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There’s an old adage (cách ngôn, châm ngôn, ngạn ngữ) in Japan that states “the customer is god” (khách hàng là thượng đế) as a way to instill (làm cho thấm nhuần) good customer service among staff. But the thing about gods is that they’re really spiteful, and if you offend them in the slightest way, they tend to bring about eras of prolonged darkness and misery.

Such was the case when a man in his 60s visited a pickle store in Suminoe Ward, Osaka City, in the autumn of 2019. The pickled food shop owner and customer got into a dispute over a point card issued by the shopping arcade that the store was inside.

The details of the point card problem weren’t reported but it was clearly enough to leave the customer feeling very unsatisfied. To express his displeasure, he would return to the store several times a month, utter curses such as “die” and then spit on (nhổ nước bọt) the walkway in front.

Spitting in public (nhổ bậy nơi công cộng) is frowned upon (chau mày) in Japan, and doing so in places where people gather is a violation (vi phạm) of the Minor Crimes Act,