At least 176 harassment cases reported at Japan fire stations in FY2023

Japan's fire service is more than 99% male. It is a boys club.

Japan has recently confronted the reality of abuse, often within strictly hierarchical workplaces.

Harassments in Japanese workplace is that something that really new?

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01513/

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While at the same time Japanese firefighter complain about shortage, that just Japanese way in doing things.

Complain about shortage while keep doing harassments people who already inside

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Japan-immigration/Japan-s-foreign-firefighters-become-fixtures-in-local-communities

https://www.japan-press.co.jp/s/news/?id=1436

Japan's fire service is more than 99% male. It is a boys club.

If that’s true, most of this harassment must be male-on-male.

The article tells us that most of the cases involved bosses harassing subordinates. Most of the harassers were in their 50s. And most of the harassment occurred in offices.

Seriously Japan, WTF? It's 2025 already, aren't we done with abusing people whenever there's a chance?

""A total of 83.5 percent were cases of bosses harassing their subordinates""

And this is why you should always start your own business even it it is cleaning windows, or even scrubbing toilets.

Work with dignity and never Bow.

It would be nice to know how harassment is being defined here. A boss yelling at employees because of poor job performance is hardly a problem. If a firefighter makes a serious mistake a person can die. The stakes are high in this job. The fire department and police department have always been similar to military culture. Lives are at risk constantly.

There was also that recent article on here about DV. The article says ignoring someone is DV and criticizing someone is also DV.

There's no room for an abusive work or school culture, but don't broaden the definitions so that everything is abuse. This diminishes the real cases.

All those guys just hanging around waiting for something to happen. No wonder there are problems!

According to the latest survey, the majority, 145 cases, were attributed to bullying or abuse of power...

What do they expect in a society where bullying is ingrained in the culture, beginning in grade school, continuing through the workplace, and even into retirement where oyaji bully store clerks over trivial nonsense.

As soon as the bullied move up to some position of authority, they become the bullies. It's similar to child abuse victims becoming abusers themselves. It's a vicious circle.

The senpai/kohai dynamic certainly doesn't help.

@koiwaicoffee

Seriously Japan, WTF? It's 2025 already, aren't we done with abusing people whenever there's a chance?

As much as I want to agree with you (and I admit, I often find myself saying very similar things), when you look deep into it, harassment is hardly a problem specific to Japan. Many other supposedly developed nations report a similar amount or even more cases of workplace harassment than Japan does.

What do they expect in a society where bullying is ingrained in the culture

In which culture, pray tell, is bullying not ingrained

I have to say as we know the society is for both male and female meaning any place where have opportunities is alliable or both sex' it's just that people have to hold their utmost desires to the female sex around them!

When my son goes to public school in the future I will be ruffling feathers

As someone whose 5 kids have all gone through the public school system and who has taught at a high school for more than 30 years, I fear you’re going to cause your son more trouble than he’ll want to be burdened with. I grew up playing competitive hockey, it’s similar to Japan in that there is a seniority system by which younger players are shown the ropes by veteran players. This includes things like picking up pucks after practice. “I don’t have to pick up pucks” is the kind of attitude that will end up ostracizing someone who thinks they’re bigger or more important than the team.

Harassment also happens in all branches of the military. Physical and sexual cases have come to court.

Harassment also happens in all branches of the military. Physical and sexual cases have come to court.

Harassment happens everywhere

Geeter Mckluskie

Harassment also happens in all branches of the military. Physical and sexual cases have come to court.

Harassment happens everywhere

I didn't deny it, but this article is about Japan, so I will stick with that. There are all uniform branches with harassment.

This happens at volunteer fire brigades in the countryside too. Due to the lack of young people, in some places every male will have to join and be subjected to the bullying described in the article. It's another reason why young people leave the countryside and head to the city where they can live anonymous lives.

I got out of joining by moving the countryside in my late thirties but my impression is that bullying in fire brigade is much worse than in other community work which everyone has to do. Some of this bullying is also related to "fireman olympics" type sports events, which are taken far too seriously, and not to the actual work of fighting fires.

 this article is about Japan, so I will stick with that

It's in English and its readership is primarily foreign ex-pats...who often need to be reminded that their home nations are no better when it comes to things like harassment or bullying. Also, within Japan, harassment happens everywhere...on the street, in the home, in the office, in the military, in government, on these pages...anywhere and everywhere