Takanawa Gateway put a railing between the stairs and the seats

From the station side, the edge of a wooden seat can line up with the edge of a gray step. At Takanawa Gateway City in Tokyo’s Minato Ward, the drop from one of those wide seats to the next was about the height of three ordinary steps. In April, portable posts and chains marked the boundary between the seats and the stairs to the street. By late October, a fixed handrail ran between the stone steps and the wooden tiers. Short raised wooden bars also break up the flat surfaces on the seating side. From the deck, the rail gives you a line to follow toward the street. You can pick out the walking side before looking for the first tread.