When a Japan Post worker was ordered to swap his motorbike for a bicycle in 35-degree heat, the incident struck a nerve in Japan, reigniting a longstanding debate about where Japanese employers draw the line between discipline and abuse.
The darker side of discipline
The postal worker in question told NHK that what he was told to do in the middle of summer was a punishment that amounted to power harassment.
When doing deliveries in late August, he parked his post office-issued motorcycle, which accidentally tipped over and damaged a parked vehicle. Although the incident caused no serious harm, his supervisor ordered him to do his rounds by bicycle for two weeks.
The postal worker says he used an electric bike to carry dozens of kilograms of mail — the same load he would take on a motorbike.
He says he did this for eight days, five of them in temperatures topping 35 degrees Celsius, and the work left him drenched in sweat and exhausted. He says his body ached the next morning.
This Tokyo-based postal worker says being forced to swap a motorbike for a bicycle was power harassment.
“It was physically and mentally painful,” he said. “And my boss gave no clear reason for the order.”
Japan Post has told NHK the order was training to prevent a recurrence, rather than punishment.
But it acknowledged that the period was long, and that it failed to fully explain the reason for the training.
A long-standing issue
NHK learned that similar orders have been issued at other post offices. Japan Post had been made aware of workers’ concerns before the most recent case.
A suggestion box set up within the company received a request to abolish the practice as early as three years ago. The company responded by saying the measure would be inappropriate if implemented as a punishment.
Japan’s post office is at the center of workplace abuse allegations.
Japan Post conducted a survey on the issue in the last fiscal year, but it interviewed only workers in charge of security measures at its branches, and did not seek input from a broader range of employees directly affected by the orders. The company concluded that it could not confirm that such orders were punitive.
‘Perceived as punitive’
Since the latest incident came to light, the company has banned the practice for employees who cause traffic accidents.
A Japan Post notice bans supervisors from ordering delivery workers involved in traffic accidents to do their rounds on bicycles.
A document obtained by NHK reads: “No operational reason can be found in doing so and the practice could be perceived as a punitive or harassing act.”
A pattern of coercion
Kaneko Masaomi of the Workplace Harassment Research Institute advises companies on how to recognize and prevent harassment. He says what happened at Japan Post is not an isolated case but part of a deeper pattern in Japan’s professional culture.
Kaneko Masaomi is an expert on workplace harassment.
Kaneko says similar examples have surfaced in other industries, with employers fining staff who make mistakes, forcing underperforming salespeople to copy Buddhist scriptures by hand or repeatedly climb up and down the steps of shrines, and even making taxi drivers run marathons.
Copying Buddhist scriptures by hand has been used as a punishment by employers, says Kaneko Masaomi.
“Japanese workplaces have traditionally emphasized perseverance and motivation,” Kaneko says. “It’s essential for companies to understand that fostering a long-term employee-friendly work environment contributes directly to better performances.”
