Waiting for a train last night at the notoriously busy Shinjuku Station, my friend and I were surprised to see our train pull in with the carriage nearest to us practically empty. Considering the rest of the train was as horribly packed as usual, we predicted foul play. The most likely offender being the contents of a drunken salary man’s stomach.
But our surprise at seeing a near deserted carriage paled into insignificance to the feelings we had when the doors finally opened. As there for everyone on the platform to gaze in wonder at, was a train car floor festoon with faeces.
Whilst I didn’t go nearer for a closer inspection, there was no doubting the substance was bodily waste. And the expressions of the few hardy commuters actually traveling in the same compartment said it all. One man was even pinching the end of his nose in a desperate attempt to block out the presumably overpowering smell.
What on earth happened remains a mystery. But whatever transpired, the train must have been packed at the time. Which it goes without saying must have been unpleasant (to say the least) for all concerned.