More Elderly Venting Frustration at Government Offices

The Yomiuri Shimbun

September 17, 2008

Japan

An increasing number of middle-aged and elderly people have been seen exploding in rage at local government office counters. 

Local government officials say these incidents are embarrassing, but they have found such anger is often triggered by anxiety concerning the future or trouble at work or in their neighborhood. 

Some local governments have begun taking measures to prevent the outbursts by having officials of the same age wait on them. 

"Communication is important," a local government official said. 

In October 2007, a man in his 60s suddenly lost his temper at a local government office counter in the Tohoku region. The man brought some medical application forms to the counter and asked an official to copy them. The official declined the man's request, saying, "The copy machine is on another floor." 

The man shouted for nearly two hours, calling the official rude and demanded a copy of the official's business card. 

In another case, an elderly man banged on a counter at a local government office in the Kansai region in spring of 2007 after an official pointed out that his tax documents were incomplete. 

The man verbally accosted employees, yelling: "Why don't you accept them? It's your fault [that my documents were incomplete] because you didn't provide enough information! I won't leave until you accept them!" 

According to officials, the man had been listening to the official's explanations calmly, then suddenly began shouting. The man left a few hours later. 

In another case, a citizen counseling center at a local government building in norther Kanto region received a call from a middle-aged woman complaining she was having trouble with a neighbor in April. During the conversation, the woman asked the official if she was right. When the official declined to comment, citing government policy, the women suddenly became angry and said, "You're useless." 

According to a Tokyo local government official, middle-aged and elderly people have bellowed at the government's officials a few times a month over the past two or three years. 

However, officials say these people have personal reasons for becoming angry over trivial things. 

According to an official who receives complaints from residents in the Chubu region, a man in his 50s admitted that his anger was the result of other problems. 

The man was quoted by the official as saying: "I was transferred to an easy position at my company. I feel uneasy everywhere, even at home. That is why I got so irritated and vented my frustration [on the official]." 

An elderly woman stubbornly blamed a typo by an official at a local government's welfare counter for her problems. 

"I'm badly off because my medical and other living fees are so high," the woman told officials. "I have no neighbors to talk to and I'm stressed out." 

The official said: "We listened to them and found the source of their anger is in other places. We shouldn't brush [the elderly] off. We should try to understand them." 

At a local government office in the Kanto region, a veteran official accompanies young officials when they handle complaints from middle-aged and elderly people. The local government says veteran officials can more easily understand the feelings of the middle-aged and elderly. 

"We need to review our attitude toward middle-aged and elderly people, by, for example, using words that are easy for them to understand," said an official of another local government in the Kanto region. 

Tomomi Fujiwara, the 53-year-old author of "Boso Rojin" (The elderly running out of control), which analyzed the attitude of the elderly when they suddenly burst into fits of public rage, said communities need to provide more opportunities for people to communicate with the elderly. 

"The elderly build up emotional conflicts caused by stress and isolation, and when they feel disrespected, such emotions sometimes turn into rage and explode outward," he said. "It has become difficult for the elderly to live in the modern Internet-focused world, in which there is less communication among people. They have trouble dealing with this type of situation." 

"It's necessary to provide the elderly with opportunities to easily communicate with people in the local community," he added.  

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