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

This billboard, reportedly spotted in a subway station in New York City, may not be the most tactful way to drum up business for a funeral home. But you have to admit, it’s clever. Naturally, the funeral industry doesn’t have too much trouble with supply – everyone dies eventually – but they have to compete with each other just like any other business. Are the ads that manage to stand out in poor taste, or just bringing a much-needed sense of humor to the realities of death?

The Devanny-Condron Funeral Home in Massachusetts raised a few eyebrows with this billboard congratulating a local resident on her 100th birthday. Conflict of interest, anyone? In Florida, the Beckman-Williamson Funeral Home & Crematory used a little dark humor to get attention in the form of ‘Thank You for Smoking’ lighters.

These ads are funny, sure, but probably not helping diffuse the public perception of the funeral industry as a bunch of vultures lurking around waiting to pick at people’s bones. That’s especially true considering the hundreds of suicides and murders that take place on subway tracks, and the millions of smoking-related fatalities. But other ads seen as insensitive – like the one below, touting funeral pre-arrangements as a romantic Valentine’s Day gift – are simply trying to call attention to a basic fact of life that most people ignore until the last possible minute.

Attitudes about death vary wildly between cultures, religions and geographic areas, so it’s no surprise that what one person finds incredibly tacky is greeted with a smile and a shrug by another. The mere existence of cell phone-shaped caskets is enough to testify to that fact.

And while it’s easy to laugh at things like Compton’s drive-thru funeral parlor (complete with bulletproof glass) – which many people see as cheapening the lives of the dead, making the mourning process as casual as grabbing a burger and fries – perhaps there’s more to it than that. After all, your attitude about death would probably be different if you lived in a place where drive-by shootings happen on a near-daily basis, and gang-related cemetery shootouts aren’t uncommon. If you’re interested in the demystification of mortality, check out the Order of the Good Death.

Subway sandwich: good if you’re hungry, bad if you’re a female commuter. These 8 women-only transit cars offer groups of gals a grope-free rail road trip.

Japanese Rail & Subways

(image via: Wikipedia)

Japan first introduced women-only subway cars in 1912, though their usage was sporadic and isolated. Modern usage of train and subways carriages specifically restricted to women dates from the year 2000 with the Tokyo Metro succumbing to popular demand for such cars in 2005.

(images via: Apple Daily, The Japan Times and The Grid)

They may have been late to the dance but the Tokyo Metro now serves as a model for other city’s and nation’s transit systems on how to do women-only transit right. Designated cars are consistently color-coded (pink, naturally) to avoid confusion by the visually-impaired, signage on the trains in in the stations is profuse, and transit police are on hand to enforce the rules.

Rio de Janeiro Metro, Brazil

(image via: RAYRAY IN RIO!)

Brazil’s first gender-specific subway cars first appeared on São Paulo Metro in October 1995, but the scheme was discontinued in September 1997 after the Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM) received complaints from married couples. There was also the possibility that Article 5 of the Brazilian Constitution, which guarantees equality among citizens, might be inadvertently flouted giving rise to an expensive legal challenge. Curiously, the Rio de Janeiro Metro was untroubled by these sticking points and introduced women-only subway passenger carriages in April of 2006.

(images via: NBC News and Andén 2)

The official policy regarding women-only carriages dictates that for trains with six passenger cars, one car must exhibit predominantly pink colors and signage denoted the car to be for the exclusive use of women. It should be noted that pinkness notwithstanding, the women-only restriction only applies on weekdays during the morning and afternoon rush hours (3 hours each). Metro police enforcement is provided to ensure non-women (also known as men) stay out of the cars and station platforms have signs in pink, white and yellow on their floors indicating where women should assemble for boarding.

(image via: Wikipedia/Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz)

The recent introduction of Rio de Janeiro’s “Women’s Exclusive Cars” has allowed the system to borrow from other successful subway networks around the world: note the “Mind The Gap” warning on the platform, lifted from the London Underground circa 1969.

“Kereta Khusus Wanita”, Indonesia

(images via: CharlesKKB, The Jakarta Post and Tempo.co)

If the Indonesian commuter train you’re about to board is trimmed in pink & purple and bears the legend “Kereta Khusus Wanita”, back off Jack… unless you’re a Jill.

(image via: Korean Lecture Heeya)

Indonesian women have taken to the women-only services provided by the nation’s commuter train lines, and if such service is withdrawn they don’t take the loss lying down. Such was the case in May of 2013 when PT KAI Jabodetabek Commuter decided to discontinue the exclusive cars on its women-only Electric Railway Train (KRL) line running the Bogor to Jakarta route. “”

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Transits Of Venus 8 Women Only Subway Train Cars

From the sidewalk, the Paris building below looks just like those around it, complete with doors, windows and balconies. but take a look at Google Maps, as Paul of the blog Paris by Cellphone did, and you’ll notice something strange: there’s nothing behind that facade. Like many others all over the world, this ordinary-looking building is just a shell to disguise unsightly infrastructure. Above:  23 & 24, Leinster Gardens in Paddington, London, covering up a railway line running below but open to exhaust the system from behind. Look familiar? You may have seen it in an episode of Sherlock.

The aforementioned French building, at 154 Rue La Layette, is likewise hiding a giant ventilation chimney for the metro. The chimney is about as large as one of the real buildings that surround it. In another location in Marais, artist Julien Berthier constructed a false door to go on the side of one of these buildings that wasn’t quite as well-disguised.

The facade meets local architectural codes and bears an address plate reading ‘J.B. & S.B. Specalistes.’ Wonder how many people have knocked on it over the years, waiting for someone to answer?

BLDGBLOG discovered another such facade, in Brooklyn. The windows of this particular house are blacked out, making it a bit curious. What are those people trying to hide? Upon closer examination, answer is revealed: it’s a ventilator for the subway. Once, it was a real brownstone, built in 1847, but it was gutted in 1908 when subway service was started in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle explains, “the exit disguised as a brownstone leads to a grimy-lit set of metal stairs that ascend past utility boxes and ventilation shafts into a windowless room with a door. If you opened the door, you would find yourself on a stoop, which is just part of the façade.” In other cities, similar faux structures cover up everything from power relay stations to cell phone infrastructure. Looking for more? Check out additional faux architecture and trick facades in Toronto and beyond.

Dark, smelly, filthy and crawling with rats – while this may be an accurate description of many subway stations and tunnels around the world, it definitely doesn’t apply to Barcelona’s Drassanes Station, Stockholm’s Tunnelbana, the Munich U-Bahn or 11 other bold, colorful, modern and just plain beautiful stations. Travelers taking these trains can catch a glimpse of a stunning abandoned station in New York, an ancient river under Athens, a nuclear bunker in North Korea and much more.

Kievskaya Station, Moscow, Russia

(images via: bernt rostad, reibai)

No subway station in the world is quite as elaborate as the ornate Kievskaya, a Moscow Metro station in the Dorogomilovo District. The design, which incorporates marble, decorative chandeliers, gold leafing, scrolled details, mosaics and frescos was chosen in an open competition and built in 1954. The mosaics celebrate the unity between Russia and Ukraine.

Drassanes Station, Barcelona, Spain

(images via: the cool hunter)

Bright and open with a futuristic feel, the new look of Barcelona’s Drassanes Station is dramatically different from the dark, aging 1968 infrastructure. Reinvented by ON-A Arquitectura, the station features lightweight white glass-reinforced concrete coverings that were placed right on top of the old surfaces.

Stockholm Tunnelbana, Sweden

(images via: top elegant homes)

Stockholm’s incredible metro tunnels feature stations that make the raw bedrock a bold architectural feature instead of covering it up with artificial surfaces, giving them the feel of a natural system of subterranean caverns. Some of the rock walls and ceilings have been painted with murals, and all 100 stations feature artwork by 140 artists.

Munich U-Bahn, Germany

(images via: jaime.silva, mike knell)

The U-Bahn in Munich is known for its colorful personality, with rainbow hues painted in many of the tunnels and terminals or applied to the walls as tiles. First built in 1972, the Munich subway system has grown to nearly one hundred stations throughout the city, many of which are designed to modern standards with spacious aisles and decorative lighting.

Nuevos Ministerios, Madrid, Spain

(images via: skyscraper city)

The Madrid Metro is mostly notable for two things: massive murals of the city’s skyline that make riders feel as if they’re at an above-ground station, and the giant eyes that stare down ominously from the pillars. Especially paired with a name like ‘Nuevos Ministerios’ (New Ministries), the station has a vaguely dystopian feel.

City Hall Station, New York, New York

(images via: jalopnik)

Passengers willing to take the 6 train all the way past what used to be the last stop in Brooklyn can now get a special treat: a glimpse of the stunning, long-abandoned City Hall station, which has been closed to the public since it shut down in 1945. The train passes through this station on its way back uptown, and while riders used to be forced off at the Brooklyn Bridge stop, they’re currently allowed to stay on.

Bilbao Metro, Spain

(images via: dalbera, laurenmanning, daquella manera)

Designed by esteemed architecture firm Foster + Partners, the Bilbao Metro is is ultramodern yet vaguely organic with glassy, tubular station entrances at street level and lots of steel in the underground stations. Known as ‘Fosteritos’, the glass station entrances have already become an iconic part of the city’s architecture.

Dubai Metro Stations

(images via: ~pyb, petjam)

Dubai’s 47 railway stations were designed by Aedas of Birmingham to combine both traditional and modern architectural elements. “Their uniquely shell shaped roof, while modern, invokes the heritage of pearl diving – this ancient craft that requires skill and bravery brought early prosperity and is an integral part of Dubai’s history,” says Engineer Abdul Majid Al Khaja, CEO of the Rail Agency at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority.

Iidabashi Station, Tokyo, Japan

(images via: ventasalud)

Completed in 2000, Tokyo’s Iidabashi station is bright, open and modern with pops of bright green in the form of pillars and a metal web which architect Makoto Watanabe imagines as “interweaving, entangling, expanding, pulsating.” The outside of the station, at street level, features swirling, organically shaped metal and glass designs.

Toronto Museum Station, Canada

(images via: diamond & schmitt architects)

Daniel Libeskind’s addition to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto is quite a dazzling sight, so why have an ordinary subway stop just below it? The station was redesigned by Diamond & Schmitt Architects to include columns inspired by artifacts found within the museum. The five column designs represent Canada’s First Nations, Ancient Egypt, Mexico’s Toltec culture, Ancient Chinese culture and Ancient Greece.

Line A, Prague, Czech Republic

(images via: colourlovers)

The tunnels of Prague’s Line A are covered in a colorful patchwork of metallic tiles in flat, convex and concave shapes in hues of gold, silver, green, blue and red; the color scheme differs by station.

Pyongyang Subway System, North Korea

(images via: wikimedia commons, yeowatzup)

Would you expect one of the world’s most beautiful subway systems to be located in… North Korea? The deepest metro in the world at 360 feet below surface level, the Pyongyang metro network is full of colorful murals of propaganda. Thanks to its depth, the system doubles as an emergency nuclear bunker, and could keep many of the city’s citizens safe in the event of nuclear war.

Iridanos Archaological Site, Athens, Greece

(images via: skyscraper city)

In a city as ancient as Athens, it’s easy to imagine coming upon one important archaeological discovery after another if you dig far enough – and that’s exactly what happened when excavators were working on the city’s metro system. The ancient Iridanos River, long lost, was one of those discoveries, found still flowing right where engineers had planned a subway platform. So, this section of the river – still bearing the vaulted construction completed sometime around 200 C.E. – has now become an archaeological display, the largest in any metro station. Visitors to the green line station platform can walk over the exposed river on a glass walkway.

Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, Shanghai, China

(images via: summer park, .curt)

Sure, the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel in Shanghai is a rather cheesy tourist attraction, with what has been described by a Lonely Planet reviewer as “A slow-moving tram, through a comically low-tech tunnel of antiquated 80’s era rope lights, lasers and car dealership ilk inflatables — narrated only by a psychotic stream of random words”. However true that may be, the pictures are still pretty cool to look at, and the tunnel is definitely among the world’s quirkiest and most unusual.