Bar chain tries to shame Japanese into drinking responsibly

The average Japanese salary man is known to socialise after work with copious amount of sake or beer. So it's not uncommon to see men passed out on the streets after a particularly heavy bout.

Tokyo bar chain Yaocho Bar has decided to tackle the issue of drunk sleeping by turning these sleeping people into "human billboards" to draw attention to the problem.

Using duct tape and printed cardboards, the group went searching for sleeping people and tried to "shame people into drinking moderately", it said in its YouTube posting of a video on the campaign.

It is not clear if the people in the video are actual drunks or just actors, but the idea is, nevertheless, interesting. This is especially so in Japan, where "face" is a paramount concern for most people.

sinsh@sph.com.sg