Why do train staff point at things and call out even when nobody's around?
Conductors and platform staff point at signals, mirrors and gaps while saying the check aloud (shisa kanko / pointing-and-calling).
It's a trained safety method: physically pointing and voicing a check forces attention and cuts human error, verified to reduce mistakes.
Why — five layers
Railways adopted pointing-and-calling as standard procedure; it's taught, audited, and required, not optional flair.
The method fits a kata (set-form) approach: a fixed, repeatable motion that anyone can perform identically to guarantee the check happens.
Studies (including a well-known rail one) showed it sharply lowers error rates, so it became embedded workplace culture.
International view
Some rail systems abroad (e.g. NYC subway point at boards) borrowed it, but the full point-and-voice ritual originated and spread in Japan.
But not always
It's mainly a workplace safety tool, not everyday behavior; ordinary passengers don't do it, and some newer automated systems reduce it.
What to do
Nothing to do, just know it's a deliberate safety check, not the person talking to themselves or to you.
Sources
- Rail human-factors studies on pointing-and-calling (shisa kanko)