In my last blogpost “6 Signs You Are Experiencing Power Harassment in Japan”, I promised to explore the reasons why power harassment was more commonly tolerated in Japan. I was surprised to learn that power harassment is not as tolerated in Japan as I had thought. What I discovered was insightful and worth sharing.
Worshipped authoritarian bosses
In Japan, authoritarian leaders were traditionally celebrated for their assertiveness and firm leadership. A caring leader will do all it takes to guide their subordinate to success, including strict discipline and bad-tempered bursts. Questioning their behavior would mean questioning their flawless integrity.
People accepted bullying as part of climbing the organization ladder. During your career, your boss will bully you for your own good and the good of the organization. Bosses usually mean well and their main goal is to toughen and shape you into a good worker that can climb the organization ladder.
In other words, power harassment was part of most jobs. Still today, authoritarian bosses are admired and their behavior is accepted to a certain extent.
Power harassment is not that tolerated in Japan
I cannot get used to power harassment. Each time I witness it or I hear about it, it shocks me. In Europe, the same behavior would be severely punished. Usually people don’t even dare to behave in such a manner.
But I was comparing two different cultures that evolved differently over the last few centuries. The values celebrated in one culture are not necessary the same. Although, humankind is tending towards a unification of human values, we are still at a very early stage (More details in “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari). We should not forget that powerful nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights only 70 years ago (very short compared to10,000 years of human civilization).
What was happing in Japan was the opposite of what I had thought. The increase in power harassment cases in the courts was actually an indication of a decrease in tolerance for authoritarian leaders.
This doesn’t mean that power harassment was less present before. This study* shows that people are less tolerant of power harassment, which is reflected by the increase in the number of lawsuits regarding bullying and harassment.
What are the reasons for the increase in awareness?
Sexual Harassment law
Japanese society has become sensitive to harassment issues since a Sexual Harassment provision was amended to the EEOL (Equal Employment Opportunity Law) in 1997. The primary goal of the EEOL was to establish gender equality in the workplace. In her article, Why the equal employment opportunity law failed in Japan, Eunmi Mun, an assistant professor of sociology at Amherst College, examines very closely the response of Japanese organizations to this law.
Nevertheless, this law raised awareness in Japanese society against unacceptable workplace behaviors. After this law was passed, people felt similar laws should be passed to protect employees from bullying as well.
A new term: “Pawa-Hara”
The social psychologist and entrepreneur Okada Yasuko first coined the term “Pawa-Hara” in 2003. Okada started Japan’s first hotline for the victims of power harassment. Her consulting company, originally specialized in providing counseling services for working women, was offering female and male victims support but most importantly, a voice!
This led to recognition of the power harassment phenomenon. Institutions had to establish systems to remediate this phenomenon and give workers more leverage in the workplace.
The creation of the “Pawa-Hara” concept has generated awareness and a vocabulary, which is an important communication tool that opened the conversation about bullying in the workplace. This finally reflected in the legal system through laws to protect employees against power harassment.
A TV Show: Hanzawa Naoki
The TV show “Hanzawa Naoki” was a pop culture phenomenon after its release in 2013. Hanzawa Naoki is a banker working for the largest bank in Japan. He faces numerous obstacles while he climbs up in his organization.
This TV show brought even more awareness to Japanese society in regard to power harassment.
Is power harassment over in Japan?
Of course not, any person working in Japan would tell you that power harassment is still a big problem. There is a high chance that if you work in Japan for more than one year, you will experience at least one of the 6 forms of the power harassment I already detailed in my previous article. I am not aware of any study to support this fact, it is based on my own experience. During my 8 years in Japan, I haven’t met a foreigner who didn’t suffer from at least one form of power harassment.
So why is power harassment still an issue despite all the attention and the increasing intolerance in Japanese society? This is what I will explore in my next blogpost.
(* Study published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University, No. 22, March 2014).
Related articles:
6 Signs You Are Experiencing Power Harassment in Japan
5 Advantages of Being a Foreigner Working in Japan
Navigating Hierarchy in the Japanese Workplace
6 Tips that Will Make Starting Your Job in Japan Easier
I think that your remark about Europe is unjustified … please allow me to say that maybe you have office jobs and research jobs in mind. In manual labour there is almost always harassment, everywhere in places larger than a few persons and often even there.
When you say “In manual labour there is almost always harassment..”, are you talking about Japan or Europe?
Thank you Helen for your feedback. You are absolutely right. I was mostly taking about somehow more privileged workplaces such as universities and research institutes. Thank you for your insights.