Part-time job terrorism

Part-time job terrorism (バイトテロ, baito tero) is a Japanese social phenomenon where part-time employees perform pranks and stunts, usually to share on social media. Stunts include climbing into ice cream freezers, or "planking" on counter-tops at fast-food restaurants. Although such pranks would not be seen as shocking in many cultures, they are considered disgraceful in Japanese culture.

Such incidents emerged as a social phenomenon around the summer of 2013, but has been around in the early 2000s^{[citation needed]} when internet-based Japanese news agencies such as Yukan-news recorded such an incident,^[1] with more traditional news agencies later following suit.^[2] It was termed baito tero in Japanese,^[3] as a portmanteau of the Japanese word baito (meaning "part-time job" and a loan-word from the German arbeit, meaning "work") and English word "terrorism" or "terrorist".^[2]

Japanese employers generally feel disturbed and bothered by such behavior,^{[citation needed]} and penalties and punishment ranged from termination of employment to civil suits. Employees, in some circumstances, can be held financially accountable for loss of business due to the negative publicity.^[4]

While there is no single reason for the phenomenon, some news reports speculate that the prevalence of social media—particularly video-based mediums such as TikTok and Instagram—have led to an increase in baito tero.^[5]

See also

• Sushi terrorism