A Japanese train company has issued an official apology after one of its trains failed to stick to the timetable -- by departing 20 seconds earlier than scheduled.

Supposed to depart at 9.44am

The incident happened on Tuesday, Nov. 14, on the Tokyo-area Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company’s Tsukuba Express line.

The line connects Akihabara in Tokyo with Tsukuba in Ibaraki Prefecture.

On weekday mornings a northbound train that leaves Minami Nagareyama Station at 9.44am 40 seconds departed at 9.44am 20 seconds -- 20 seconds earlier than it’s supposed to.

As a result of the over-early snafu, the Tsukuba Express management issued an official apology, posted to the company’s website on the day of the incident itself.

The statement reads:

On November 14, at approximately 9.44am., a northbound Metropolitan Intercity Railway Company (main office in Tokyo, Chiyoda Ward, President & CEO Koichi Yugi) train left Minami Nagareyama Station roughly 20 seconds earlier than the time indicated on the timetable. We deeply apologise for the severe inconvenience imposed upon our customers.

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Train arrives every four minutes

What's most amazing is that trains arrive every four minutes on the Tsukuba Express line in the morning.

However, the Japanese are known for their precision and extreme punctuality.

As noted in this piece on Rocketnews24, for some commuters to miss a train by 20 seconds through no fault of their own will result in waiting for the next one in four minutes, and due to miss transfers later on.

This means commuters might end up late for work or school by several minutes due to a snowballing effect.

Some Japanese commuters are also known to synchornise their watches according to the train schedule and timing, and plan their rail commutes so that they arrive at the platform just as the cars are pulling up.

A potential embarrassment for commuters

Several minutes late is not a big deal, but to the Japanese it’s still an inconvenience and a potential embarrassment for the people affected.

The Rocketnews24 piece also said that Japanese companies care so much about customer satisfaction that they are consistently looking at things from the end-user’s point of view.

As the piece was written by an expat in Japan, he noted that for Japanese companies "to be willing to offer a sincere apology even for understandable inconveniences is, really, one of the most beautiful parts of Japanese society, and one of my favorite things about living here".

Previously, dessert company staff in Japan gathered outside the building to personally apologise to the public for raising the ice cream price by 12 cents (10 yen):