SNA (Tokyo) — Anyone who has lived in Japan for even a short period of time will immediately recognize Yoshinoya as a gyudon beef bowl restaurant. Yoshinoya is so popular that it can be found in front of almost any station in greater Tokyo. On April 16, 2022, Masaaki Ito, managing director and general manager of the planning division of Yoshinoya, caused a stir when he made an “inappropriate remark” at a lecture for working adults at Waseda University.

Ito was giving a lecture at the first session of Waseda University’s Comprehensive Course on Marketing in the Digital Age. In this lecture, Ito spoke of how to expand the restaurant chain’s customer base from mainly men to include young women. He said his marketing goal was kimusume no shabuzuke–this expression translates roughly as “to get maidens addicted” combining the somewhat archaic word kimusume (maiden) and shabu (methamphetamines).

His off-the-cuff remark drew instant ire from students, particularly women. They said the comment disparaged women and mocked those suffering from drug addiction. The outrage went viral on social media to the point that, just two days later, Waseda University removed him as a lecturer and Yoshinoya dismissed him.

Chunichi Shinbun later interviewed some ordinary people about their impressions of the remark. One company employee in his 60s commented, “I don’t think this is an appropriate comment from somebody who handles food. This kind of guy shouldn’t hold such a high position as general manager.”

A woman in her 40s said, “This is an act of betrayal to the employees who work hard at Yoshinoya. I think his dismissal is justified.”

On the other hand, a man in his 20s said, “If he was just trying to be funny, I don’t think a single gaffe should subject him to such harsh criticism. In any event, I think the dismissal is way overboard.”

I myself surveyed the sixty or so female students who I teach at my women’s university. Thirty-five chose as their response: This comment is hard to forgive; Yoshinoya’s immediate dismissal decision was just. Another fifteen students chose: It’s a distasteful comment, but dismissal over a single gaffe is too much.

Since the term kimusume (maiden) is quite old-fashioned (used only up until the Showa Era), several students didn’t understand the nuance enough to consider it problematic.

Two students reported they currently work part-time at Yoshinoya, and both noticed a decline in customers since the gaffe. Only one student said, That’s a funny comment. I would love to attend a lecture where lots of such comments are made.

This incident highlights how a single quip can spread through social media sites like wildfire, causing serious consequences and potentially harming corporate earnings. Companies surely want to avoid a corporate reputation that goes against compliance with relevant laws and ordinances, including environmental, social, and corporate regulations, since investors pay close attention to such issues. I imagine that the move to fire the manager was with an eye to jittery investors.

Such incidents will further accelerate a trend to exercise extreme caution when commenting on gender, race, and disability, as in the Japanese saying kenja ayauki ni chikayorazu (sages steer clear of danger).

I fear, however, that such defensiveness and excessive caution in speech will deprive of us something important. Instead of dismissing Ito outright, he should be asked to lecture precisely on the topic of his problematic remark. Ito and the students could benefit from a thorough and constructive discussion about what, if any, aspects of the statement were inappropriate and offensive.

If the dignity of some people has been violated, it would be better for everyone to have an open discussion of the matter, rather than treat it merely as yet another corporate scandal.

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