Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

The Japanese online community is abuzz over an (undated) photo showing some unusual signage on the JR Kobe line: 日本は終了しました (Nihon wa shuryo shimashita; “Japan is finished”). The obvious explanation is that a worker accidentally mis-typed the first two characters in the standard end-of-day announcement: 本日は終了しました (Honjitsu wa shuryo shimashita; “All through for today”). But the zeal with which discussion of the incident has spread—280,000 Google hits and counting—indicates that the typo has touched a deep nerve in a country wracked by low self-esteem.

Sources: Various