Self-checkout registers are supposed to be a win-win. Shoppers can quickly pay for their items and be on their way, and store staff can focus on tasks that can’t be left for customers to handle themselves. However, the potential drawback is that some shoppers, either by accident or on purpose, might not properly complete their self-checkout transactions. Such a situation recently occurred in the late-night hours at a convenience store in Hokkaido Prefecture, leading to a violent altercation with a foreign tourist.
At around 1:40 a.m. on January 27, a convenience store clerk in the city of Sapporo’s Kita Ward noticed that a customer using a self-checkout register had rung up his purchases, paid for them, and then taken a plastic bag from the rack next to the terminal. However, the bags aren’t free, and customers wanting to use them have to include the total number they’re taking during the self-checkout procedure, with each bag costing 3 yen.
It’s unclear whether the customer, later identified as a UK national tourist, intentionally avoided paying for the bags, or whether he was unaware that they weren’t free to use. Either way, though, customers are supposed to pay for them, so a 48-year-old clerk who was working a shift at the store followed the customer out to the street and called out to him to address the situation. At some point in the interaction, the clerk says the other man struck him, opening a cut near his left eye.
The British man then left the scene, but the clerk contacted the police, who were able to locate the man and placed him under arrest on suspicion of assault. Following his arrest, the man denied intentionally striking the clerk, saying “We were arguing. I didn’t strike him, but when I pushed him away from me, my hand probably hit him.”
The exact course of the conversation the two engaged in prior to things turning violent is unclear, as is whether the men could understand the language the other was speaking. Nevertheless, the incident highlights some important things to remember when traveling in Japan.
First, the chances of a convenience store clerk trying to shake you down for extra money that you don’t actually have to pay are low enough as to be effectively nonexistent, and even if one of them were running such a scam, it’s a safe bet that they’d be asking for more than 3 yen. But what if the clerk hadn’t just asked the man to pay for the bag, and immediately said he was going to call the police? That’s all the more reason to remain calm.
Generally, level-headed people in Japan realize that the language barrier and differing social norms can sometimes lead to foreign visitors inadvertently breaking the rules, but in a case like this where there’s no malicious intent or damage caused beyond three yen, the cops aren’t going to put you in handcuffs and spend all night interrogating you…provided, of course, that you haven’t escalated the situation by doing something, like, causing personal injury to someone. If you let yourself get worked up enough, though, to the point where you’re professing your innocent by saying that you didn’t hit anybody, it was just your hand that did the damage, the situation is going to end badly for you, so dealing with the situation without even shoving anybody is probably the best course of action.
Of course, if the man knowingly stole the bag, the method for avoiding the altercation becomes even simpler: pay for what you’re supposed to pay for. In general, Japan is pretty accommodating of honest mistakes, especially from foreign tourists, but shoplifting and assault, even relatively minor instances, are things the locals are unlikely to give anyone a pass for.
Source: Hokkaido News Hub via Hachima Kiko
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- How to use Japanese convenience store Lawson’s self-checkout terminals
-- It’s now legal to buy beer and cigarettes at self-checkout registers in Japan
-- Foreign shop clerk and Japanese customer fail to communicate because of Japanese language quirk
© SoraNews24
33 Comments
Login to comment
DanteKH
Would be interesting to hear the exact and true story on what exactly made that British guy snap. Usually it takes a lot of drama until one cannot help hymself and gets to physical.
Albert
@DanteHK
Based on what. It is still an individual person who reacts stupid.
If you want true story than this site is not the place to be.
Mr Kipling
Obviously DanteKH has never been to the UK, never met anyone from the UK or read any news from the UK.
That "English gentleman" image is false. The UK is probably the most violent place in Europe.
sakurasuki
It's easier to deal when cashier being involved instead self check out one. With cashier, those plastic won't come out at all, unless customer agree pay 3 yen. That also happen to self pouring coffee. Self operation can inflicted mistake either in purpose or not.
https://japantoday.com/category/crime/man-arrested-for-buying-cup-meant-for-%C2%A5100-coffee-but-pouring-%C2%A5200-latte-into-it
factchecker
How many times do we read here about entitled Japanese man children doing the exact same thing. Almost daily.
ian
What an idiot
Japantime
Luckily the British guy didn’t have a knife. It would have been a lot worse. I don’t understand tourists complaining about paying for the bag. In some countries it is much more expensive than 3 yen. I guess foreign tourists believe they are better than a mere convenience store clerk.
sakurasuki
Since he's from UK no excuse for him of not knowing plastic bag charges, it cost 10p in UK which equal to 20 yen.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers-responsibilities
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46689684
garypen
At 1:40am, there's a reasonable chance the customer had already been drinking, and was at the conbini to purchase more beer. chuhai, sake, etc. Alcohol can make some people a bit feisty, who otherwise wouldn't be when sober. Or, he's just an idiot.
My question is: why did the clerk wait until the customer had already left the store to confront him? Why not politely point out the bag charge right away at the checkout? He must have been watching, in order for him to know he didn't pay for the bag.
BB
I'm always amazed to see stories like this - such drama at 1:40am in the cold of Sapporo... A fresh reminder that I'm as domesticated as a lap dog on the rug by the fireplace (from 9pm on).
stormcrow
What?! 3 YEN?! Bloody HELL!!!
lostrune2
It's 3 yen - don't lose your life over it
Just count it as shrink
Fighto!
There is never any excuse for violence against a store clerk. Those who work at convenience stores - a low-paid job - should not have to put up with this.
¥1 million fine, ¥1 million in damages to the clerk (plus any medical expenses and money lost due to not working), and a 10 year Japan entry ban sounds appropriate for this British thug.
Jayel
I'm British just like the assailant. People pay for plastic bags in the UK as well. He was stealing and committed assault. Throw him in jail I say and let him stew in the Japanese penal system until he can act like an adult who belongs in society.
kochikame
Let's be careful writing the correct English...
In the sentence [If you want true story than this site is not the place to be.],
Instead of [than], the correct would be [then].
Some dude
That "English gentleman" image is false. The UK is probably the most violent place in Europe.
Depends where you go, how good your common sense is, and how you act. I spent two weeks there at the end of last year and ran into no trouble whatsoever.
Wasabi
I disagree here, the self-checkout is only here to make the client do the work for free.
WA4TKG
It’s a Brit, that’s all need be said
WoodyLee
The Clerk is in the wrong here, should have never followed the customer out of the store and just call who ever he wishes to call.
He may have tried to take the bag back or restrain the customer over 3 yen and that's when he was pushed away.
WoodyLee
Bags Use to be FREE the clerk should have kept that in mind.
wallace
The clerk made an unnecessary fuss over a ¥3 bag.
WoodyLee
These Bags cost 15 to 20 yen back home .
WoodyLee
10 cents to be exact.
Sanjinosebleed
Lager lout deserves everything he gets!
1:40am…obviously drunk and obnoxious and probably used to intimidating people.
One of the great things about Japan is how hard they crack down on violence. Should be more of it in western countries Like the UK!
WoodyLee
""What?! 3 YEN?! Bloody HELL!!!""
Unbelievable plus the clerk went outside the store confronting the customer, Bloody Hell, LOL.
P
What do you mean? How would a tourist know that? And it's the clerk's job to ensure the store gets paid for what it needs to get paid for.
Cost shouldn't matter. When you use the self-register it asks you if you need a bag so you can scan the bar code, so there is no excuse for the tourist. Someone suggested he was probably drunk, which is possible and would help explain, but still no excuse.
The weird part is the clerk following the client all the way outside. There isn't enough context provided, but what has more likely happened, is that he called on the customer "okyaku-san, okyaku-san" and the foreigner obviously did not notice so the clerk went after him.
Seigi
Entitled people flock Japan these days, especially when they are from developed countries.
dmhondz
Most self checkout registers have English language options, perhaps he did not use that and did not realize the bags are not free. If not familiar, one would really think they are free for taking given that it is logical that you will need a bag when you buy items from the store.
Whether 3yen or 3000yen, Japanese are not known to make adjustments for ones ignorance. They will implement rules and policies by the book, no adjustments. Nevertheless, violence is never justified.
ian
Yeah should have made a fuss only when he stole a more expensive item or pointed a gun at his head
SomeWeeb
Bags should at least be your wage if you self checkout. You saved them 15 minutes of wages, whatever that is in Japan courtesy clerk wages. Sounds chincy.
ian
He did. Used to be. Now isn't.
bo
Violent UKcomes to peaceful Japan . The UK is now an unknown territory with violence and lack of manners and respect as the norm . Its sad to see the way the country has gone and worse to see these ill mannered louts travelling the world .
Peter Webber
Amazing how any comment could lean at all towards justifying why the Brit would hit the clerk. Send him back to the UK on the next available plane at his own expense. Maybe it's ok in his country.