Priority Seats

What kind of rule is this?

This is a venue/operator rule. Train and bus operators designate and label these seats and ask passengers to yield them — there's no law requiring a specific passenger to give up a seat.

What the rule says

Priority seats (優先席) are reserved in practice for elderly passengers, people with disabilities, pregnant passengers, and people traveling with small children. Operators ask other passengers to offer these seats when someone who needs one is standing, and to keep phones off near these seats when trains are crowded.

What people often misunderstand

Many visitors assume sitting in a priority seat is simply forbidden for everyone else, or that refusing to move is illegal. Neither is true — anyone can sit there when it's not needed by someone else, and giving it up is a strong social expectation enforced by signage and public opinion, not by staff or police.

What it means in practice

It's fine to sit in a priority seat if it's empty, but stay alert and offer it promptly if someone who visibly needs it boards — hesitating is far more noticeable than the offer itself. Some conditions (early pregnancy, invisible disabilities) aren't visible, so a small badge some passengers wear (like a maternity mark) is a legitimate practical cue, not something to question.

What varies by place

The exact phone-usage expectation near priority seats (silent vs. fully off) is set per operator and can differ between, for example, JR lines and a local subway.

Safest response

If you're sitting in a priority seat and someone who may need it boards, offer the seat directly and simply — a brief gesture or 'dōzo' (please, go ahead) is enough.

If someone corrects you

If someone signals you should offer your seat, do so promptly without arguing about whether the other person really needs it — that judgment belongs to social norms, not to you in the moment.

Official sources

• Tokyo Metro — Things to Consider When Riding the Subway