20 Pct of Restaurant Industry Workers Face “Customer Harassment”

Tokyo, Oct. 28 (Jiji Press)–Nearly 20 pct of workers in Japan’s restaurant industry have experienced “customer harassment,” such as unreasonable demands and behavior by customers, a government white paper showed Tuesday. The proportion of such workers came to 18.8 pct, according to the 2025 white paper on measures to prevent “karoshi,” or death from overwork, which was adopted at the day’s cabinet meeting. The white paper also noted that workers in managerial positions tended to work long hours. By job position, the customer harassment experience rate was highest among area managers at 30.0 pct, followed by 21.3 pct among restaurant staff and 19.5 pct among restaurant managers. Harassment acts included repeated complaints, intimidating language and behavior, threats, and slander. The white paper also showed that 14.9 pct of workers in the restaurant industry worked over 60 hours per week on average. This percentage stood at 24.0 pct among area managers and 29.0 pct among restaurant managers. Regarding deaths and illnesses from overwork across all industries, the number of applications for workers’ compensation insurance benefits for mental disorders has been increasing each year. The government report stressed the need to prevent long work hours, ensure sufficient days off and improve workplace conditions. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]