Man in Japan arrested for forcing store clerk to shave head in apology

The shocking incident happened just days after Japan’s first anti-customer harassment rule kicked in

A man in Kyoto has been arrested for allegedly forcing an electronics store employee into shaving his head in a dramatic act of apology – an incident that has cast fresh light on Japan’s deep-rooted customer-is-always-right culture and the country’s recent move to curb abuse against service workers.

Police detained the 49-year-old suspect on suspicion of coercion on Thursday for an incident which happened just days after a new ordinance banning customer harassment came into effect in Tokyo.

The rule is Japan’s first legal effort to address kasuhara – a term used to describe unreasonable or aggressive behaviour by customers – and was prompted by mounting reports of mistreatment across the service sector.

Though it carries no criminal penalties, it aims to serve as a deterrent by formally prohibiting verbal abuse and excessive demands against employees, according to The Asahi Shimbun.

The head-shaving case underscores the sort of incidents the rule is meant to tackle.

On April 4, three days after the ordinance in Tokyo took effect, the suspect reportedly called a store in Kyoto’s Minami ward to complain about a faulty set of electric hair clippers. He demanded a replacement, which a 42-year-old clerk agreed to deliver personally.

When the clerk arrived at the man’s home with the replacement clippers and an apology, the suspect is said to have shown off his tattoos, suggesting he had links to organised crime, Japanese television MBS News reported.

“If you’re really sorry, shave your head. You know, a repentance shave,” he allegedly told the clerk. “If you were in my gang, you’d do it right away.”

In Japan, shaving one’s head is a culturally recognised gesture of atonement, though it is now widely considered old-fashioned and extreme.

The clerk shaved the right side of his head using the new clippers he had brought and was forced to clean up his own hair trimmings before leaving, according to national newspaper Sankei Shimbun.

After he was arrested, the man admitted to the charges, according to MBS News. “If that’s what the other person says, there’s nothing I can do,” he told police.

Police also found that the original clippers behind the original complaint were perfectly operational, Tokyo-based news website SoraNews24 reported.

The case is not an isolated one – other recent incidents have also sparked alarm over customer abuse in Japan.

In the same month, footage of a man forcing a security guard at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka to kneel in apology went viral.

The man had allegedly demanded the security guard perform the dogeza – a Japanese custom of kneeling, bowing and touching one’s head on the ground to apologise – because he was unable to give accurate directions to the car park on April 17.

In 2018, a man in Nagoya made a convenience-store cashier perform the dogeza over a misunderstanding about his change.

The customer claimed he was short-changed when the female worker handed him coins first before preparing to give the remaining 9,000 yen (US$63) in notes, SoraNews24 reported.

Instead of waiting, he yelled and threatened to kill the worker, demanding a dogeza as a form of apology. Shockingly, he also called the police himself, accusing the clerk of cheating him. He received his correct change but was also arrested for his violent outburst.