Another shoulder-bumping dispute in Japan? Korean man arrested after swinging scissors in "our shoulders collided" argument

Korean trader in his 50s arrested in the act
"Our shoulders collided" argument escalates into dispute

A Korean man in his 50s was arrested in the act by local police in Japan after attacking a customer with scissors when an argument broke out at a restaurant.

Not related to any specific expressions in the article. Pixabay

On the 11th (local time), Japanese local media including the Ise Shimbun and Yahoo News Japan reported that a 52-year-old Korean national trading businessman, identified only by the surname Lee and residing in Osaka (Japanese name Tanaka), was taken into custody by police the previous day on suspicion of causing bodily injury.

Lee is accused of swinging a pair of scissors he had in his possession at a restaurant in Nishishinchi, Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, Japan, late at night on the 10th and injuring part of the body of a man in his 20s. The victim was transported to a hospital after the incident and received treatment. His life is not in danger, and he is reported to have suffered only minor injuries.

The two men visited the restaurant separately with different groups and accidentally bumped into each other. They then became embroiled in a dispute after arguing over the claim that "our shoulders collided." Lee reportedly admitted to the charges during police questioning.

Shoulder-bumping disputes seen as antisocial nuisance in Japan

Meanwhile, in Japan, incidents in which people deliberately bump into others and cause trouble have recently become a major social issue. A new term has even emerged locally: the so-called "Butsukari Otoko (ぶつかり男)," meaning "bumping man."

A Butsukari Otoko is someone who intentionally bumps into strangers in crowded places such as busy downtown areas or train stations in order to provoke disputes.

Back in 2018, after a video of a man repeatedly bumping shoulders with four unspecified women and then disappearing was shared on social media (SNS), accounts of people in Japan saying they had bumped shoulders with a Butsukari Otoko have continued to surface.

It is unclear whether the recent arrest of the Korean man began with a deliberate shoulder bump, but it is a fact that this kind of behavior has become a social problem in Japan. On Korean online communities, it is easy to find posts such as "Every time I travel to Japan, someone slams into my shoulder," "It happened three or four times just in Tokyo," "Is shoulder-slamming common in Japan?" and "In Osaka, a man deliberately bumped into me and walked away."

According to Hong Kong media outlet the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and the British public broadcaster BBC, some Japanese railway operators have defined Butsukari Otoko behavior as a "nuisance act" and are deploying station staff and security personnel to monitor and respond to such individuals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.