Early starts, driving rain and aggressive dogs are just some of the discomforts shared by mail carriers across the world. But posties in Japan face a unique additional terror — the dreaded “punishment bike”.
Japan Post has become mired in scandal after the exposure of the practice, in which delivery staff who have been involved in minor traffic accidents have their motorbikes taken away and are forced to make their rounds by bicycle or on foot, humiliating them and exposing them to the extremes of the Japanese climate.
The disciplining of postmen has even been discussed in Japan’s parliament. Labour experts say it is an example of petty punishments imposed on employees in many industries, including a salesman who failed to meet quotas and was forced to copy out Buddhist sutras and run up the steps of a Shinto shrine as a punishment.
An unnamed postman told the broadcaster NHK that he was subjected to the punishment bicycle after a minor accident involving his motorbike, which toppled over while parked and banged against an adjacent car, causing minor damage.
For two weeks in August he was forced to use a bicycle to make his deliveries — a heavy load of parcels and letters across a wide area designed to be covered by motorbike. When asked if he could refuse he was told by his bosses that he could not, that “everyone has been doing this since ancient times”, and that he needed to “learn a lesson” and “show remorse”.
This summer Japan recorded its highest ever temperatures, which routinely exceeded 35C. When questioned by NHK, Japan Post described the punishment as “training” — although as a result of the media expose, it has banned the practice.
“I feel that this experience was punitive and a form of power harassment,” the postman told NHK. “My dignity as a person was destroyed and I was pushed to the point of almost breaking down … Delivery efficiency decreased and it took longer to deliver mail to customers, so I feel really empty and wonder who this work is for.”
The practice has now been banned
ALAMY
In another case, discussed in the Diet, a postal worker who caused a minor traffic accident was forced to make deliveries on bicycle and on foot for a year.
“Japanese workplaces up until now have placed a lot of emphasis on things like ‘guts’ and ‘motivation’,” Masaomi Kaneko of the Workplace Harassment Research Institute told NHK. “But irrational rules created within hierarchical relationships gradually become a hindrance to the organisation and prevent results from being achieved.”
Kazuhiro Sudou of the Postal Industry Workers’ Union told The Times: “Once told by senior people, the underling can’t say anything, only obey. Staff cannot express themselves to the bosses. And this kind attitude is seen more in the senior people.”
Kaneko gave examples of other petty punishments including an incident when a taxi driver who broke a company rule was forced to run in a marathon.
AloJapan.com