It seems people can find solutions to everything, no matter how ridiculous the solution is. What solution did Japanese students find to hide their loneliness? The answer is to hide in a toilet stall and eat there during breaks.

This phenomenon occurs often enough for a notice (the one shown to the left) to be posted around several universities over the past few months. The notice states that graffiti, smoking and eating are banned activities in the restrooms. It also stated there were security cameras watching them and that violators would be caught and punished. All the universities deny putting up the notices which leads to the questions of who did do it and why would they do it. There is some speculation that it may just be a student prank but no evidence has been presented thus far.

With the joke notice aside, eating in bathroom stalls is as real as it can be according to Professor Daisuke Tsuji at Osaka University. It’s so real that there is even a term for this weird behavior: benjo-meshi (toilet meal). Students who usually eat in restroom stalls are the people who feel isolated from the rest of his/her peers. The reason for this bathroom behavior is to avoid seeing people happily chatting with each other and to avoid being seen as friendless and alone at the cafeteria.

As funny as the idea of eating in a toilet stall sounds, it’s actually sad to hear the reasons behind it. Hopefully benjo-meshi is not a widespread act in Japanese universities. As Tsuji said, benjo-meshi could lead people to quit school and/or withdraw from society.

[Source: Asahi]