A Man Bought His Way Past Five People in a Tokyo Restroom Line

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Picture this: Tokyo Station, busy morning, restroom line for the stall — the kind where you really need to wait. A man walks up, presses 1,000 yen into each hand of the people ahead of him, says "excuse me, please let me through," and proceeds to skip roughly five people. The original poster watched the whole thing, did the quick math (five people × 1,000 yen = 5,000 yen), and arrived at a surprisingly sanguine conclusion: when you frame it as buying five people's dignity, that might actually be a bargain.

The thread spread quickly, drawing reactions from every angle: the financial calculus of the cheaper alternative, the procedural elegance of paying each person in order, and the deeply unsettling scenario of what happens if multiple desperate people end up in the same line at once. The general mood landed somewhere between "chaotic" and "honestly, respect."

Comments

This morning at Tokyo Station, I was in line for the restroom (the serious kind) when this guy comes up handing out 1,000 yen bills — “Excuse me!! Please let me go first!!” He skipped about five people, so roughly 5,000 yen total. When you think of it as buying five people’s dignity… that’s actually pretty cheap?

今朝、東京駅でトイレ（大）に並んでたらすいません！！！前に入れてくださいと千円を渡しながら割り込みしてくる人がいたたぶん5人抜きくらいしてるので5千円人の尊厳を5千円で買ったと思えば安いか

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No way, people actually do that lol

そんな人いるんだw

I was genuinely impressed. Like — that’s a solid move.

ナイスアイデアだど感心しました

Well, compared to the alternative of having an accident… yeah, 5,000 yen is a steal lmao

まぁ漏らすのと引き換えなら安いかww

Lmaoooo this is a valid tactic tho w

面白いｗｗｗｗこれはアリだなｗ

Nice adulting!!

ないすアダルト！

But what would he have done if he didn’t have any 1,000 yen bills on him lol

千円札が無かったら　どうしたんだろ？

…a crumpled, desperately-clenched 10,000 yen note, slowly making its way to the front of the line

ぐしゃぐしゃに力強く握りしめた万札が、、、

At that point you’d better say yes, or you’re about to witness something truly horrific

そこまでするなら譲らないと悲惨な光景目にするなあ

After seeing this I decided I’m keeping a 1,000 yen bill on me at all times. Just in case.

私も、もしもの為に千円札は常備しようと思いました

If multiple desperate people end up in the same line at once, it’s going to turn into a full-on bidding war. And that is terrifying. 😱

切羽詰まった人が複数並ぶとオークション形式になりそうで怖いです😱

Poor guy!! He must have been in absolute agony to go this far…

かわいそう！よっぽどトイレに駆け込まなくてはならない事情が…

A kid having an accident is kind of cute, but an adult man having one is an incident. 1,000 yen per person seems fair.

まぁ子供が漏らしても微笑ましいけど成人男性なら事件だし千円なら許す

Since he paid a fair price, I don’t think you can call it cutting in line anymore.

対価を払っているのでそれはもう割り込みではないと思う

The fact that he went down the line in order and paid each person individually — that’s genuinely gentlemanly behavior. I’m kind of moved.

ちゃんと後から順に回ってんの紳士すぎて感動した

That’s literally just a fast pass.

ファストパスやん

A textbook example of throwing money at the problem.

文字通り、お金での解決

Hear me out: plastic bag from the convenience store 5 yen, spare pants 800 yen, tissues 398 yen — you’d come out 3,700 yen ahead.

コンビニで袋5円、パンツ800円、鼻セレブ1箱398円として3700円浮くのに。

And where exactly does dignity fit into this budget?

尊厳はどこにいった？

Even with those legendary foresight powers, Ri Haku (a character from the manga Fist of the North Star, beloved internet meme for making elaborate predictions that always turn out wrong) couldn’t have seen the dignity coming — because there is none!!

リハク、お主のその目をもってしても読めなかったのに尊厳なんかあるわけがねぇ！

↑ Perfect study material for learning what “in theory” means.

↑「理論上」という言葉を学ぶための教材

Think about it from his side though — ruined suit, cancelled meetings… the actual damage for an adult is way more than a few thousand yen. Technically, leaving through the ticket gates was an option (exiting the paid area means re-validating your ticket to re-enter, which takes time), but clearly there was none. If you’re already struggling to move inside Tokyo Station itself, you’re well past the point of no return.

スーツダメになったり、会合をキャンセルしたり、大の大人のダメージとしては、数千円ではとてもすまない・・。時間があれば改札外も選択肢になるけど、たぶんそんな余裕はなかったんだろうなあ。東京駅構内ですら移動困難な事態だろうし。

My take

Paying the people in line directly probably feels more legitimate to those being skipped than buying a fast pass from the venue — at least if you're the one standing there.

#Funny #Society

Source & translation note

Comments loosely translated for tone. Reactions collected from Togetter and X threads.

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