Great, just give him more bosses to abuse…

A lot of people have a preconception of Japan as a highly rigid society, where everyone falls into line and withholds their inner feelings for honor and the sake of the public order. While that kind of stuff does happen, there are also many exceptions to the rule, and a lot of them can be found in Osaka. This is a city where some people forego bland Uniqlo earth tones for animal prints and the government commissions giant metal fists as public art.

It’s even a city where the longstanding concept of power harassment sometimes gets turned on its head. Rather than people in positions of authority abusing their power over subordinates, you might find that one feisty employee who instead lays into his superior.

This very thing happened on 9 September in Toyonaka City, Osaka Prefecture, and resulted in the suspension of a 53-year-old municipal employee, as well as his demotion from Senior Staff to Staff Official.

▼ Toyonaka is home to Osaka International Airport, where you could once find hidden cafeterias and sake machines.

According to the official announcement, the man was working in Toyonaka City’s Asset Management Department last June when his manager reprimanded him for making a gesture said to resemble a middle finger. The employee responded to this by shouting at his boss, “Don’t act all high and mighty with me!”

People reading that in Western countries probably won’t feel what he said was all that offensive. But, in a Japanese workplace, with its rigid rules of hierarchy that even dictate the way people speak with each other, it’s about on par with dropping several f-bombs in the face of your employer in a Western office.

An investigation into the incident, which was said to have disrupted the order of the workplace, also found that between March and May of last year, the employee spent a total of 115 hours on the Internet, browsing through unrelated shopping and food websites on his work laptop.

The employee denies any wrongdoing, saying those websites were work-related and his so-called “abusive language” was just normal communication in the Osakan dialect. It was that excuse that caught the attention of many readers online, who joked about Osaka’s stereotypical bluntness in general.

“Toyonaka is where the most Osaka people live.”
“What people in Osaka call ‘normal’ is strange in the rest of the world.”
“If that guy’s acting like that at 53, there’s no hope for him.”
“‘I’ll kill you, idiot!’ and ‘I’m gonna burn your family and bury the ashes!’ are greetings in Osaka.”
“Sounds like he’s just a connected guy.”
“I’m going to assume that manager is younger than him.”
“He’s not acting any worse than the President of the United States.”
“He should be demoted more for that lame excuse.”
“I hope he sues. This could be a fun court case.”

I’m wondering if he might sue, too. I’m going to play devil’s advocate here for a moment and say his excuses don’t sound that far-fetched. In my experience living in Osaka for many years, I often equate the way people speak to New York or New Jersey, in that it can sound both abusive and friendly at the same time.

One of the comments above alluded to this way of speaking that might be found in Osaka, but to give an English example, it’s like how someone might say, “Get your head out of your ass, and help me already!” and it doesn’t come across nearly as bad as the words objectively look in print.

This kind of talking also relies on the listener to be on the same wavelength for it to land right, though, and in this case, it seems like the manager was not accustomed to this person’s unique form of expressing himself. You could argue that kind of talk has no place in the office in the first place, but some might say it’s discriminating against his particular cultural background and freedom of expression.

▼ Sometimes, you’ve got to fight for your right to be casually offensive.

As for the Internet browsing, it’s strange that they had to dig back a year for some other kind of transgression. That aside, aren’t shopping websites relevant to the Asset Management Department? How are they supposed to get their assets?

Anyway, like most incidents that occur in the news, there’s always more than meets the eye, so we’ll have to let the parties involved sort out their differences and get back to a harmonious working environment.

Now, get yer butt outta this article already! I got stuff to do.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun Online, Itai News
Featured image: Pakutaso
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