The Daily Populous Thursday August 22nd, 2024 morning edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by one_brown_jedi

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A karate expert in Japan who broke a haunted house worker’s jaw with a kick in 2011 has lost his lawsuit against an amusement park.

The man, who admitted to drinking before entering the haunted house at Toei Kyoto Studio Park in Kyoto in 2011 while travelling with his colleagues, had argued that the park should have warned visitors that humans acted as ghosts and it should have protected its staff better.

The karate expert was startled when a park worker, dressed as a ghost, stepped forward to frighten him. The man, who has not been named, kicked the “ghost” in the face and later said it was a reflex.

The worker filed a lawsuit seeking compensation.

A settlement was reached in 2015 when the karate expert agreed to pay 10 million yen (£52,534) in damages.

He later filed his own lawsuit against the theme park’s managing company, arguing that they were responsible for the incident as well and should cover a portion of the damages he had agreed to pay.

He said the park was negligent for not training staff in how to prevent an attack from a visitor and that he shouldn’t have been allowed into the attraction given that he had been drinking, the website SoraNews24 reported.

But the Osaka High Court last month ruled his kick was an overreaction, dismissing his claim that the park was partly responsible for the incident.

The court said the man’s kick that broke the worker’s jaw “went beyond the scope of a reflexive action taken out of sheer fear”.

The “ghosts” were the main attraction of the park and they never physically attacked anybody, the court said. So, there was no need for any customer to use physical violence.

“While it is true that the aim of the staff portraying the ghosts is to surprise customers, this is done with the understood principle that the haunted house is something that can be safely enjoyed,” the court said.

“Unlike within the story of a movie or TV show, the ‘ghosts’ are not actually attacking the customers, so there is no need for them to physically fight back.”

The court said “it is difficult to find any justifiable motive or logical rationale” for the karate expert’s actions.

SneakyPhil on August 21st, 2024 at 15:41 UTC »

I've been punched in the face a few times by drunk idiots coming into a haunted house I used to work at. I was the first real scare when inside and had ample time to plan as each group approached. I would specifically wait for dudes at the back of a group of females and those guys were ALWAYS the ones throwing fists.

Digita1B0y on August 21st, 2024 at 15:02 UTC »

If you're the type of person who starts throwing punches when you get scared, and you visit a haunted house.....you're the asshole.

LigmaDragonDeez on August 21st, 2024 at 14:32 UTC »

Was the attacker under the impression the ghost was real? Has he been hit in the head too many times?