🚗 Even a Silicon Valley giant couldn't escape Japan's dark sales culture. Employees at Tesla's Japan division were paying order fees out of their own pockets to meet sales quotas — a practice the Japanese call "Jibaku Eigyo" (self-destructive sales). While Tesla's global sales plummeted, Japan's numbers looked too good to be true. Here's the story behind the numbers.

What Happened at Tesla Japan

In February 2026, Japanese business publication Diamond Online broke an exclusive story: some employees at Tesla's Japan operation had been engaging in "Jibaku Eigyo" — literally "self-destructive sales" — to meet their sales targets.

Here's how it worked. Tesla Japan has a unique ordering system where customers pay a non-refundable "order fee" of about $100 (15,000 yen) via credit card before deciding whether to actually purchase a vehicle. This fee is separate from the car's price and is not returned even if the order is canceled.

According to the report, some Tesla Japan employees were using their own credit cards to pay these order fees on behalf of real customers or even fictitious ones — essentially inflating order numbers at their own expense. The practice was internally nicknamed "Jibaku Orders."

Management took the issue seriously. Tesla Japan's CEO Richi Hashimoto and other senior executives voluntarily forfeited portions of their compensation in response.

Adding to Tesla Japan's labor troubles, a separate wrongful dismissal case recently concluded when the company effectively conceded defeat in court, accepting an employee's reinstatement claim after a judge indicated the firing was likely illegal.

Behind the "Record Numbers" — Why Japan Looked Great While the World Struggled

Tesla's global picture in 2025 was bleak. Worldwide deliveries fell 8.6% to approximately 1.64 million vehicles. China's BYD surged past Tesla for the first time with 2.26 million EVs sold — a 28% increase. The reasons behind Tesla's global decline include CEO Elon Musk's controversial political activities heading the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the expiration of the $7,500 U.S. EV tax credit, and fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers.

In Europe, Tesla's sales dropped 28%. In Canada, they plummeted by as much as 67%. Anti-Musk boycotts spread across multiple continents throughout 2025.

But Japan was a different story. Tesla Japan's estimated sales reached about 10,600 vehicles in 2025 — roughly double the 5,000-unit average from 2021 to 2024. The company expanded from its traditional online-only model by opening showrooms in shopping malls and aggressively hiring sales staff.

Now we know that at least part of these impressive numbers were artificially inflated by employees paying out of their own pockets.

What Is "Jibaku Eigyo"? — Japan's Toxic Sales Quota Culture

"Jibaku Eigyo" (自爆営業) is a uniquely Japanese workplace phenomenon where employees spend their own money to purchase company products or services in order to meet sales quotas. The term literally means "self-destructive sales" or "suicide bombing sales" — a vivid metaphor for the self-sacrificial nature of the act.

This practice has deep roots across many Japanese industries. Some well-known examples include post office workers buying thousands of New Year's greeting cards (nengajo) out of pocket to meet quotas, convenience store clerks forced to purchase unsold Christmas cakes, agricultural cooperative workers paying insurance premiums to hit targets, and car dealership employees covering vehicle discount costs from their own salary.

The underlying driver is Japan's intense "norma culture" — where sales targets are treated not merely as business objectives but as measures of loyalty and dedication to the team. Failing to hit numbers doesn't just affect bonuses; it can damage one's reputation, career trajectory, and standing among colleagues. Under this silent pressure, employees "voluntarily" resort to self-funding sales rather than face social consequences.

In the most tragic cases, employees have taken their own lives after being crushed by mounting debt from self-funded quota obligations. A financial sector worker who borrowed from family members to cover mandatory insurance sales quotas eventually died by suicide.

Why Does This Happen Even at a Foreign Company?

Tesla is a Silicon Valley tech company with a reputation for disrupting traditional business models. So why did Jibaku Eigyo take root there?

Several factors likely contributed. When Tesla Japan shifted from online-only sales to physical retail in 2025, it rapidly hired sales staff — many of whom likely came from Japan's conventional automotive and retail sectors, where quota culture is deeply ingrained.

Tesla's relatively low order fee of $100 also lowered the psychological barrier. Unlike buying an entire car, paying a small order fee on a customer's behalf may have seemed like a minor act — an easy shortcut to boosting numbers.

Furthermore, with global sales under pressure, performance expectations on the Japan team may have been amplified. Even within a foreign company's framework, local operations inevitably absorb elements of the host country's work culture.

Japan's Government Steps In — "Jibaku Eigyo Is Power Harassment"

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has been moving to formally address this issue. The ministry plans to explicitly state in its power harassment prevention guidelines that Jibaku Eigyo constitutes "power harassment" (pawahara) when it meets three criteria: the behavior stems from a superior position, exceeds what is necessary for business, and harms the worker's employment environment. This designation, set to take effect in October 2026, will require companies to implement prevention measures.

Previously, there was no law directly prohibiting Jibaku Eigyo, making it difficult for workers to seek legal recourse. The new designation under Japan's Comprehensive Labour Policy Promotion Act represents a significant shift from decades of treating the practice as an unfortunate but tolerated custom.

How Does This Compare to the West?

In Western countries, the concept of Jibaku Eigyo is largely unheard of. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prohibits requiring employees to bear work-related expenses that push their effective earnings below minimum wage. EU member states offer even stronger worker protections, with works council systems in France and Germany that monitor unreasonable quota setting.

Western sales cultures typically operate on commission-based compensation, creating a different incentive structure. When your pay directly reflects your sales, there's no reason to spend your own money to artificially boost numbers — you'd be paying yourself.

That said, excessive quota pressure exists everywhere. The Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal of 2016 showed how American employees under intense sales pressure opened millions of unauthorized accounts. The specific form of misconduct differs, but the underlying problem of toxic sales targets driving unethical behavior is a global issue.

Your Turn — How Bad Is Sales Pressure in Your Country?

The Jibaku Eigyo scandal at Tesla Japan reveals a deeply rooted problem in Japanese work culture that even a Silicon Valley disruptor could not avoid. The unspoken rule of "sacrifice your own wallet rather than fail your team" proved too powerful to overcome with corporate culture alone.

Japan's regulatory response is an important step, but the challenge extends beyond what laws can address. The silent pressure of "produce numbers or be judged," the fear of being seen as a burden to colleagues — these are cultural forces that operate in the spaces between legal paragraphs.

How much pressure do sales quotas create in your country? Have you ever seen employees spend their own money to make their numbers look better? We'd love to hear about your country's experience with sales culture and workplace expectations.

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