Japanese employee finds frightening warning in office bathroom, disguised as a friendly reminder

The hidden warning in a foreign language urged readers to run.

It’s no secret that Japan has a serious issue with work-life imbalance, and the commonly used term “black company” is clear evidence of that. A “black company” is a business that tends to put profit over people; they force employees to work in poor conditions, such as little to no sick leave or paid vacation, with the hottest issue being that employees are forced to do long hours of overtime without pay.

Some brave employees at black companies strike when they feel they have been treated unfairly, but most duck their heads and endure the maltreatment, all the while nursing strong resentment and even homicidal fantasies. Some of the quietly brave, though, may take upon themselves the task of subtly warning new employees of what they’re getting into.

One such person apparently works at Twitter user Chiaki’s (@7x6kudasai) company. They left a terrifying note hidden in a casual bathroom sign, that is shocking upon close inspection.

▼ Translation below

ブラック企業の弊社のトイレ、中に「トイレは綺麗に使いましょう」っていう注意書きが五ヶ国語で書いてある貼り紙があるんだけど、撮影して翻訳アプリにかけてみたら日本語・英語・中国語・韓国語は普通に書いてあるのにその下にアラビア語で「ここは真っ黒な会社。早く逃げろ」って書いてあった

—
千景 (@7x6kudasai) March 12, 2019

“At the black company where I work, there are posters on the walls of the bathroom saying ‘Please keep the restrooms clean” in five different languages. I took a picture and used my translation app, and the Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean were all the same, but only the Arabic at the bottom said, ‘This is a pitch-black company. Run.'”

Understandably, this stunned Chiaki, who described in a later tweet that, when one of her co-workers had said to take a closer look at the sign, she had expected some kind of joke. Instead, she found a chilling warning whose impact was heavy even for her, despite they fact that she already knew that she was employed at a black company.

The tweet went viral, obviously due to the terrifying nature of the message, which almost makes one wonder if somebody there is in desperate need of help. Japanese netizens found the message equally disturbing, although some doubted the veracity of the story:

“Scary! It’s like a dying message.”
“That’s a pretty weird story.”
“Maybe it’s a message from the general affairs division.”
“What if only the Arabic part was hand-written?”
“The impact of the last line is crazy.”
“This sounds fake. Don’t you have a picture?”
“Scary. Very scary. Please take care of yourself.”

One even took the liberty of composing an illustration of the scene:

@7x6kudasai https://t.co/Ev7bma5gWE

—
リプかき。 (@reply_drawing) March 12, 2019

Chiaki neither confirmed nor denied the claims of the skeptics, but knowing the truth behind some of Japan’s most soul-crushing companies, it might not be a surprise if it really happened. It’s only sad that the message might have been too subtle, and was possibly missed by many until it was too late!

Source: Twitter/@7x6kudasai via Hachima Kiko
Featured Image: Pakutaso
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