Navigating Tokyo’s bustling public transport system can be stressful enough without having to worry about deliberate harassment from
chikan (
gropers) or
covert photography. Yet for many commuters, particularly women, there’s another thing to be wary of:
butsukari otoko, or men who intentionally bump and shove people around in crowded spaces like crosswalks or train stations.
The first time I had ever heard of butsukari otoko was in 2023, when I was living in a sharehouse in Osaka. One night during a girls’ get-together, a housemate in her early twenties complained of a man who slammed into her at Umeda Station. “I didn’t even see him as he ran up and charged from behind me,” she said. “Before I knew what happened to me, I was on the ground and saw the man walking away nonchalantly. He is probably in his mid-fifties.
At the time, it sounded like a random creep. But that wasn’t the full picture. It was part of a larger pattern — posts are surfacing all over social media with people sharing how they’ve also been targeted and shoved by butsukari otoko in public. Advice columns, TikTok reels and Instagram posts are also filled with tips on how to counter these men, while the comment sections are flooded with frustrated commuters who have similar experiences. So what exactly are these butsukari otoko?
Butsukari otoko literally translates to “bumping men” who deliberately collide with or shoulder-check other people, typically women, in crowded public spaces. Unlike the accidental jostling, or
tai-atari, that naturally occurs in packed trains and stations, these incidents are intentional acts of aggression disguised as mishaps.
Perpetrators are usually middle-aged men (where they are dubbed
butsukari ojisan) who single out individuals — typically women of smaller frames who appear meek or non-confrontational — and forcefully bump into their targets while walking and leaving them stunned. Perpetrators exploit the crowded nature of Japanese public transport to slip away without being identified or make their actions appear accidental, leaving victims questioning whether the incident was intentional.
The phenomenon of bumping men was brought to public attention in 2018 with a blurred
YouTube video showing a man in Shinjuku Station, bumping into women one after the other. In a national survey in 2024 sampled from 20,000 respondents of both men and women, 14% replied that they have been attacked; 6% replied that they have witnessed a butsukari incident, and 5% replied that they have experienced both.
This problem doesn’t just affect major interchange stations like Shinjuku and Shimbashi. In November last year, News Zero
reported on two victims who suffered serious injuries from butsukari otoko in Tamachi Station: A woman wrote on X that she was minding her business when she was suddenly punched so hard that it broke one of her bones. Another woman reported that she was punched by a passing perp who shouted, “You’re in the way!” She claimed that suffered a serious rib fracture.
While women are the majority of victims, butsukari otoko also prey on men — especially if they appear vulnerable or distracted. The same report detailed how a man was heading to the office when an assailant came up from behind him and delivered a punch that witnesses say was swung with full force. The man reportedly grabbed the man by the collar, kicked him in the head with his knee, and yelled, “Don’t underestimate the locals!” The man was later diagnosed with a concussion.
