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  USARonin at 12:07 PM JST - 18th July

  EnGee, when mailman-san signed on he knew he'd have to follow current and future rules and regulations regardin' groomin', dress and all things sundry and not.

  He knew the deal when he signed on. If he feels he cannot honor the deal he made on Day One, then he should be a man and leave.

  The world does not revolve around him. He should stop bein' a child and act like a man.

  USAR

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  USARonin at 12:15 PM JST - 18th July

  Cleo, are you tellin' me that the Japanese postal service has no written standards on groomin' and dress and the conduct they expect of their employees.

  C'mon, Cleo, even you don't believe that whopper.

  He knew the deal from Day One.

  If his government agency stopped payin' him but expected him to keep workin' then they's be at fault.

  That's not the case here. This is the simple non-issue story of a man-child who thinks the world revolves around him and refuses to grow up.

  Occam's Razor.

  USAR

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  cleo at 12:17 PM JST - 18th July

  when mailman-san signed on he knew he'd have to follow current and future rules and regulations regardin' groomin', dress and all things sundry and not.

  No, he signed on as a postie, not as military cannon-fodder. If the company suddenly decided they wanted all their posties with all head hair shaved, nose rings, face tattoos and Dr Tofu's famous purple eyebrows, would you still be urging him to 'be a man'? Or would you be struck with a tiny niggling doubt that maybe, just maybe, the company was overstepping its bounds as an employer and should just let him and his colleagues get on with doing a job they've been doing perfectly well for over a decade?

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  cleo at 12:19 PM JST - 18th July

  He knew the deal from Day One.

  The deal from Day One and for 14 years after Day One was that there was no problem at all with his moustache.

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  OssanULTRA at 12:21 PM JST - 18th July

  "I suggest that this fellow go to the library and locate old photographs of members of the early Japanese Postal Service in the Meiji Era. I'll bet moustaches and beards were "historically" part of the Japanese Postal service."

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  USARonin at 12:30 PM JST - 18th July

  Cleo, if the Japanese postal service suddenly required him to cannabalize on child under four years of age each day on his route, I'd expect him to honor the deal he signed on Day One... or resign. That's what a man does.

  "Cannon-fodder", Cleo?

  Aren't you bein' a tad dramatic?

  No?

  USAR

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  Zen_Builder at 02:17 PM JST - 18th July

  This NOT a new conflict.

  His conflict with his superiors started after Japan Post introduced new grooming regulations in 2004.

  So far close to 4yrs on it, how many companies you know that wouldn't have fired him a long time ago? Nothing to do with privatization, etc as the ruling predates it.

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  thedeath at 02:18 PM JST - 18th July

  this j-postman did proof that there is still human among this programed robotic base society.

  a human who can think, feel and do not afraid to step up protecting what he thing it is his right.

  i really hope that he will win the case.

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  Scrote at 05:14 PM JST - 18th July

  "if the Japanese postal service suddenly required him to cannabalize on child under four years of age each day on his route, I'd expect him to honor the deal he signed on Day One... or resign. That's what a man does."

  That doesn't sound like a man to me, that sounds like a loser.

  When people's rights are being abused and taken away, a real man (or woman) stands up and fights back. Otherwise we would quickly end up like North Korea.

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  Patrick Smash at 10:55 PM JST - 20th July

  See, the reason I won't employ people with moustaches, or blokes who wear jewellery and like poncey long hair is that the locals don't like these things. I think the moustache looks daft usually but if it was accepted by my clients I wouldn't mind it. But it's not. If the local mindset changed, I would change my hiring policies.

  If this chap had his little growth at his job interview, then he should be allowed to keep it.

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  Moondog at 03:03 AM JST - 21st July

  When you accept employment, you exchange freedom for security. Your employer (i.e., the one who employs or, to use a synonym, uses you) takes on the responsibility for making sure that the money you need to keep roof over head and food on the table is there without fail every month and, in exchange, you agree to serve the employer by performing certain duties and obeying certain rules.

  Or, put rather more bluntly, the employer keeps the wolf from your door and, for that, you kowtow to the employer.

  For employers, it's important that the persons they use (i.e., their serve-ants) be emasculated to keep them docile and obedient. This makes them more reliable and, hence, more useful.

  Of course, these days the emasculation of servants is just symbolic. Suits, neckties, hair cuts, clean-shaven faces--it's all symbolic emasculation. Of course, it also makes for better relations with customers, etc., when employees are bland and non-threatening.

  A real man is one who keeps the wolf from his door himself. And an even stronger man is one keeps the wolf from other's doors, too.

  Real men do sometimes wear suits, neckties and keep their hair short, but the difference is that they do so as a matter of choice (generally so as not to scare customers), not because it's a 'work rule.'

  But real men also, quite often, have mustaches, beards and, yes, long hair. Anyone who thinks long hair is something women have is historically-challenged. Short hair on men is simply a recent 'fashion' that has come about due to the increasing number of men in servitude during the last 100 or so years.

  Whether the postal worker will have to shave is up to a court. It will be interesting to see if they uphold the employer's right to symbolic emasculation or allow him the freedom to act like a real man (without actually being one, of course). The former will support the stability of the society (docile & obedient workers) while the latter could lead to a weakening.

  P.S. In this posting, I've spoken of real men because the issue at hand is facial hair. Of course, there are also strong women who keep the wolf from their door (and the doors of others, too).

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  Nessie at 10:36 AM JST - 23rd July

  I'm with Cleo.

  Of course, grandfathering-in carriers under the old rules would result in different rules for different employees, so that would be sticky.

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  dennis0bauer at 03:47 PM JST - 23rd July

  USAR an Employer should use common sense (which seems to be a lack off in this country), i also agree with Cleo.

  If it was such a big issue, they would have fired him allready.

  Maybe an idea for a new product? Clip on Mustaches for those stringent companies?

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  USARonin at 04:02 PM JST - 23rd July

  Dear Mister Bauer, I'm sure the Japanese postal service did not change their regs just to target this individual.

  If this mailman-san cannot adapt to the changes of the conditions of his employment, he should man-up, resign and move on.

  He should grow up and realize the world doesn't revolve around him.

  Graciously assumin' you're also not one of them, aren't you gettin' a little tired of all the self-centered crybabies who think the world revolves around them?

  USAR

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  Nessie at 05:47 PM JST - 23rd July

  Does the no-stache rule apply to the women carriers, too?

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