Shock and Confusion in Wasure-Machi
Wasure-Machi residents are stunned and bewildered after an incredible discovery at Dai Ni Shougakkou Elementary School this past weekend. A South African JET ALT was found forgotten in the men’s locker room 男性用更衣室 since the teachers’ group photo day in Heisei Year 27, roughly nine years ago. Our exclusive report follows.
A Fateful Day
Gaunt and weakened, Daniel Elroy Khumalo has endured a harrowing ordeal. Currently hospitalized at Chiba University Hospital, he has yet to recount his entire story to investigators, though some details are beginning to surface. It was the teachers’ group photo day. Typically, JET Programme Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) are allowed to dress casually at school, and Daniel was no exception to the rule. Early in the school year, with the Kyoutou-sensei’s permission, he had left his suit in the men’s locker room. On photo day, he asked if he could change there. Jimu-sensei instructed Fukukyoutou-sensei to ensure the room was empty to avoid any unwelcome surprises. Finding it vacant, Daniel was given the green light to enter and put on his suit. Being naturally shy and not wanting to disturb the staff, he waited quietly for permission to come out. Tragically, a second-grade student vomited in class at the same moment, and Fukukyoutou-sensei rushed to assist, completely forgetting about Daniel. The group photo was taken without him, and surprisingly, no one seemed to notice his absence.
A Disappearance Overlooked
“Everyone assumed he had gone home, and later, when we still didn’t see him, we thought he was sulking after missing school,” said Sakabashi-sensei, the English lesson coordinator at the time.
People did enter the locker room occasionally, but no one ever saw him. After all, no one was actively looking for him…
An Improbable Survival
After being questioned briefly, Daniel revealed that he had taken refuge in an empty locker after several days. “During winter, it got freezing, so I wrapped myself in all the towels stacked on top of the cabinet. I always thought I just needed to wait…” According to Professor Vitali Fackyoulovitch, an anthropological expert on missing persons from the University of Tokyo: “His body likely entered a state of hibernation. Being passionate about tempura and karaage, Daniel had eaten an extremely fatty diet for about a month before being forgotten.
The cold and fat buildup in his system may have triggered dormant mammalian hibernation genes.” During rare nocturnal awakenings, Daniel survived on spiders, mice, rats, and leftover candies and Black Thunder bars found in other teachers‘ coat pockets. A conveniently placed water faucet kept him hydrated.
The Investigation and Confessions
In their initial statements, the teachers claimed they had assumed Daniel had simply gone home. However, lead investigator Takakutsu-san, suspecting otherwise, pressed further. After several days of intense questioning, Akihabara Sensei, the 5th-grade homeroom teacher finally broke down: “If I had admitted thinking he might have been forgotten on photo day, asking where he had gone and why he stopped coming to school, it would have proven that I was out of the loop. If there was a valid reason for his absence that I didn’t know, the other teachers would have mocked me. It could have lasted the whole year. I couldn’t risk facing such humiliation,” he confessed, repeatedly muttering “Abunai, abunai” (“dangerous, dangerous”) to express the fear that paralyzed him at the time. “So I chose to remain silent…” said Akihabara Sensei. More revelations followed. Each teacher had feared being seen as incompetent, preferring to stay silent. After eight exhausting days of relentless interrogations, they all confessed.
The End of a Nightmare
Daniel’s nightmare lasted nine long years, ending only when a renovation crew discovered a curled-up man in the locker room, dressed in a once-elegant Irish wool suit — worn but remarkably wrinkle-free. There had been an old iron in a closet. Daniel’s face was pale, his hair long, and he was nearly blind. For now, Daniel has not expressed any desire to sue his former colleagues. “It really wasn’t their fault. Forgetting me was most likely the result of a sad coincidence,” he stated, with a resigned yet emotional expression.