"Gift rage" lands worker in court?

TOKYO (Reuters) - A disgruntled Japanese worker smashed up his employer's office in a fit of pique after his boss ignored his gift of jelly desserts, a national paper said on Thursday.

An Osaka court heard that the 31-year-old man, who worked for an online clothing sales company, had given the company president a box of jellies in the summer as a mark of gratitude after landing the job, the English-language Asahi Shimbun said.

Many Japanese maintain a tradition of sending gifts to important business contacts in summer and winter.

When the employee realized that his boss had left the box of jellies unopened under his desk, he smashed 22 computers in the office with a truncheon, the paper said. No one was injured in the incident.

The man pleaded guilty to charges of obstructing business with force, the paper said.

"I wish the company president had cared a little more," the paper quoted the employee's lawyer as saying.

Prosecutors said the employer had been too busy to open the gift, the paper said.