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Japan prefecture allows staff to wear last-name-only badges to avoid customer harassment

OTSU — The Shiga Prefectural Government in west Japan now allows employees to wear name badges showing just their last names to prevent customer harassment by visitors.

According to the prefecture’s personnel division, about 4,200 employees belonging to the governor’s department now can choose between traditional badges showing full names and new last-name-only ones. The initiative came due to concerns over potential violations of privacy if the workers’ full names are exposed to the public via social media as customer harassment, characterized by unreasonable demands or intimidating behavior by those receiving services, has become a social issue in Japan.

The existing badges showed the employee’s first and last names in kanji, but the staff can now present their names on the badges using just hiragana, which allows more anonymity.

Shiga Gov. Taizo Mikazuki said at a regular press conference on Sept. 3, “We have decided to be more flexible since we want to avoid a situation where the staff’s personal information is identified from their names and causes them trouble.”

(Japanese original by Ririn Iitsuka, Otsu Bureau)

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