Of all the Japanese customs I've had the pleasure of being introduced to, legal public drinking is by far my favorite. Nonetheless, getting it right takes a little practice.
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:: jaw drops ::...And he said this is just from his Japanese-language Amazon account. (for the...The first column is page views (I would guess) so that's from 661 thousand page...There was a similar case two years ago when a police sergeant drove to work drunk,...Takes one to know one....I don't know what they're called, but you put them in your boots to make them stand...And here's that follow-up post:
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There was a TV commercial a while ago with a guy eating a cheeseburger on the train, and the message "A train is not your room". It may be legal, but as you pointed out, drinking on the train might be a breach of etiquette. But then, can't you buy beer on a shinkansen?
Express trains where everyone's got an eki-ben and a beer anyhow, well that's a free for all.
Personally, on all seishun18kippu trips I give myself a free booze it up pass, but on local trains it's limited to special times only. Depends on three variables: time of day, what train, how crowded. I typically wrap my beer in my hand towel just for modesty. I never drink on the local line that I live on because I might bump into my students, co-workers, friends, or peers. It's just an uneasy situation.
Hankyu Kobe line - No booze. JR - Booze OK.
I happened to be on the JR and I'll tell you what - I've lived here for close to 2 years and I've seen only one person drinking beer on the train. A sarariman. Need I say more? Live and learn, I guess ....
Hmm maybe it's different in Nagoya. Something that has always stood out to me here is that NOONE eats or drinks anything while on the streets on in the trains. there are vending machines everywhere but everyone (except this gaijin) seems to put them carefully in their bags and ... I don't know what they do actually...
The trains between 6 and 8:30 are too full to raise a tin to your lips anyway.
On the commuter train home (both JR and Hankyu) I would say at least once a week between 6 and 7 pm I'll see someone with a can of beer or chuhai (always the 330 ml size, never a half-litre) furtively wrapped in a bag or a towel.