Body odour? Sighing? In Japan, that could be workplace harassment
- New types of misconduct complaints have emerged in Japan as awareness has increased, ranging from ‘odour’ and ‘mood’ to ‘maternity’ harassment
- But ‘power harassment’, or workplace bullying, is by far the most common – despite a 2020 law banning the practice
The Japanese workplace has become a minefield of potential harassment pitfalls due to new office rules, a greater understanding of harassment and victims who are more willing to report misbehaviour among their colleagues.
A woman who is made to feel guilty for being pregnant and having colleagues cover for her when she takes time off work is a victim of maternity harassment. A person with poor hygiene habits or who wears too much perfume can be a perpetrator of “smell harassment”.
One of the newest additions to the list of actions that can be considered abusive towards colleagues is audible sighing, an indication of dissatisfaction or disgust that comes under “mood harassment”.
“As awareness of harassment has increased, and more companies have introduced countermeasures, the public has become more aware of the problem and started asking the question, ‘Isn’t this also harassment?’” said Kaname Murasaki, head of the Osaka-based Japan Harassment Counsellor Association.
“The different types of harassment have become a hot topic of conversation and generated a lot of public sympathy for people who have experienced it,” he told This Week in Asia. “As a result, new and slightly different types of harassment are being recognised.”