Women only (Japan, Osaka)

On the smooth tiled floor of a Japanese train station, these pink “Women Only” (女性専用車) markings indicate access to women-only carriages . Implemented in the 2000s in Japan, this measure aims to combat the persistent phenomenon of groping on public transport , particularly during rush hour. It guarantees a protected space , designed for the safety and tranquility of female passengers, and marks a gender-specific consideration of subway use.

In this photograph, signage becomes a visual language , discreet but coded, revealing an invisible social stratification : who has the right to be where, and why. Here we see only the legs of two women waiting – a way of representing the tension between anonymous presence and claimed space . The low framing deliberately avoids faces to focus on postures, signs, and the uses of urban space .

“Women only” , literally “reserved for women”, takes on a value that is at once protective , symbolic and critical , in a Japan often perceived as safe, but still affected by gender issues.