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Japan Sets 2026 Start for Customer-Harassment Rules as Bear Sighting Closes Two Muroran Schools

The 2026 enforcement date marks a nationwide push to protect workers from abusive customer behavior.

Overview

  • Japan’s health ministry said related legislation requiring all companies to implement anti–customer-harassment measures will take effect on October 1, 2026.
  • The Muroran City Board of Education temporarily closed Hachijo-daira Elementary and Ouran Junior High after a bear was seen near a residential area, the first such closure this fiscal year.
  • Police arrested a 44-year-old suspect on suspicion of murdering a 46-year-old man in a street stabbing in Matsudo, Chiba, earlier this month, according to NHK.
  • Tomakomai police reported 144 bicycle thefts through the end of September, with many victims being high school students, and urged double-locking and security registration.
  • The Ground Self-Defense Force’s Hokkaido Supply Depot suspended a soldier in his 20s for four months for secretly filming under a stranger’s skirt at a train station.