One in four workers in Japan experienced power harassment over the past three years, according to a recent survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The poll of 4,580 companies with 30 or more employees, conducted between July and September of 2012, also found that 45.2 percent of the surveyed companies saw the issue of power harassment raised by employees during the past three years, and 32 percent recognized power harassment cases within their companies.

Those startlingly high figures reveal a picture of the Japanese workplace as an often-oppressive place. This new survey perhaps finally makes clear what every worker in Japan already knows, that power harassment is a common part of working life.

The ministry established an official definition of power harassment in January 2012 and made recommendations for companies. Late as it was, that was an important step forward. Long filled with markers of unequal status and strict channels of communication, Japanese workplaces need more than definitions and guidelines. They need action.