A police sergeant in Osaka has resigned his post after he was reprimanded for forcing subordinates to binge on 15 hamburgers at a time to "toughen them up".
The unidentified traffic sergeant, 40, stepped down from his position on Dec 25, the mass-circulation newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun said.
He repeatedly ordered four younger officers to, in one sitting, stuff themselves with bulk meals such as 15 hamburgers, 15 donuts, four large-sized cups of instant fried noodles, or 3-4 liters of coffee-flavored milk, the report said.
"After finding they were not working hard enough, I did it in order to toughen them up," the unnamed sergeant was quoted as telling investigators of the Osaka prefectural police headquarters.
The younger officers, in their 20s and 30s and assigned to two community police stations, were forced to binge on the meals when the sergeant visited them at work over a period of 10 times since early 2010, the report said.
He ordered the young policemen to buy the food and drink themselves out of their own pockets, and consume it inside their tiny "koban (police box)" stations as he watched.
© Japan Today
52 Comments
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dbsaiya
And we wonder why there is bullying in the schools? Adults and authority figures provide the examples don't we? Amazing that these junior cops couldn't stand up to this jerk, they're going to have a hard time going up against a chimp. Eating while they should have been patrolling, negligence of duty. Also, instead of letting this jerk resign, they should have fired him. No severance pay out...
John Andresen
Japan never disappoints in being a source of bizarre behavior and news.
Cricky
"*He ordered the young policemen to buy the food and drink themselves out of their own pockets, and consume it inside their tiny “koban (police box)” stations as he watched." Nothing creepy about this at all?
sillygirl
Name and shame the heartless bully. The bullying just goes on and on. No wonder the young are interested in the adult world, they have been putting up with bullying their whole lives.
drakedogma
In America, we call that Lunch
SimondB
I'd imagine eating copious amounts of hamburgers and donuts is more likely to soften you up then harden you up. Re-reading this article I can't but help want to meet this "sergeant" and say to him: You Twat!
lincolnman
And therein lies the true reason why we continue to see acts of brutality throughout Japanese society - the Japanese have deluded themselves to culturally think that physically punishing someone strengthens their character - when in reality, within each Japanese runs a deep seated streak of cruelty. Mostly they are able to keep it buried, but over time it emerges. Individually, it results in acts of cruelty such as this. On a broader scale, it results in the Imperial Japan of the first part of the 20th century. I like Japanese people and chose to live here in Japan, but I understand this defect that infects their society.
While China and Korea criticize Japan over it's past history for merely domestic political reasons and to deflect criticism of their own government shortfalls, both felt firsthand the results of this trait, with tragic consequences (POWs held by the Japanese during the war did also) and a small part of me says that while 90% of their complaining is purely political, we should take heed to the remaining 10%...........
StormR
Woman having her pay docked for having tattoos, policeman being forced to eat 15 burgers, WTF ??
This place really has gone stalk raving mad.
No where in the real world would these events happen, what is going on here?
CrazyJoe
Every cock (cop) crows on his own dunghill. Grow up!
Sugar Bowl
I often struggle to understand how Japan lost the second world war with such ingenious ideas on how to make people tough. Deny them water, encourage banzai charges, and force feed them hamburgers like a foie gras goose!
Mariam Tebourbi
I assume those burgers were from McDonalds/Burger King etc..., the doughnuts from Mister Donuts. All junk food. Did he really think these foods were healthy enough to toughen them up??
mito
Huh, I had to check the calendar to make sure it was Feb 1st, and not April 1st. You can't make this stuff up.
Slamdunk
A lb of junk food doesn't translate into a lb of muscle. Unfortunately Chief...
I say eat 15 burgers. Take an hour nap then do 100 push up and run 10 laps should do the trick.
Eric Mueller
WTF .. so eating like an American is going to make them tough like American cops?
nath
What is this, a Koban frat house? How dumb is this guy? I guess now we know where the police budget is going... where's the beef?!
nath
Talk about a dangerous diet - what idiot thought that one up ?!! Honestly !!!
HonestDictator
Wow, so he just threw exercise right out the window huh? Binge eating junk food will most certainly toughen up your jaw muscles, But soften the stomach muscles and increase your hardening arteries quite a bit. In what world did this man think that this would be a good idea!?
Slamdunk
It should be Boot camp training not SUMO training.
yoshisan88
This is interesting. According to another Japanese news web site the officer was extorting hamburgers from his fellow officers. He himself also did also eat the food, too. His weight was reported to have grown from 73kg (161lbs) to 88kg (194lbs). http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/02/01/osaka-police-sergeant-resigns-after-extorting-hamburgers-from-officers/
KnowBetter
I know that in Osaka they take their food very serious, but seriously this sergeant was clearly mental. How does one equate stuffing themselves to the point of exploding as being tough?! Was this sergeant a fatty that wanted his skinny men to be 'tough' in the sense of being able to take a fall down a flight of stairs and bounce back because of the bulk (fattyairbag)?
pana3nic
Think about the cost of the food, (making money is kinda a big thing in Osaka, im told) so each burger is 400yen? times 15, is about 6,000yen, about $50 bucks. who pays for that? thats part of the bullying, making the young police guy lose some money, unless, they get them delivered FOR FREE. maybe there are staff at McD who can leak the info, if there is a prearranged setup to send free food to the local Koban. oh, leaking info isa problem after this new secrecy law has been passed. then why are we seeing this bullying police story in JapanToday.com? what makes this NOT secret? a police captain being reprimanded for force feeding his staff is not important to be a "secret" my point is, who determines what news items are too hot to post or print?
Ex-Expat
I've seen teachers do this to elementary students at lunch, back in my teaching days. It was done as a disciplinary measure. Forcing someone to eat until they cry is still considered a classic punishment in some regions, I take it.
At least this character got "busted". There's no telling what other things are happening that the public will never hear of.
cloa513
By "not working hard enough" he really meant not fat and slow and incompetent enough. Was the senior officer a good role model?
Fukuppy
Very worrying. This extreme carb-rush would make these officers sluggish and very tired. They would be in no fit state to handle anything for the rest of their shift and probably have to call in sick for a day or two afterwards. Bizarre!
FizzBit
Seems the translation might be wrong, and the officer wanted to "bulk" them up.
sangetsu03
I wish those who trained me had fed me burgers instead of making me chase teenage dope dealers through the pitbull-infested Liberty City backyards. I was told that the dope dealers lived on cheetos and koolaid, and quickly tired out after running for only a few moments, but even the short ones could get over a 6 foot fence in only a second. I wonder why Japanese police need to be "toughened up", perhaps they are finally going to crack down on those bicycle seat thieves.
sf2k
Say no
David Foley
Is this the plot line of a new Police Academy movie! All right! Agent Mahoney is reassigned to a Japanese koban and teaches the guys how American cops train. I've been waiting for a new installment from the series!
WilliB
That is just so stupid on so many levels. I am glad this idiot resigned.
nath
Toughen them up? Shoud`ve given them mandatory fitness training. Forced-eating, what a joke
Alex Einz
good for economy
slumdog
Toughen them up by making them possible dead?
Glad he resigned. Wish he was never hired though. If this was how he treated his own men, I hate to think how he treated suspects.
Triumvere
"Toughen them up" or "fatten them up"?
Where'd they get the burgers, anyway? Cause if they got them from Lotteria, they're so thin that they might as well be 1/3 of a burger... so that's only like 5 real burgers, or so.
StormR
Damn did this cop get it wrong, it's donuts not burgers that make cops tough.
BNlightened
Somehow, I can see this incident spawning a great commercial for Burger King's all-the-Whoppers-you-can-eat "Bi-king" campaign!
(Says the gruff police sergeant to his junior officers): "What a disgrace! What laziness! I know how to toughen you weaklings up...Burger King!"
(Says his hapless subordinates): "Have It Your Way, sir!" (cue BK theme song...)
LBW2010
I read this article in Japanese first, and then saw a bad translation / different version of it somewhere. The other article said that the sergeant "forced his juniors to buy him food." The Japanese article definitely said the officer "forced his juniors to eat food."
Could be both things happened.
Serrano
"Police officers forced to eat 15 burgers at a time to toughen them up"
Hee hee!
nath
Another police trained nut job.
Bear27840
Why is his name being hidden for a crime that should have had him in prison in stead of just resigning?
tallpinedog
Wait! MOS Burger or McDonalds?
FizzBit
Well, if I ate 15 Mos Burgers, I'd throw them up. I'm gonna open a burger/donut chain next to Kobans now.
sanglura
"Police officers forced to eat 15 burgers at a time to toughen them up" I think the officer just made up the thoughen part to avoid xtra Punishment
canadianbento
We all know there are "fruit cakes" in the World, but this guy takes the top prize.
nath
Depends where the burgers were from. Freshness would be good for them!
25psot
In military this officer would be promoted to high rank position for his ability to toughen others .
Jimizo
So the best way to toughen up is to stuff yourself with junk food? I remember old jokes about answers on the entrance examination for police officers in the UK such as: What would you do if you encountered a ferocious dog with rabies? Answer: I'd protect all citizens no matter what their religious affiliation. Perhaps there is some truth in these jokes for Osaka's finest too.
budgie
Force-feeding burgers? How about some exercise?
The majority of Japanese police officers I've encountered are flat-footed little pencil pushers. No wonder the Yakuza aren't afraid of them. The police agency should dispense with the stringent public exams, designed to attract bookworms and put better physical fitness requirements higher up the list.,
TrevorPeace1
Hey, canadianbento, there's nothing wrong with a good fruit cake, especially one from my grandmother's recipe! Go gently, here, I'm choking on the last piece, reading this story and all the comments. ;)
smithinjapan
When you have abuse such as this, and by police for that matter, is it really all that surprising that society allows bullying at pretty much every level? You hear about young police officers killing themselves from time to time, and this would be the kind of reason why. Toughen them up? I really don't think so.
ssenipah
pretty sad the younger "men" lacked the gonads to just say no. It really is monkey see monkey do in the cops. This sergeant would have learnt this from someone.