European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I it 1,.� Sel i big crush cramming in the commuters by Jim Abrams associated press hey once hired College slide nos to help shove commuters into Iho packed cars at Tokyo s she Juke station easily the world s busiest passenger train Hub now regular employees do inc cramming we have five Rush hours every Day says Masahiro Katoot the Shin Juke stationmaster s office traffic is so heavy. Kalo says the Metal hand punches used to punch tickets Wear out and must be replaced every three Days railway workers must clean up some 300,000 cigarette bulls every Day. And the bustling Complex in the High Rise Low life environs of Shin Juke is getting busier with new rail lines linking the suburbs and the City government planning to abandon its buildings near the Imperial Palace for a new Home near the station every Day according to officials an average of 1 3 million people Are disgorged from or swept into the 1,800 commuter subway and Long distance trains passing through this business and entertainment Center in Western Tokyo thai is More than twice As Many As any other rail Lalion outside Japan. By comparison. 500,000 people a Day pass through new York s two main stations. Penn and grand Central a similar number at Moscow s Yaroslavsky station and 420.000 at Paris St Lazare station. The latter figure docs not include subway riders. In fact. Shin Juke s nearest rival is Ueno station the Northern Gateway to Tokyo which handles about 870.000 travellers per Day the first Rush hour begins around 4 30 am. When the station opens and red eyed carousels who missed the last night train begin making their Way Home or Back to the office. Shin Juke has thousands of drinking and eating establishments. It is Home to an i famous red Light District of Massage Parlours Peep show and love hotels and is a principal Center for Tokyo s Gay nightlife. About 8 a.m., the sea of commuters descends on Shin Juke some headed for the Cluster of 50-Story office skyscrapers just West of the station others changing to subways or the 29-Stop Yam anole line a surface Railroad that makes a Loop around the City Kalo says Shin Juke station which is operated by Japan National railways used to hire College students part time to pack people into Rush hour trains but the morning chaos has eased some in recent years because of new lines and now Shin Juke s 413 employees do the pushing Kato says Between 10 and 11am comes the next wave housewives and Young people heading for the department stores boutiques and discount electronics shops that surround the station the reverse flows come at 67pm. The big Home bound Rush and 12-1 am  for the last trains Home in addition to Japan National railways 12 platforms for commuter intercity and Long distance lines to Western and Northern Japan. Shin Juke is the Hub for two subway lines and three private commuter lines. The Alps Plaza at the Entrance to platforms for lines to the Central Japan mountains is thronged on weekends by thousands of Young people in designer ski gear tyrolean mountaineering garb and Little league baseball uniforms color coded signs Are a help but even some longtime residents of Tokyo particularly foreigners say they have never fully mastered the station s bewildering multistory Maze of corridors stairways escalators shops department stores ticket offices and rail platforms. Crime and vandalism Are rare on japanese trains but Ichiro Watanabe. Assistant chief of station Security says his office handled 704 cases of picked pockets Page 14 the stars and stripes