Once again, human feces deliver a smelly shock to rail travelers.

Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, being the busiest rail hub in the world, produces decisive opinions. Some people hate making their way through its crowded passageways, while others find the hustle and bustle of urban energy exhilarating.

But on October 3, just about everyone agreed that at least one part of Shinjuku Station was an unpleasant place to be, thanks to a line of human feces that stretched for an estimated 30 meters (98 feet) along the floor outside one of the station’s restrooms. Whether the streak was the result of spreading a single turd extra-thin or a composite of multiple plops was indeterminable.

Since most people don’t expect to encounter poo outside the restroom, some travelers were caught unaware.

▼ “Stepped in some poo at Shinjuku Station.”

https://twitter.com/k_kedamaro/status/915114017739255808

Others, however, managed to avoid soiling their shoes thanks to an olfactory alert.

▼ “Shinjuku Station smells like poo.”

▼ “There’s all this human poo on the ground at Shinjuku Station. It stinks! What the heck is going on here?”

In instances of public pooping, the two usual suspects are young children and drunks. However, the length of the turd line suggests an intestinal capacity beyond that of infants or toddlers, and the timing of the incident (witness reports started showing up on Twitter shortly before 4 in the afternoon) seems too early for an ignominious end to a booze-filled bender. We also can’t entirely rule out the possibility that Tokyo has a serial shitter on its hands, following a similarly stinky incident at Shibuya Station, just three stops down the Yamanote Line from Shinjuku, last May, so we’d recommend watching your step as you make your way around the capital.

Source: News Sokuho Japan via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso