Video of Japan workers cleaning bullet trains in seven minutes goes viral

When a Japanese bullet train makes its final stop, workers have precisely seven minutes to clean the carriages before the next round of passengers board.

Each 100-seat carriage is covered by one worker, who wipes down food trays, clears the seats and sweeps the floor.

The workers have 12 seconds to clean each row of seats.

According to Quartz magazine, the video was recorded by American journalist Charli James, and captures how efficient Japanese workers are and how much pride they take in their jobs.

"I wanted to capture how they work really hard to make sure that the train is nice for people to ride," said James.

And in an unusual display of diligence unseen in western civilisation, when the cleaners finish their work, they take a bow. "It was really interesting to me that, even though is a cleaning job, they still take a lot of pride in their work," said James.

The cleaning crew's manager was quizzed on the bow and it was reported she experienced a Lost in Translation moment where the question was misunderstood. The manager seemed to think "why wouldn't they?"

See also: Fastest, highest, longest: The world's record-breaking train journeys