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Life

Is the demographic time bomb already making Japan less safe?

Spate of train delays blamed on lack of qualified engineers

Short-circuiting shut down service on a busy Tokyo commuter train line for four and a half hours Wednesday morning.

TOKYO -- On a cloudy morning last week, every bus stop on the road leading to Tokyo's Shibuya district had at least 30 people waiting in line. A bus would come from time to time, but of course there was no room for a single passenger to get on.

The unusual sight was the consequence of the Den-en-toshi Line, a heavily traveled commuter line running directly under the road, stopping for four and a half hours Wednesday due to an electrical issue.

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