It’s April, which means a fresh crop of new graduates has just started work in companies across Japan. Some of them, sadly, are being subjected to hazing rituals by their seniors as part of their induction into a new company. One ritual involves Japan’s most notorious bowl of ramen – but at least one store in the chain wishes that senior employees would knock it off. And a legal expert warns that this form of corporate hazing could be legally actionable.
Jirō Ramen: Please knock it off
The controversy involves Jirō Ramen, a chain famous for its “large” portions that will bust your gut. A typical bowl of ramen usually comes in at around 500 calories by itself, and around 800 calories with char siu included. By contrast, a large bowl of Jirō includes 300 grams of noodles and is estimated to max out at over 2,000 calories.
The chain is popular, particularly among manly men who want to give their intestinal tract a workout. The original store near me in Mita always has a line outside the door at lunchtime.
However, it seems some are using Jirō to inflict pain and suffering on others. This came out in an X post from the chain’s Kameido store in Tokyo’s Koto City on April 3rd.
“Thank you for your business,” the post reads. “More new employees who’ve just recently graduated seem to be visiting as the new [fiscal] year starts. While it’s gone down a lot recently, this is a time when we still see senior employees and managers make unsuspecting juniors order the large ramen (with extra vegetables) and make them struggle to finish it while they watch and laugh from the sidelines. As the ramen makers, witnessing this really repulses us, so please knock it off.”
In an endearing follow-up, the store posted a repost of its own warning: “On the other hand, when senior employees and people who’ve eaten here before gently educate them about Jiro, the manager does this.”
Yes, “Jiro-hara” might be illegal
The store wisely closed comments on these posts. However, they earned some pretty good reposts from people who lamented that working adults would do this to anyone.
“A company with people like this sucks,” one wrote.
“Best to quit a company like that,” another opined.
The issue of workplace harassment has been in the spotlight in recent years in Japan. Part-time employees, in particular, are susceptible to what some experts say is “severe” harassment. The sensitivity has led to an explosion of different “harassments” in Japan, including power harassment (パワハラ; pawa-hara), moral harassment (モラハラ; mora-hara), and even smell harassment (スメハラ; sume-hara).
But is Jiro-hara – Jirō harassment – illegal? Lawyer and ramen fan Nishiyama Yoshinori says it might be.
“It doesn’t matter if you trick someone or not,” he told the site Bengo4.com, “if you force someone repeatedly to order large portions, it could result in an unacceptable hindrance to work, which can be seen as a form of power harassment.”
I want to say it’s hard to believe that men still do stuff like this in this day and age. But, knowing men, it’s also sadly very, very predictable. If you work in a company in Japan that practices Jiro-hara…maybe it’s time to start job-hunting.
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Sources
年間1300杯完食！？管理栄養士も驚愕…『直系二郎大好きマン』の健康もラーメンも諦めない人生. Friday Digital
後輩に野菜マシ大盛り強要の「ラーメン二郎ハラスメント」 亀戸店が注意喚起、弁護士は「レベルの低い人間」とバッサリ. Bengo4.com
