It may seem like a bit of an overreaction, but I recently read an article that said a 5 minute delay for each day for each passenger on the NYC subway costs the city about 350 million dollars a year. Being on time matters.
well the japanese will rely on it being on time, to be where they want on time, those wanting to be on this train and missed it, may have had recurring consequences throughout the day that expanded in time as well
But this actually happened when I visited. I took a train that arrived early and left maybe a minute ahead of schedule, and there was an announcement apologizing for it!
Like they apologize if it's late or earlier than what the is supposed to arrive. They are cool