup on the train, really?" camp too, but now I think some people may have no other option. If they do it quietly in a corner so they don't bother anyone, please let it go...

  子どものイヤイヤで仕事遅刻しそうになってすっぴんで飛び出た時 仕事上すっぴんNGの仕事だからどうしようもなくて ごめんなさい…ごめんなさい‥と心の中で謝りながら電車の席(二人がけの席で私だけ座ってたから隣には人いない)でフルメイクした事ある。 私も電車でメイクするのどうなの？と思う派だったけど、やむを得ない事情がある人もいるのかも…と思うようになった。 人に迷惑かけないように隅っこでこっそりとかだったら許してあげてほしい…

  — @るか-g1x856 likes

Is it OK to put on lipstick on a train in Japan?

Generally yes. Lipstick sits on the forgivable side of what one commenter (416 likes) calls an unbridgeable gap between lipstick and mascara, and another says lips are totally fine while perfume, sprays, mists and anything that puffs powder are not. Keep it quick, scent-free and away from the person beside you.

Why do Japanese people dislike makeup on trains?

Mostly because of what lands on other people. Commenters describe a woman getting foundation on a friend's school uniform (9,859 likes), and an office worker's face powder spilling onto a student's uniform skirt, which then got the student called to the guidance office on suspicion of wearing makeup (2,536 likes). Others see it as getting ready in public, which cancels out the result.

What do Japanese commuters do if they really have to do makeup on the way?

They pick their spot: a near-empty car, a seat with nobody beside them, facing the window or the wall. One used to ride the Green Car when it couldn't be avoided. A restroom stall is not a free pass either: one commenter (2,436 likes) was put off by someone hogging a crowded stall for over 10 minutes.

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