Compared across countries
Can you talk on the phone on public transport?
For a trip that crosses borders — the same question, answered country by country.
The pattern
None of the three asks for silence, and none attaches a penalty to using a phone. What they ask differs: Japan asks you not to take the call at all, while Korea and Taiwan ask only that you lower your voice. Talking to the person beside you is fine everywhere.
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Japan
Phone calls are what is being avoided, not conversation. Keep the phone on silent, and on a long-distance train take the call between cars.
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South Korea
Yes, quietly. The operator's own etiquette list asks for vibrate mode and a lowered voice, not for silence.
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Taiwan
Yes. The operator asks only that you lower your voice. The rule that carries a fine here is eating and drinking — national law, NT$1,500 to 7,500 — and the phone is not on that list.
Japan
South Korea
Taiwan