Even in Japan, the Customer is Not Always Right

So-called "monster customers" now routinely engage in "customer harassment" in a country known for its exemplary customer service.

May 06, 2024

Lately, it seems that the phenomenon of customer harassment has gotten out of hand in a land of extreme congeniality - *especially in the relationship between service providers and their clients* (image sourced from Photo AC)

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What’s new: Although it is difficult to imagine in a country known for its exemplary customer service, where all levels of employees seem to bend over backwards to appease their clients, customer harassment, called kasutama harasumento (カスタマーハラスメント) or simply kasuhara (カスハラ) in Japanese, in which customers assault, threaten, verbally abuse, or make unreasonable demands of company employees, has become a social problem in recent years. The situation has reached the point where major corporations in the service industry, such as JR East, the largest of Japan's seven passenger railroads, as well as local governments, have developed and recently implemented new official policies to combat the problem or at least set expectations.

Some major businesses, such as JR East, are not waiting for national regulations to codify how to deal with the growing problem of customer harassment (image sourced from Photo AC)

Fun fact: Although the Japanese language has direct translations in Kanji characters, gairaigo (外来語) or foreign loan words are often used to describe customer harassment and many other forms of harassment. Sometimes there just is not a perfect Japanese equivalent for a new concept or item. Gairaigo allows the Japanese to borrow a word that already exists in another language. It can accelerate adoption. There is also an element of conveying a sense of being modern or trendy, especially for words related to technology or fashion. English loan words, in particular, have become useful for clear communication.

The abbreviated versions of such words, such as kasuhara, are, however, often indecipherable to English speakers who are unfamiliar with the tendency to shorten such phrases in Japanese. Classic examples include the following:

Sexual harassment, which is called sekushuaru harasumento (セクシュアルハラスメント), is often shortened to sekuhara (セクハラ) in Japanese.
Power harassment or pawā harasumento (パワーハラスメント) is commonly abbreviated as pawahara (パワハラ).
Moral harassment is moraru harasumento (モラルハラスメント), but the term is also trimmed to morahara (モラハラ). It is used to describe instances of group bullying in the workplace. Unlike power harassment, which typically involves the harassment of a subordinate by a superior, moral harassment is used to describe trouble among peers or co-workers at work. It often involves insults, neglect, bad language, excessive prying into one's personal life, and peer-to-peer surveillance that denigrates one's character.

The Japanese language now includes many variants of terms used to describe harassment (image sourced from Photo AC)

Maternity harassment is mataniti harasumento (マタニティハラスメント). It is often abbreviated simply as matahara（マタハラ）. This word refers to harassment of female workers and concerns pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. Recently, the related term paternity harassment or pataniti harasumento (パタニティハラスメント) or patahara （パタハラ） has come into vogue as more new fathers take advantage of company policies that provide paid time off when a baby is born. Sometimes their peers are reluctant to cover for them during this absence.
Although somewhat on the fringe, alcohol harassment, arukoru harasumento (アルコールハラスメント) or simply aruhara （アルハラ）, refers to provocation, annoyance, and human rights violations related to alcohol consumption. Specifically, and closely related to power harassment, it involves forcing someone to drink - especially to binge-drink alcoholic beverages in large quantities and to encourage intentional drunkenness.

The general term iyagarase (嫌がらせ), which means "to do something spiteful" or "to bully someone," covers most situations of harassment. Often used for schoolyard bullying, the word ijime (いじめ) can be used in other contexts where bullying is involved.

While not quite as loaded as the American term "Karen," which is widely considered derogatory, racist, sexist, and ageist, in Japan you may hear the word kurema (クレーマー), which means chronic complainer in Japanese. It refers to someone who complains excessively, often unreasonably. In the same vein, it is common to refer to someone as a monsuta kasutama (モンスターカスタマー) , which means "monster customer," or monsuta kurema (モンスタークレーマー), that translates to “monster claimant,” when describing a person who is rude and overly demanding to customer service representatives. Its counterpart, morahara obasan (モラハラおばさん), is a middle-aged woman who bullies or belittles others.

*Gairaigo* or foreign loan words are sometimes considered more appropriate to describe various types of harassment (image sourced from Photo AC)

Why it matters: While there is still no nationally recognized definition of customer harassment in Japan, some companies have developed their own interpretations. According to JR East, the definition of harassment includes physical or mental attacks (assault, injury, threats, slander, defamation, insults, verbal abuse), intimidating or coercive language or behavior, continuous and persistent language or behavior, demands to get down on one's knees, restrictive behavior (refusal to leave, sitting, confinement), discriminatory language or behavior, sexual language or behavior, as well as posting personal information about employees on social media (publication of photos, audio, and video), exchange of goods without justifiable reason, demands for monetary compensation, and demands for apology.

Companies like JR East are proactively addressing the situation by establishing codes of conduct for their employees (image sourced from Photo AC)

The company has advised its 70,000 employees not to respond to customers in the event of harassment, and if the harassment is deemed malicious, the company will consult with the police or a lawyer before taking action.

"In order to continuously provide safe and high-quality services to our customers, we will sincerely respond to their opinions and requests, and at the same time, we will demonstrate both inside and outside the company that we will take a firm stance against customer harassment.” - JR East's Official Policy on Customer Harassment

JR East has been prompted to take measures to protect the dignity of its employees and ensure a safe and comfortable work environment. They provide extensive training to their employees on how to deal with unruly customers.

Witnessing episodes of customer harassment can seem out of place in a country where people rely on indirect interaction (image sourced from Photo AC)

What they're saying: While the phenomenon of customer harassment affects a wide range of industries, service workers are particularly vulnerable.

"I grew up (in the business world) being harshly reprimanded by customers...I was often told, 'You're an idiot! You're incompetent.'" - Confession of a man in his 40s who used to work for a large IT company but started his own consulting firm 5 years ago

While this may not be a positive outcome, this man believes that he has matured as a result of being severely reprimanded by his bosses and clients for his mistakes, and that it is now in the best interest of others for him to point out deficiencies when, for example, he visits a restaurant as a customer.

"I have exercised my own sense of justice. If I feel that the amount of side dishes in a restaurant is not enough, I yell at the waiter to 'make it again.' At the most, I probably have about 10 such 'scolding' sessions a year.” - Once wronged, recently empowered Japanese consultant in his 40s

To an outside observer and student of Japanese culture, witnessing such interactions, while good theater, appears out of place in a country where people rely on indirect interaction-especially when it comes to hurling insults and direct criticism.

Nearly half of the members of major trade unions have reported being the victim of customer harassment (image sourced from Photo AC)

By the numbers: In March 2024, UA Zensen, an association of trade unions, conducted an internet survey among its members in the service sector to investigate the reality of harassment. According to the survey, when asked if they had been victims of harassment in the past two years, 46.8% said they had.

When asked about the most memorable customer harassment, 39.8% said "verbal abuse," 14.7% said "threats and intimidation," 13.8% said "repeated complaints of the same nature over and over again," and 11.1% said "long hours of detention."

When asked about the specific reasons for customer harassment, 26.7% said "venting or citing customer dissatisfaction," 19.3% said "mistakes in customer service or service delivery," and 15.1% said "consumer misunderstanding," with a notable number of responses indicating that the cause was on the customer's side.

Japanese culture emphasizes indirect communication and maintaining harmony within the group (image sourced from Photo AC)

Commentary: Having worked for nearly three decades on both sides of the Pacific in a variety of roles for a U.S. medical device manufacturer, I had a lot of experience dealing with customers who were not satisfied with quality assurance. Most of the devices for which I had front-line responsibility in sales, marketing and management positions are used in both the acute and chronic care market segments. They are used to collect various types of bodily waste, including feces and urine. As a result, almost all patients / end users would go to extraordinary lengths to conceal the fact that they had to wear such products. If there was a leak, the user would not only have to deal with the immediate cleanup, but they would sometimes be embarrassed to the point of being confined at home for a period of time, or in some cases, forever. So, if something went wrong in the hospital, we would hear about it from healthcare professionals, but if the expectations of the users in the chronic care community (at home) were not met, then individual consumers would voice their displeasure.

In the business I was in the Japanese market has historically been the most challenging in terms of meeting customer expectations. Complaint rates are an order of magnitude higher in Japan than in other global markets.

When I was a product manager in the U.S, I spoke with many consumers who were eager to voice their complaints to someone in management. However, when I performed the same role in Japan and then represented the company as a more senior executive, both the frequency and the stakes were higher. Some sales representatives in Japan were sometimes ordered to come to a consumer's home and forced to kneel for an extended period while apologizing profusely and being verbally abused. In some extreme cases, our sales associates were literally locked in a small room until the customer calmed down and accepted our apologies. It is also worth noting that often times the product would work effectively as intended, but the consumer would apply it incorrectly, which could cause a leak.

While no one likes to be scolded, Japanese culture often dictates that the person being scolded simply listen quietly without speaking back (image sourced from Photo AC)

Japanese culture emphasizes indirect communication and maintaining harmony within the group. This can lead to a situation where someone who is being scolded may appear to take it quietly. Openly criticizing someone can be seen as disruptive to group harmony. Therefore, a scolding might be more subtle, with hints and sighs, rather than direct confrontation. Being scolded can bring shame to the person being scolded, and remaining silent may be a way to avoid further embarrassment and "save face" for both parties. The scolded person may feel a strong sense of responsibility for the situation. Thus, quiet acceptance can be seen as taking responsibility for a mistake.

Nevertheless, it seems that something has changed - perhaps gradually - to cause higher levels of customer harassment in Japan. It is probably not the result of a single factor. It may be related to the fact that Japan has a culture of long hours and high expectations for employees. This stress can sometimes spill over into interactions with customers, leading to frustration and short tempers. Traditionally, Japanese customer service has emphasized politeness and respect for the customer. However, some customers may misinterpret this as a sign of weakness and become more demanding or even aggressive. The rise of online interactions and phone calls can create a sense of anonymity for customers, making them feel less accountable for their behavior. It is also possible that there has not necessarily been an increase in customer harassment, but rather a growing awareness of the issue due to media coverage.

There is still no legal definition of customer harassment in Japan (image sourced from Photo AC)

What's next: In 2006, sexual harassment was made a legal offense, and in 2019, the steps that employers must take as necessary measures to respond appropriately to employees' requests related to power harassment were codified. However, there is still no legal definition of customer harassment, and employers are not required to take measures to prevent it.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government aims to submit the nation's first "Harassment Prevention Ordinance." Prior to that, a proposal to define customer harassment and provide examples of specific behaviors was approved at a Tokyo Metropolitan Government subcommittee meeting attended by experts and others on April 22, 2024. At the subcommittee meeting, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government proposed that the ordinance define customer harassment as “illegal acts such as assault or threats against a worker, or unreasonable acts such as abusive language or excessive demands without justifiable reason that harm the working environment,” because, unlike power harassment and sexual harassment, there is no legal definition.

This may be easier said than done.

"Even if the report defines the problem, unlike power harassment and sexual harassment, it may not always be seen as an issue...We cannot be sure that it applies to all types of businesses because the circumstances in which they interact with customers vary depending on the type of business, whether it is in an urban or suburban area, and so on...The challenge will be to customize countermeasure policies at each company or store based on this ordinance. The first step in countermeasures is to make people aware of the term kasuhara. This can be done by issuing a regulation.” - Professor Hiromi Ikeuchi, Department of Sociology, Kansai University

In the absence of official legislation, anger management courses have sprung up to teach consumers how to control their feelings of anger. According to the organizers, many participants have requested the course to change their own inability to stop harassing various service providers.

It seems that the phenomenon of customer harassment is becoming more widespread in Japan (image sourced from Photo AC)

What do you think? Is customer harassment getting out of hand in Japan? If so, what should be done about it? All answers are completely anonymous, even to the author.