Free soba and tempura in exchange for getting on the train a little earlier could be a tasty offer for Tokyo commuters who are sick of the “subway sandwich,” which has nothing to do with bread and everything to do with having your face smashed into a stranger’s armpit for the duration of your ride. The city’s transit system is so overloaded at peak hours, it has to hire literal “pushers” who physically cram as many people onto the trains as they can. Now, they’re hoping to tempt commuters on the frenetic Tozai line to help ease up the crunch.

As reported by the Japan Times, the Tokyo Metro Co. has launched a new program that rewards early birds noodles rather than worms. A two-week pilot program asks passengers to voluntarily stagger their commutes during morning rush hour in exchange for coupons for free meals at Metro An, a soba noodle shop affiliated with the transit company.

To participate, commuters have to sign up for the campaign and register their card information in advance before participating for 10 consecutive weekdays. And yes, there is a catch: volunteers will only get the coupon for a free bowl of noodles and tempura if 3,000 people participate. If only 2,500 sign up, they’ll just get noodles. If it’s only 2,000, they get a single piece of tempura. The trial runs through February 1st, so it remains to be seen whether a whole lot of people are going to alter their schedules and receive nothing but a piece of breaded shrimp for their efforts.

Of course, the Tokyo crunch is no joke, and less crowding is a reward in its own right. If you’ve never seen the in action, check out these videos demonstrating exactly how pushers make sure every single subway car is packed with human sardines and you’ll get the idea.

A series of sweaty portraits entitled “Tokyo Compression” captured by Hong Kong-based German artist Michael Wolf further illuminate the issue. Wolf minces no words on just how wild it gets, saying “Man is responsible for this himself – a dreadful system for people, and by people.”

Top photo by Takeshi Fujisawa/Flickr CC by 2.0

Crowd-watching is one of those perennial favorite activities that never seems to get old no matter how often you do it. For the 2011 Vancouver Celebration of Light, a popular annual fireworks show, Dave Delnea Images documented the huge crowd gathering, reveling and then dispersing.

The video produced by the firm shows a vibrant crowd flocking to the beach to watch the light show. From the high vantage point, each of the individuals melds into a part of the larger throng.

The fabric of the crowd weaves itself into a colorful tapestry that writhes and undulates, never sitting still.

This short video is a perfect examination of the energy of city life; the urban landscape is enhanced and defined by the people who inhabit it.

Can you control a crowd with nothing more than an optical illusion? A group of researchers at Tokyo’s University of Electro-Communications think so. They are developing a lenticular lens sidewalk that would keep people moving in both directions on their own side of the walkway.

(all images via: DigInfo)

Lenticular lenses use a type of optical illusion involving a curved edge and an underlying image to simulate movement – just like those “moving” Valentines and stickers many of us played with as children. The theoretical walkways would use simple images of stripes moving toward the right to keep people on the right-hand side of the walkway.

How would moving stripes control a crowd? It’s simple: most of us use visual cues to keep us balanced while we walk. As we see the stripes subtly moving to the right, we naturally follow the movement with our eyes and then our bodies. Pedestrians may not even be aware that they are being sneakily guided.

The walkways would also be a great benefit even if people were aware of them and knew how they worked since they could be used as a sort of low-tech guidance system. In a crowded situation where people are disoriented, the moving stripes would act as a simple way to guide them in the right direction. The display uses no electricity so it would be relatively simple and low-cost.

Since lenticular lenses have not been used in this way before, it is not yet clear how well they would hold up to continued pedestrian traffic. Research into the crowd control capabilities of this intriguing idea is ongoing; don’t be surprised if you see a “moving” sidewalk like this in your city one day soon.