Female Train Staff Get Self Defense Spray

Female attendants on JR Tokai line trains are being issued personal protection cayenne pepper spray devices. The spray mixture causes temporary incapacitation. Female employees who sell food or work as conductors on the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet trains and other Tokai trains are being given the devices. The first JR Tokai female conductors were hired in 1999 and female employees on the trains have since been required to carry personal buzzer alarms. In March and April 2008, two female "green attendants" were assaulted in the Green Car first-class section of late night and early morning Shinkansen trains. JR Tokai has distributed four hundred pepper spray canisters to Shinkansen female staff. The railway company will give the palm-size spray device to a total of 1300 female employees. The Mace-brand Triple Action Pocket product is offered by Mace Security International, Inc. and retails in the US for about USD 15.00, and in Japan for about JPY 2500. It’s designed for use by women. The ingredients contain UV dye that will invisibly mark an assailant. The unit sprays 6-12 feet and contains 5, one- second bursts.

photos: green car; 3 cannisters. video:TBS News