This narrative is based on an interview with a 43-year-old man who works for a Japanese auto corporation. He spoke on condition of complete anonymity.

名前を言えなくてごめんなさい (Namae o ienakute gomen nasai, I'm sorry I can't give my name) but the current atmosphere in my company is so bad, anything that leaks out is likely to be deemed as 裏切り行為 (uragiri kōi, an act of betrayal).

Back in November, I didn't even know what #MeToo was. People in my department started talking about it and one night, riding the train home from work, I looked it up on my スマホ (sumaho, smartphone).