Public restrooms in Japan and many other countries of the world have pictograms to indicate "men," "women" as well as a wheelchair pictogram for people with disabilities.

Pictograms are designed to be universal, so when a bathroom doesn't use them, it can cause confusion for those who don't know the language, like the case we recently introduced of a Japanese man in the Netherlands.

However, even pictograms can create unintended results...

Last week, on March 3rd, 2022, Twitter user まつだゆうき Yuki Matsuda (@yuki_mechanics) saw a set of pictograms in a Japanese bathroom which made him do a double take:

Reproduced with permission from まつだゆうき Yuki Matsuda (@yuki_mechanics)

"It's just a broken toilet sign, but I can't help but think it looks like the scene of a bizarre murder..."

The torso part of the "male" pictogram must have fallen over. As a result, now it looks as if the woman is dragging the man's body. Since the head of the "man" is still in the correct place, it looks as if it was knocked off, which adds to the horror.

The post went viral, eliciting numerous comments such as:

  • "This is definitely a crime scene of a lovers' quarrel gone wrong..."
  • "The angle at which the pictogram tilted was so perfect that I thought: 'Oh, how awful,' while laughing."
  • "I think there is a scene like this at the beginning of a horror movie."

Incidentally, the pictogram was corrected the next time Yuki Matsuda visited it...


By - grape Japan editorial staff.