A Japanese man who demanded a security guard at the Expo 2025 Osaka to perform dogeza, a deep kneel and bow touching one's head to the ground, has provoked widespread condemnation online. According to the South China Morning Post, the incident, which was captured on camera, occurred on April 17 at the entrance to the expo, just days after it opened. The video footage of the security guard kneeling and bowing before the Japanese man has since gone viral, sparking outrage over customer harassment.
According to SCMP, the video shows the Japanese tourist scolding the guard for not providing clear directions to the car park. He then demands the guard to dogeza, a form of traditional Japanese etiquette which involves kneeling, bowing and touching one's head on the ground to apologise to a person of higher status.
The organisers later explained that the man demanded the security guard dogeza because he was unable to give accurate directions when he asked where the car park was.
Social media users were quick to label the incident as a case of customer harassment, known in Japan as 'kasuhara'. The person who filmed the video reported overhearing another guard remarking that it looked like "customer harassment".
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Meanwhile, as more social media users railed against customer harassment, the behaviour was increasingly frowned upon. Online observers called for the Osaka Expo organisers to find the tourist and blacklist him.
"A right-minded person would not force someone to dogeza, and would stop other people who tried to dogeza in front of a large number of people," one user wrote.
"This was not even customer harassment. It was coercion and a crime," commented another.
"He was just another ordinary man forced to bow to the pressure of life," expressed a third user.
Expo organisers have reportedly said they did not intend to report the tourist to the police. But they added that they were working with the Osaka police to work on measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
