People counting something in the street?

hi so i’m sorry in advance for how confusing this might be lol since i have no idea what this is about, have /never/ seen this in my country and haven’t seen anyone talk about it😭

over the past 9 months i’ve been in Japan i have noticed sometimea in big Tokyo districts (Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Harajuku, etc) these people sitting down in a little foldable chair on the side of the street, looking at the crowds, and punching in something on their machine (i’m assuming they’re counting something?) whenever they spot something in particular. i have no idea how to explain this any better. they wear roadwork uniforms sometimes but other times normal clothing. what are these people doing or counting ?? like what is this

last time i’ve seen this happen it was near the Harajuku駅 exit earlier this week. a man and a woman punching in something on their little machines as they look at everyone going in and out, they were sitting next to the subway exit on these chairs and it does seem like they’re counting something amongst the crowd/on the road since they’re just looking at it. i am so confused at what this is and unfortunately i have no picture to help. does anyone know 💀 sorry for my ignorance

7 comments
  1. Theyre just counting traffic. They count how many people or cars used in that specific area or road

  2. My wife has done this type of work. It’s counting how many people/vehicles go past in order to determine how much traffic – pedestrian or vehicle – a particular area sees in a day.

  3. Other places just out down strips on the road that count traffic, or use even more hitech means. There has to be some union stopping Japan from advancing here.

  4. As others are saying it’s to count traffic. But not just a simple count but categorize as requested by the hiring company too.
    These can include things like perceived genders and age groups, the type of clothes they are wearing, people who are pushing strollers, people walking their pets etc.
    I’ve even heard that a wig company hired one to monitor the number of balding men who pass by the area

  5. Traffic/pedestrian survey. That said this could easily be automated today but that means someone is out of a mind numbing job

  6. They are counting how many bald people pass by and are hired by companies selling hair loss treatments.

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