As you may find in other countries, public bathrooms in Japan often have a cleaning log posted on the wall so that supervisors can ensure that sanitary standards are being maintained and so that those who want to use the bathroom will feel more comfortable doing so.

Such logs can also tell you at a glance who did the cleaning and when.

However, rather than make her feel more comfortable, the cleaning log that Twitter user さぬえ Sanue (@sanue11) noticed when she visited the bathroom in a convenience store one day had the opposite effect...

Here it is:

Reproduced with permission from さぬえ Sanue (@sanue11)

With the exception of four days out of the month of August, the name written in the time slots for 1:00 AM, 3 PM and 10 PM were all アベ, a staff member with the family name Abe. Moreover, and more importantly, the name appears every single day.

Shocked by this, Sanue posted the photo to her Twitter account, along with the text:

"How many days in a row is Abe-san working??!!"

Certainly, if this was indeed the same person, the store would be in clear violation of Japanese labor law.

Many people who saw the photo also left comments such as "Give Abe-san a break," and "They are seriously understaffed."

Some commented, "Maybe this is a family business and they are all Abe?" and "The darkness of Japanese society is condensed in this photo. I'm at a loss for words. Is there a way out?"

We don't know the truth, but we can't help but hope that Abe-san was given a break.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.