Osaka court rules kick ‘went beyond the scope of a reflexive action taken out of sheer fear’

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.

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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.