Instances:
- Trying to slam doors into me if I walk behind him. Happened on multiple occasions. Last time I was holding my phone with both hands so if I hadn’t expected it and blocked it with my foot due to past experience, my phone would have likely gotten damaged and I would’ve gotten hurt.
- Bumping into chairs I’m sitting on in the common workspaces. Multiple occasions, just minutes apart.
- One time I had exchanged the filament on a 3D printer because I was instructed to print something. He was the last one to finish a print so his filament was on there. I put his filament in its designated spot. This has happened to me on countless occasions, so I just see it as normal. However, this made him furious starting yelling at me. A few minutes later he came back and laid his hands on me to ask where his filament was.
- Trying to be physically intimidating by standing or walking extremely close if he gets the opportunity.
I could go on but I think this paints enough of a picture.
What I’ve tried doing about it:
- At first, things were way more subtle and he just wasn’t as friendly. So for a while I just kept extending olive branches, around ten times but he won’t let go of his anger.
- Asked him why he has a problem with me. He just started yelling fast in Japanese fast. He knows my Japanese isn’t good so he didn’t want me to understand.
- Told him not to touch me the one time that he did.
- Told my managers about his behavior when they asked about what happened after hearing about him yelling at me from another colleague.
- Laughing at him when tries to slam doors in my face to make him feel stupid enough to just stop.
- Asked another colleague who’s in the know what his problem is, which leads me to the next point.
Why he’s doing it:
According to my other colleague, he’s angry that when I first started the company, I was drinking more than one bottle of tea, which wasn’t allowed but I didn’t know. Also because he thought my desk was messy. I haven’t drank the tea bottles or anything at work for over 1.5 years (only use my own water bottle and tap water) and my desk was only messy during a period where I needed to have many prototypes at my desk. Our desks haven’t been anywhere near one another for over a year, but he’s still furious. Basically, the guy has major issues and he’s probably the most immature adult I’ve met even apart from all this.
How I’m thinking of moving forward:
- Going to HR. But I’m hesitant because from what I’ve heard, HR isn’t your friend. Especially not in Japan. So I’m looking for advice on going to HR or what else I can do. I found out from the other colleague that HR has already told him to back off and that was before he started to get physical.
- New job. I have been looking for a new job for a long time but my field is extremely saturated, especially in Japan. Also, the job market is rough now. I haven’t been successful yet.
I don’t know what is normal in Japanese work culture but I, among others, think my company is a black company.
by dendaera