Kasuhara: Customer Misbehavior in Japan

Abstract

Using information from news articles, official documents, and documents issued by agencies tasked with tackling the issue, this article aims to study “customer harassment,” a phenomenon also known in Japanese as “Kasuhara” that occurs in Japanese society. The study focuses on two issues: (1) anecdotal backgrounds that led to the realization of the issue in Japanese society; and (2) the Japanese government’s approach to resolving the issue. Results reveal that the attempt to raise social awareness of this “customer harassment” issue was originated by efforts made on the part of private agencies to bring the issue to the attention of the mass media and to deliver a petition calling for the government to resolve the issue. In response, however, the government fell short of expectations, being unable to go beyond drafting an implementation guideline for related enforcement agencies.