In Dazai Osamu’s story Hashire Merosu (Run, Melos!), published in 1940 in the magazine Shinchō, Melos asks for three days to attend his sister’s wedding. He offers his close friend Selinuntius as a hostage. If Melos is not back by sunset on the third day, his friend will be executed in his place.
The story was included in Japanese school textbooks.
A hanseibun is a written statement in which a person reflects on misconduct and apologizes for it. Writing one is a common disciplinary practice in Japanese schools.
Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain), published by Ueda Akinari in 1776, contains the story Kikka no chigiri (The Chrysanthemum Vow). Akana Sōemon promises his friend Samon to return on the day of the Chrysanthemum Festival, the ninth day of the ninth month.
Held captive in his home domain, he cannot leave. On the promised day, he kills himself, and his spirit returns to keep the promise.
Japan’s national curriculum for moral education sets out what elementary school children learn. For the first and second grades, one item reads: Yakusoku ya kimari o mamori, minna ga tsukau mono o taisetsu ni suru. Keep promises and rules, and take care of things that everyone uses.
For the third and fourth grades, it reads: keep promises and the rules of society, and have public spirit.
On November 14, 2017, a Tsukuba Express train left Minami-Nagareyama Station about 20 seconds before its scheduled time. The operating company published an apology: “We deeply apologize for the great inconvenience caused to our customers.”
In 2000, milk products from Snow Brand caused mass food poisoning in the Kansai region, with 14,780 people affected. Pressed by reporters, president Ishikawa Tetsurō snapped: Sonna koto ittatte nē, watashi wa nete inai n da yo!! “Say what you like, I haven’t slept!”
He apologized at once. The exchange was broadcast widely and drew public condemnation. After the press conference, all Snow Brand Group products were pulled from sale for a time.
A guideline of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, in force since June 1, 2020, defines power harassment at work. Under psychological attacks, its examples include “repeatedly scolding a worker loudly and in an intimidating manner in front of other workers.”
The same guideline lists cases that do not count. One is warning a worker firmly, to a certain degree, after repeated lateness despite warnings.
A bureikō is a banquet held without regard to rank or etiquette. The most famous one in Japanese history was held by Emperor Go-Daigo in the Kamakura period. He used it to gather people of different ranks and plot in secret. One guest told his wife, and the plot leaked.
The same source notes that, in practice, rank does not disappear at a bureikō. Communication at company drinking parties has its own coined word, nominication, from nomu (to drink). It first appeared in the media in the 1980s.
The final episode of the drama Hanzawa Naoki in September 2013 had an average rating of 42.2 percent in the Kanto region. It was the highest rating of the Heisei era, from 1989 onward, for a drama on commercial television.
In the climax, the banker Hanzawa forces his superior Ōwada to kneel before him in a dogeza, the deepest bow of apology.
On November 10, 2003, Japan’s National Personnel Authority issued guidelines on publishing disciplinary actions against national public employees. A notice gives an outline of the case, the penalty and its date, and the person’s department, rank and similar details.
As a rule, the notice is written so that the individual cannot be identified.