Pretty much as the title says.
I had a bad experience at a bar and decided to write a review. The next morning the owner said this was "Business interference" (誹謗中傷). I thought the guy was mad and didn't think much of it, but after a week I got another message saying that they had filed a report with the police? I'll copy my post and the business's post below. The business's post
Me (in English) – "It had a good dive bar atmosphere, but the selection was extremely limited and there was a table charge of ¥500 per person?! Definitely not worth it."
Them 1st post (They have since editted this and I can not find the original) – Translated by Google) "This is a common business interference case. We will save this post as a screenshot, report it to the police, request disclosure from our legal advisor, and treat it as a case of intimidation and obstruction of business against our company"
Them 2nd Post (original Japanese) – 価値があるかどうかは本人の主観であり、インターネットを通じて世界中に『価値が無い』と断言されるほどの事ではありません。このような誹謗中傷によって不快な思いをしている、弊社従業員や懇意にされているお客様達の気持ちを考えられる余裕はありますか？この案件については威力業務妨害として管轄の警察署への被害届提出、及び弊社顧問弁護士と協議の上、貴方の個人情報の開示請求を行います。弊社からの要求は顧問弁護士からのご連絡がご自宅へ郵送されますのでお待ちください。
2024/9/19
管轄の警察署へ被害届を提出しました
(translation) Whether it is worth it or not is subjective, and it is not so much a matter of being declared “worthless” by the entire world via the Internet. Can you afford to think of the feelings of our employees and clients who are offended by this kind of slander? We will file a damage report on this matter with the local police station as obstruction of business and request disclosure of your personal information after discussing the matter with our legal counsel. Please wait for our request from our legal counsel to be mailed to your home.
9/19/2024
We have filed a damage report with the police station in your jurisdiction.
When I looked up the laws it didn't seem like my comment had violated them, but it is starting to make me worry. Am I over thinking this? Should I delete my review (and would that matter at this point?)? Should I contact a lawyer?
If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it.
by Gumbercules89
34 comments
yeah, business can and have sued/etc for claimed “defamation” (it doesn’t have to be true).
it is best to leave these kind of reviews with throwaway google accounts not under your real name.
I have no idea what can or even could happen, but I find the owner’s attitude generally hilarious. Did you use your real name?
Wanna drop the name of the business? I’m curious to see how they handle other reviews.
see this post and the comments; seems japan has other rules than other countries about reviews etc. [https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1970zrg/police_called_to_ask_me_to_take_down_a_bad_google/](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1970zrg/police_called_to_ask_me_to_take_down_a_bad_google/)
Search this sub for ‘defamation law’ and see the advice in those threads. Comes up here pretty often…
This is a civil matter. Claiming to file something with the police means likely bluffing. Surely they could complain to the police, and the police might even contact you, but ultimately if they wanted to pursue this, it’s a civil matter.
But save yourself the hassle. Get an account not linked to your name, post almost the same review, and delete your first one.
If your usename is not your actual real name I would just ignore them.
Did they respond that way as a reply to your review, or privately?
If privately, one option might be to edit your review as “deleted”, but then quote their responses for the public to see.
1. Get a VPN ( [https://www.tunnelbear.com/pricing](https://www.tunnelbear.com/pricing) is free)
2. VPN out to someplace in the EU ( [https://www.tunnelbear.com/features](https://www.tunnelbear.com/features) )
3. Create a burner account, either at Gmail or a temporary one (https://www.guerrillamail.com/ )
4. Post reviews
5. Bask in the glory of free speech
It isn’t a criminal matter so I wouldn’t worry about that aspect but as others have said you could be sued. Did you post that under your real name?
It doesn’t matter but your review does seem a bit harsh.
This can happen in Japan. But they are fucking themselves with their obnoxious reply. Streisand Effect incoming…
Kind of a harsh review though right? 500 yen isn’t really out there for a table charge, and a lot of bars just have the basics. Mediocre, but not worth it?
Now writing a bad review because the asshole owner is getting on your case: that merits a “Definitely not worth it”
The reply sounds like a drunk law student at 3 AM.
Almost unrelated but it’s tiring to read reviews claiming a bar is almost scamming them just because they have a 300/500 yen charge (written somewhere on the menu 99% of the time and usually compensated with peanuts etc), while the drinks are fairly cheap to begin with, especially compared to any other developed country.
It skews the star review for no good reason and I feel I would be frustrated too as a business owner (though filing a police report does seem extreme).
They have no case against you and are making things worse for themselves by replying like that. And a restaurant in Japan most definitely can’t afford good enough legal council to make it work.
Just ignore it. Nothing will happen.
People going around making legal threats online are more often than not just engaging in intimidation. Until you actually get court summons I would treat it as grandstanding.
If I was going to sue someone I wouldn’t threaten to sue them before I sued them. I would just sue them.
Tell us the place so we can review bomb it
I mean their response is pretty off the hinge, but smaller bars commonly have a table charge. I’m not sure if you’re new in Japan, but you’ll want to get used to that. Small establishments suffer from not being able to hold much capacity, and with the risk of low turnover (people staying for a long time), a table charge is almost the only way to stay afloat for some bars. I don’t think a table charge by itself warrants one star – maybe two or three stars depending on how good their food/drinks are. It’s Google, not Tabelog.
For next time, I’d recommend sucking it up and just not visiting the establishment again.
Or do a reverse review bomb and heap praises on how big the portions are how the staff let hint on secret menu items and special discounts. Then sit back and watch disgruntled patrons leave organic 1 star reviews for their disappointment
I think the problem might be with “dive bar”.
From the net: The term “dive bar” used to have a primarily pejorative connotation. It was used to describe bars that were insalubrious, attracted the wrong type of customers, and were generally best avoided.
And then you compound that with: Definitely not worth it.
Dive bar is, I read, now supposed to be a plus, but you’re in Japan.
Surely the table charge was shown and you continued to buy drinks even with the limited selection. How did you come to this 1 star review afterwards given the signs were there to begin with. The smart thing would have been to go to a dive bar with a lesser otoshi and a wider range of drinks. Instead of being a dick. Generally there are consequences to being a dick in all societies.
Damn, a 1 star review because of the table charge?!
Making it 1 star was unnecessary
It’s not a criminal case, so the police will not help them find you or anything.
If your account used your real name or was easy to link to you (having the email on a personal website or sns account, etc.) Then they might be able to track you down with minimal effort.
Even so, it’s unlikely they would take such measures. It’s a lot easier to spend 3 minutes to write a message threatening legal action than actually doing it
Table charge is totally normal. Not sure what you’re so upset about?
The owner is dumb though, their over-the-top response will drive away far more business than your non-issue comment about table charges.
Deleting your review would be the simplest approach.
Very interesting discussions on how we can only have free speech by hiding and using fake accounts
It’s a threat to make you remove your review. You didn’t do anything wrong posting what you said, 1 star or not. If you are actively trying to hurt the business then they probably have a case, but this is just a regular review. Look at the clinics around your place and show me 5 places with no 1 star reviews.
I would remove the review, and repost using a burner account, seeing that they seem a bit unhinged.
Amy’s Bake Shop meets Amy’s Dive Bar
Why do you even care, bro…
Might be an unpopular opinion but I would be super pissed to get a 1 star review with the reasoning being a 500¥ table charge (which is not uncommon) and limited selection. Super dick move imo.
I’m not saying the owner getting the police involved is appropriate—that’s obviously a crazy ridiculous Karen move. But your review is way too harsh. Yet people here would still say that Japanese people give harsh reviews lol.
People often cite how factual basis is not a defense in Japanese defamation law, but the important exception is when statements are in the public interest. This is why a claim being true is successfully used as a defense when magazines publish scandalous information about celebrities who choose to be in the public eye.
A successful defamation case against an online reviewer often brought up by Japanese legal experts is when a rival restaurant proprietor posted a negative review about a restaurant. IIRC it could be demonstrated that 1) the reviewer hadn’t even visited the other restaurant, and 2) there was clear intent to damage the other business; not inform the public.
The bar that is trying to intimidate you would have to demonstrate that in making the review, your intent was to damage its reputation and interfere with its business rather than to inform fellow consumers about your experience using a public-facing business. If you have other reviews up on google and they are not all negative, it would bolster your case.
If this bar did actually consult a lawyer, they probably would have been told “go ahead and file a damage report with police, because in a lot of cases the prospect of police or legal action being involved is enough to compel the customer to take down the review.” They would not have been advised that they had a strong case against you.
Lastly, you can better insulate yourself against these kinds of claims by modifying the tone of the language in your review, especially by being more explicit that you are sharing a personal opinion. For example, instead of writing “Definitely not worth it,” which is not information that applies equally to people considering the bar, you could have written “I didn’t think it was good value.”
Shouldn’t have wrote the review using your real name and also, should have only give 1 star without writing a review.
It’s legal to just give 1 star and not write a review.
[星1つだけの口コミに対して名誉毀損を訴えることはできません。](https://effectual.co.jp/location-connect/store-branding/google-review-defamation/#:~:text=%E3%81%97%E3%81%8B%E3%81%97%E3%80%81%E6%98%9F1%E3%81%A4%E3%81%A0%E3%81%91,%E9%81%A9%E7%A4%BA%E3%81%8C%E5%BF%85%E8%A6%81%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%80%82)
It seems petty to give one star review for limited selection and ¥500 table charge. It will impact average review of the bar. 100% behind the owner on this one