Southwest Japan prefecture drops 1st name, photo from staff nametags to combat harassment

MIYAZAKI — The Miyazaki Prefectural Government in southwest Japan now allows employees to wear name tags displaying only their last names as part of measures to combat harassment by visitors.

The change was implemented on Oct. 1 to protect employees’ personal information and create a safer workplace environment.

According to the prefecture, the change applies to about 7,000 officials in the governor’s bureau, as well as the hospital and public enterprise bureaus. Name badges previously displayed the employee’s department, full name and a photo. Due to concerns about privacy violations — such as personal information being searched on the web based on name tag information and names being posted to social media — the decision was made to only display the worker’s department and last name, and to eliminate the photo.

Other prefectures and municipalities are apparently implementing similar initiatives. A prefectural government human resources department official explained, “This is part of creating a safe and secure workplace, and the name tags’ purpose — to enhance (employees’) public service awareness — remains the same.”

(Japanese original by Kazuhito Shimozono, Miyazaki Bureau)