crime

2 Japan Post employees arrested for burning neck, forcing dirty socks into mouth of coworker

25 Comments

Two Japan Post employees in Osaka have been arrested on charges of purposely inflicting injuries on a younger coworker in a suspected ongoing corporate bullying case, police said.

Hideki Fukui, 42, and Nariaki Takaoka, 52, both senior employees at Japan Post, are accused of burning the neck of a coworker in his 20s using a barbecue tong and forcing dirty socks into his mouth at a company party last March, Fuji TV reported.

According to police, the incident took place at a barbecue restaurant in Osaka. Japan Post’s Tennoji branch employees had rented the restaurant for the evening for a private party. There were approximately 20 staff members present at the party, police said.

The two arrested men attached a heated tong to the neck of their younger employee, after which they forced a pair of socks that belonged to another employee present at the party, into his mouth.

The man filed a complaint with the police after the incident, stating that he had been regularly bullied at his workplace, including being sprayed with insecticide, being forced to smell people’s socks at the office and being put in a headlock on a number of occasions.

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25 Comments
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This is inexcusable. Period. Nobody should have to endure this crap in school, at work, anywhere. It's bullying and it's abuse. The assaulters should be sent to prison.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

burning the neck of a coworker in his 20s using a barbecue tong and forcing dirty socks into his mouth at a company party last March, Fuji TV reported.

Sounds like a fun party!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Third possibility:

The two guys are bullying sadists and the 20 coworkers don’t want to be on the receiving end of their sadism so they keep their eyes averted and their mouths shut, just like they’re supposed to.

Apply knowledge of Japan’s “unique’ kohai/sempai system.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

To call this bullying minimizes what it actually is, which is assault. If the perpetrators had done this to a stranger on the street it would be called assault and that's what it should be called here.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This happens all the time.

However most will never report.

The poor guy is now blacklisted and will likely be unemployed for rest of his life.

Settlements in Japan is very low, so he essentially sacrificed most of his future.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"The burning incident makes it a crime that the police can deal with."

I think the dirty socks being forced into his mouth, being sprayed with insecticide and being put into a headlock are also crimes that the prison guards can deal with after they are sentenced.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

that should read "overgrown children" bullying junior staff. Two kids in their 40s and 50s doing this... they sound awesome

1 ( +1 / -0 )

These 2 blokes probably thought 'it was only banter'. We have the same in the West; insensitive, intellectually limited neanderthals who don't know the difference between playful banter & bullying/humiliation.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Assault. They should all be sacked and, hopefully, sent to prison for these disgusting crimes. I's like to know what the senior management in the work place was doing when the assaults and bullying was going on.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Utterly and completely unacceptable. Hands down. Power harassment? No! This was human on human group abuse in the most in the upmost and most extreme. Most likely alcohol fulled and driven as well. I hope this will not be swept under the rug as so many cases like this are in this country. Maybe this case will bring in to play new protection laws on to the books. But I have to remind myself this Nihon and change comes slower than a Three Toed Sloth fresh out of the womb of its Mother Sloth.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Can only imagine what the general working conditions and office life is like at Japan Post.  My guess this is tip of the iceberg.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Often there are understandable reasons why company seniors get frustrated with junior employees. Perhaps the victim in this case was lazy or disruptive in some way and drove his superiors mad. On the other hand, if that were the case I doubt he would have taken it to the police. Either way this sort of abuse is absolutely inexcusable and I'm glad he took it to the police. I hope they get dealt a good lesson and that other corporate bullies take note.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

What in the world is with this behavior? Very mental IMO. I hope they're sent to prison where the inmates know of their crime and do the same to them.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Sometimes the sempai kohai thing works, and like this case sometimes it brings out the very worst. Personally think the whole thing needs questioning. Where else in the world are you conditioned to take and obey orders from idiots just because they are older than you? You need hierarchies of competence as the goal, or things go sideways real fast! Dirty socks in the mouth humiliation is a fine example of overgrown children in power. Lovely stuff.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

C'mooon!!! to act like that is Japan a society of adults that have never passed the behavior of teenagers ???

I know by experience that many Japanese women can't face real meaningful conversations with their lover, but it's so depressing to see such action from supposedly "adult" men. I love that country, but more I read and more I experience life there less I want to live there, I guess I will only spend long vacations there despite I was so looking forward to one day be able to live there...

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

And, what penalties will these senior employees face? A public apology and possibly a pay cut for a couple of months? However, they should be facing charges of common assault and looking at jail time for it, but not in Japan!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Well "attached the tong to his neck" would mean the tong was placed against his skin causing the burn. If the guy was a slacker their are many other ways of correcting his slacker ways. This is just two senior employees pushing their weight around. These two men should publicly apologize, be demoted and transferred to a smaller office and made to pay restitution to the employee.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

There were approximately 20 staff members present at the party,

And nobody said or did anything? Shame on them as well.

12 ( +12 / -0 )

Corporate bullying has to stop. I think adult bullying gets way less attention than childhood bullying because they expect adults to be able to stand up for themselves, but that's not always the case. Sometimes you have to tolerate being bullied to be accepted, AKA hazing which is even more wrong. I've had classmates who are in the workforce who get bullied and pushed around and its ruining their lives. I just wish that the poor buy won't repeat that same stuff when he becomes the senior.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

This is power harassment, the term for managers ( or ones with senior positions) bullying others.  There is no excuse for what they reportedly did. 

Please children don't copy these smegheads, just be totally appalled!

12 ( +12 / -0 )

I think they'll probably pay him off so the charges are dropped. And maybe they should transfer him to a different office.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I wonder what they mean by "attached the tong to his neck"

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Good on you for taking this to the police, mate.

The burning incident makes it a crime that the police can deal with.

24 ( +25 / -1 )

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