SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

TOP

» Japan
» Turtle spotted riding Tokyo subway makes commuting in Japan’s busiest city adorable【Video】

Featured

Weird
Studio Ghibli
Jobs

Turtle spotted riding Tokyo subway makes commuting in Japan’s busiest city adorable【Video】

Casey Baseel Oct 6, 2018
Tweet

Witness regrets letting “destiny” slip through his fingers after the unexpected meeting.

Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station is the busiest rail hub in the world, with well over a million people making their way through the facility. Of course, that means that there are also a lot of people on the lines that run through the station, like the Toei Shinjuku subway line.

So ordinarily, it wouldn’t have been a big deal for musician and Japanese Twitter user Yuki Nakajima (@spiro_om) to spot another passenger riding in the same subway car as he was…unless that passenger wasn’t a human.

え？え？えー！！？ pic.twitter.com/GA4FhfD9k1

— Yuki Nakajima (@spiro_om) October 1, 2018

On the evening of October 1, Nakajima spotted a suppon, or Chinese soft-shelled turtle, crawling around the floor of his subway car. While utilizing motorized transport meant the creature was traveling far faster than its natural capabilities would ever allow, that didn’t make it fleet of foot. In this video, the turtle seems to briefly consider making a break for the open door while the train is stopped at the platform of whatever station it happens to be at, only to discard the idea when it realizes it’ll never make it to the opening before it slides shut.

スッポン？？だよね？？？ pic.twitter.com/M3b72UWzIi

— Yuki Nakajima (@spiro_om) October 1, 2018

Up until this point Nakajima had been having a bad day, but seeing this cute critter trying to make sense of its difficult situation, he began to feel like maybe he should take the little guy home and raise him as a pet.

▼ There’s also a moment when the turtle looks like it’s about to hop on Nakajima’s skateboard that he’s left lying on the ground, perhaps having had its eyes opened to how much more efficient wheels are for getting around compared to its species’ famously slow legs.

なんか、個人的に色々あって、凹んでいたんだけど、、なにこれ？飼ってあげたほうが良いの？？ pic.twitter.com/tpJHKpFHk2

— Yuki Nakajima (@spiro_om) October 1, 2018

Alas, while Nakajima was debating whether or not to add an animal companion to his life, the train stopped at yet another station where an employee, having been somehow notified about the reptilian rail-rider, stepped into the car, scooped him up, and took him into custody. “I feel like I’ve let a once-in-a-lifetime destiny slip through my fingers,” Nakajima lamented. He even made sure to ride the same car of the same train the next day, looking forward to seeing more exotic wildlife, but unfortunately only encountered an all-too-common urban organism: the drunken salaryman.

▼ Or maybe this is another turtle, one who’s wearing a disguise after hearing about how his brethren got caught by the station employee?

ん？座席の下？
なんかいる！
まさか、また！？
すっぽ、、じゃなかった。
よっぱらい、だった。 pic.twitter.com/SQ3ye4vKQK

— Yuki Nakajima (@spiro_om) October 4, 2018

As in the cases of Japan’s Seibu Ikebukuro Line cat and Shinkansen snake, no one is quite sure how the turtle ended up on the subway. Some are guessing it’s an escaped pet, while another theory is that since Chinese soft-shelled turtle is considered a delicacy in Japan, maybe the animal made a break for it and ran away from a market or restaurant. Until we receive confirmation otherwise, though, we’re just going to go ahead and assume the turtle is pals with the Tokyo crow that was learning how to use train ticket vending machines, and simply got onto the train using techniques taught to him by his fathered friend.

Source: Twitter/@spiro_om via Togech