INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE

STUDIES AND REPORTS
Series A (Industrial Relations) No. 37

I N D U S T R I A L LABOUR
IN JAPAN
ILO-SR_A37_engl

GENEVA
1933
Published in the United Kingdom
For the INTERNATIONAL
LABOUROFFICE
(LEAGUE
OF NATIONS)
By P. S. KING & SON, Ltd.
Orchard House, 14 Great Smith Street, Westminster, London, S.W.t

Printed by G. THONE,Liege (Belgium)

PREFACE

The following study of conditions of industrial life and
labour in Japan is the result of documentary researches undertaken by the International Labour Office in pursuance of the decision of its Governing Body to give effect to a Resolution of the
Seventh (1925) Session of the International Labour Conference.
This Resolution, which was moved by Mr. N. M. Joshi, Workers'
Delegate of India, read as follows :

" The Seventh Session of the International Labour Conference
expresses the hope that the International Labour Office will continue
to collect and publish available information regarding the conditions
of labour in Asiatic countries and also requests the Governing Body
of the International Labour Office, in consultation with the Governments concerned, to undertake, so far as is possible, a documentary
enquiry into the conditions of labour in those countries, more especially
in China, India, Japan, Persia and Siam and in the colonies, protectorates and mandated territories in Asia. " '
This volume on Japan is the first of a series of similar studies
on Asiatic territories which the Office proposes to publish in
order to carry out the intentions of the second part of the above
Resolution. In execution of the first part of the Resolution the
Office has continued, by articles in the International Labour
Review and more particularly by notes in Industrial and Labour
Information, to make available a large amount of information
on the developments of industrial legislation and in conditions
of labour in Asiatic countries. Thus it happens, in regard to
Japan, that some part of the information on existing conditions
and legislation contained in this volume has already been
published by the Office in the regular discharge of its duty under
Internationd Labour Conference, Seventh Session, Geneva, 1925,
Vol. 11, p. 837.

IY

PREFACE

Article 396 of the Treaty of Yersailles to collect and distribute
information.
The utility of the present volume does not, however, lie in the
bringing together in an ordered and organic form of the elements
of information on industrial life and labour in Japan which are
dispersed in other publications. Its main purpose is to present
this information in the special setting of the social and economic
history and structure of modern Japan. In preparing the volume
the Office has been governed by the realisation that, to describe
existing labour conditions in any country in such a manner as
to facilitate useful and intelligent international comparisons, it
must be recognised that "conditions of labour do not differ only
in respect of hours worked or wages earned, and they cannot
always be statistically represented. This is particularly true of
the countries of Asia. In each of these countries conditions of
labour have become what they are now as a result of age-long
customs and traditions. In some cases changes have taken place,
and are still taking place, with extraordinary rapidity, and if the
significance of these changes is to be fully comprehensible, it is
necessary to understand the influences which have led to the
formation of these customs or traditions.. .. Only by attempting
to describe and interpret the inter-relation of industrial conditions
as they exist now in these countries with the social customs and
traditions that have grown up through centuries will it be possible to give an adequate picture of living and working conditions
in the countries of Asia1."
Such an institution as that of Kazoku Seido (family system)
in Japan, for example, is of great importance in connection with
unemployment, wages, trade unionism and the development of
labour legislation. This study would be of but little value if it
failed to make clear the significance both of this system and of
the feudal conceptions, still deep-rooted in the Japanese mind,
of loyalty on the one hand and paternalism on the other.
Again, it has appeared necessary to take into account those
factors which bear directly upon the industrial situation of Japan :
geographical conditions, climate, the size and relative density of
the population and the rate of its increase or decrease, the extent
of arable land area, the abundance or scarcity of resources in
Report of t h e Director, First Part, pp. 448, 449. International Labour
Conference, Eighth Session, Geneva, 1926.

PREFACE

V

minerals, raw materials, food, etc., for these influence not only
the degree and forms of industrial development but also the
standards of labour legislation.
The present volume is divided into six Parts, Part I serving
as an introduction and the others dealing respectively with
" Industrial Relations ", " Labour Legislation and Administration ", " Conditions of Work ", " Unemployment and Migration,",
and " Workers' Welfare, Education and Co-operation ", followed
by a short concluding note. Reference to the text is facilitated by
a detailed Table of Contents and a list of statistical tables. and
appended to the volume will be found a bibliography and a conspectus of Japanese labour legislation.
In conclusion, the International Labour Office would express
its deep sense of gratitude to the competent Departments of the
Japanese Government, and particularly to the Delegation of the
Japanese Government to the Governing Body of the Office for the
generous help they have given it both in the form of advice and
suggestions in the preparation of this volume and of the supply of
necessary documents.

CONTENTS
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PART I
INTRODUCTORY

CHAPTER
I : The Land and the People . . . . . . . . . . .
Geographical and Political . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The People of Japan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Productive Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Urban Concentration of the Population . . . . . . . .
Population and Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER
I1 : Historical Background

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The Feudal Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Imperial Regime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER
I11 : Rise of Industrialism . . . . . . .
Development of Industrial Employment . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER
IV : Economic Structure of Modern Japan .
Raw Materials . . . . . . . . . .
Cocoon . . . . . . . . . . .
Cotton . . . . . . . . . . .
Coal
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Oil . . . . .
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Iron
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Copper
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Misc~llaneous . . . . . . . .
Shortage of Raw Materials and Foreign
Capital . . . . . . . . . . . .
Comn~unications . . . . . . . . .
Railway and Road Transport . . .
Shipping . . . . . . . . . .
Power Resources . . . . . . . . .

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PART I1
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

CHAPTER
I : The Development of the Problem of Industrial Relations
Influx of New ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The "Family System " on Trial . . . . . . . . . . . .

Page
111

CONTENTS

YIII

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Increase of Labour Disputes . . . . . . . . .
Nature of Labour Disputes . . . . . . . . . .
Wages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hours of Work . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Collective Bargaining and the Right of Association
Discharge Allowances . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Causes of Disputes . . . . . . . . .
Frequency of Disputes i n Various Industries . . . .
Influence of Trade Unions on Labour Disputcs . . .
Tactics i n the Conduct of Disputes . . . . . . .
Results of Disputes . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Infringement of Law d u r i n g Labour Disputes . . .

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CHAPTERI1 : Employers' Organisations . . . . . . . . .
Importance of Organisations of Capital . . . . . . . . . .
Craft Guilds and the Early Formation of Legal Associations . .
Free Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kon-wa Kai. or " Friendly Talk Societies " . . . . . . . .
Concerted Action among Employers . . . . . . . . . . .
Account of Leading Employers' Organisatious :
The Japan Industrial Club (h'ihon KGgyo Club) . . . . .
The Japan Cotton Spinners' Association (Dai Nilion BTiseki
Reng6 Kai) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Japan Shipowners' Association (Nihon Senshu Kyokai)
The Federation of Coal-Mine Owners (Sekitan KTigyo RengG
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Kai) . . . .
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The Osaka I~idustrialSociety (Osaka KGgyo Kni)
The Industrial Friendship Society (K6shin Kai) . . . . .

CHAPTER111 : Trade Unionism . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Origins and Development . . . . . .
The Older Guilds . . . . . . . . .
Early Trade Unions :
The First Period (1880-1894) . . .
The Second Period (1895-1900) . .
The Third Period (1900-1912) . . .
Rise of Modern Trade Unions (1912-1919)
Period of Consolidation (1920-1924) . .
Period of Political Influences (1925-1931)

CHAPTERIV

: Trade Unionism (continued) .

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Tendencies and Structure of Japanese Trade Unions . . . . .
Right Wing Unions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The General Federation of lapanese Labour (Nihon R6d6
SGdGmei) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Japan Seamen's Union (Nihon Kaiin Kumiai) . . .
The Federation of Naval Arsenal Workers' Unions (Kaigun
R8d6 Kumiai Renmei) . . . . . . . . . .
. .
The Federation of UTorkers in State Undertakings (Kangpo
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RGdG SddGmei)
Mercantile Marine Officers' Association (Kniin Kyokai) . .
Other Right Wing Unions . . . . . . . . . . .

IX

CONTENTS

Page

Left Wing Unions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
National Free Federation of Trade Unions (Zenkoku R6d6
Kumiai Jiyii Reng6kai) . . . . . . . . . . . .
General Council of Japanese Trade Unions (Nihon R6d6
Kumiai S6-Hyogi Kai) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Centre Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
National Alliance of Trade Unions (Zenkoku R6d6 Kumiai
D6mei) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Confederation of Japanese Trade Unions (Nihon R6d6 Kumiai
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
S6reng6)
Japanese Trade Unions and Political Action . . . . . . . .
Trade Union Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
V : Industrial Conciliation . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAP~ER
The Labour Disputes Conciliation Act . . .
Field of Application . . . . . . . .
Conciliation Boards . . . . . . . .
Administrative Machinery . . . . . .
Results of the Application of the Act . .
Works Committees . . . . . . . . . .
The Joint Maritime Board (Kaiji Kyod6 Kai) .
The Kyocho Kai. or " Hnrmonisation Society "

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PART I11
LABOUR LEGISLATION AND ADMINlSTR#TIOR

CHAPTER
I : Labour Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Labour Legislation before 1919.
Existing Labour Legislation . .
Factories . . . . . . .
Mines . . . . . . . .
Seafaring . . . . . . .
Other Employments . . .
Employment Exchanges
.
Social Insurance . . . .
Trade Unionism . . . .
Miscellaneous . . . . .
CHAPTER
I1 : Labour Administration

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The Bureau of Social Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Central Authorities for Labour Administration . . . . .
Local Administrative Authorities . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inspection of Factory and Mining Labour . . . . . . . .
PART IV
CONDITIONS OF WORK

CHAPTER
I : Recruitment. Employment and Discharge of Workers
Recruitment . . . . .
Admission to Employment
Works Regulations . . .
Discharge of Workers . .

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and Apprenticeship . . . . . . .

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CONTENTS

X

Page

CHAPTERI1 : Hours of Work, Night Work a n d Rest Periods . . . .
Factories
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Hours of Work
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Overtime
Breaks and Rest Days . .
Night Work
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Mines
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Hours of Work
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Overtime
Breaks and Rest Days . .
Night Work . .
Transport and Postal,, Telegraph
CHAPTER111 :

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and Telephone Services . . .

Wages and Cost of Living

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Legal Provisions
Current Methods of Wage Payment . .
Actual Wages
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Factories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mines
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Transport and Postal, Telegraph and Telephone Services .
Wages and Cost of Living . . . . .
Family Budgets . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTERIV : Industrial Accidents,
Mutual Aid . . . . . .

Accident

Compensation and

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Industrial Accidents
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Accidents i n Factories . . .
Accidents i n Mines . . . .
Accident Compensation . . . .
Legal Provisions . . . . .
Compensation Paid . . . .
Additional Allowances . . .
Mutual Aid Societies . . . . .
State-Owned Undertakings .
Privately-Owned Undertakings
CHAPTERV : Health and Safety of Workers . . .
Health Conditions i n Factories and Mines . .
Sickness among Factory Workers . . . .
Sickness among Mining Workers . . . .
Occupational Diseases and Compensation .
Health Legislation
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Dormitory Regulations
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Special Protection of Young Workers . .
Safety Legislation . . . . . . . . . . .
Development of Safety Regulations . . .
Safety Regulations for Factories. . . . .
Safety Regulations for Mines . . . . .
Special Safety Regulations for Coal-Mines .
Special Regulations for Dormitories . . .
Special Protection of Women and Young Persons
Popular Safety Movements . . . . . . . . . . .

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CONTENTS

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Page

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Origins of Health Insurance in Japan . . .
Provisions of the Health Insurance Act . .
Working of the Health Insurance Act . . .

~ R A P T
VI~ :

Social insurance

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Insurance Institutions
Organisation of Medical Benefit . . . . . . . . . .
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Finance
Preventive Measures and Supervision . . . . . . . .
Attitude of Employers. Workers and Doctors . . . . . .
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Seamen's Insurance
Post Office Insurance and Annuities . . . . . . . . . .
PART V
UNEMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION

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Extent of Unemployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
National Unemployment Census . . . . . . . . . . .

CHAPTER
I : Unemployment

Monthly Estimates of Unemployment . . . . . . . . .
Legislative and Other Measures to Deal with Unemployment . .
Unemployment Relief
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Unemployment Relief for Seamen . . . . . . . . . .
Public Employment Exchanges . . . . . . .
Seamen's Employment Exchanges . . . . . .
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Fee-Charging Employment Exchanges . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER
I1 : Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Development of Japanese Emigratio~t . . . . . . . . . .
Legislative and Other Measures for the Encouragement of Emigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Extent of Emigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Internal Migration and Colonial Settlement . . . . . . . .

PART VI
WORKERS' WELFARE. EDUCATION AND CO-OPERATION

CHAPTER
I : Welfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Welfare Measures In and Around the
Hygiene and Food . . . . . .
Dormitory System
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Medical Treatment . . . . .
Education and Recreation . . .
Company Shops . . . . . . .
Bonuses and Savings . . . . . .
Welfare Funds and Societies . . .

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CHAPTER
I1 : Workers' Education . . . . . . . . . . . . .
General Education . . . . . . . . .
Social and Adult Education . .
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CONTENTS
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Page

Workers' Education Organised
Employers and Workers .
Private Institutions . . .
Employers
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Workers . . . . . . .
CHAPTER111 : Co-operalion

by Private Institutions o r by

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The Law and Co.operation . . . . . . . . .
Development of Co-operative Societies . . . .
General . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Co-operative Credit Societies . . . . . .
Co-operative Selling or Marketing Societies
Co-operative Buying Societies . . . . . .
Cb-operative Stores . . . . . . .
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Co-operative Utility Societies . . . . . .
Federations of Co-operative Societies . . .
Workers' Co-operative Societies . . . . . .

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APPENDICES

I . Conspectus of Labour Legislatioll . . . . . . . . . . . .
I1 . Bibliography . . .
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339
339
341
343

LIST OF STATISTICAL TABLES

Page

I. Increase in Number and Density of Population, 1879-1930
11. Productive Population Classified by Age and Sex, 1925 .
111. Numbers of Factories Employing at least Ten Operatives
and of Workpeople Classified according to Sex,
1889-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
IV. Number of Factories Employing at least Five Operatives
Classified according to their Size, 1909-1929 . . . .
V. Number of Operatives Employed in Factories Classified
according to the Size of the Factories, 1909-1928 . .
VI. Number of Factories Utilising Prime Movers and of Factory Operatives Classified according to Sex, 1900-1929
VII. Value of Factory Products Classified according to Industry, 1909-1929 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
VIII. Number of Industrial Workers, 1930-1931 . . . . . .
IX. Export and Import of Foodstuffs, Raw Materials and
Manufactured Articles, 1921-1930 . . . . . . . .
X. Foreign Trade in 1928-1929 . . . . . . . . . . .
XI. Motive Power Used in Factories, 1909-1929 . . . . . .
XII. Increase of Labour Disputes, 1919-1930 . . . . . . .
XI11 Labour Disputes Ending in Strikes, Lock-outs, or
" Ca' canny ", and Others Ending with Compromise,
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1919-1930 . .
XIV. Comparative Size of Disputes, 1921-1929 . . . . . . .
XV. Duration of Labour Disputes, 1919-1929 . . . . . . .
XVI. Working-Days Lost by Disputes, 1924-1930 . . . . . .
XVII. Results of Labour Disputes, 1919-1929 . . . . . . .
XVIII. Annual Growth of Trade Unions, 1920-1931 . . . . .
XIX. Industrial Classification of Trade Unions, 1930 . . . .
XX. Structural Varieties of Trade Unions, 1931 . . . . .
XXI. Cases of Direct Bargaining and Mediation for the Settlement of Labour Disputes, 1922-1930 . . . . . .
XXII. Budget of the Bureau of Social Affairs, 1927-1931 . . .
XXIII Convictions for the Violation of the Factory Act, the
Minimum Age of Industrial Workers Act, etc.,
1926-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XXIV. Number of Persons Convicted, Cases and Amounts of
Fines. 1926-1929 . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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XIV

LIST OF STATISTICAL TABLES

XXV. Number of Recruiting Agents and Workers Recruited by
. . . . . . . .
Them, 1927-1930 . . . . .
XXVI. Hours of Actual Work per Day in Various Industries,
October 1927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XXVII. Changes in Hours of Actual Work in Different Classes of
Factories, 1926-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . .
XXVIII. Shift System in Various Industries Working Continuously,
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1930 . . . . .
XXIX. Number of Persons and Hours of O\ertime Worked in
Factories, October 1927 . . . . . . . . . . .
XXX. Length of Rest Period per Day in Factories, October 1927
XXXT. Rest Days
per
Month in Different Factories, October 1927
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XXXIT. Average Working Days per Month in Various Factories,
1926-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XXXIII. Number of Factories and Protected Workers Engaged in
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Night Work, 1928
XXXIV. Number of Daily Hours of Work in Mines, October 1927
XXXV. Overtime Worked in Mines, October 1927 . . . . . .
XXXVI. Length of Rest Periods per Day in Mines, October 1927
XXXVII. Number of Rest Days per Month in Mines, October 1927
XXXVIII. Daily Hours of Work and Rest Days per Month in Transport and Postal, Telegraph and Telephone Services,
September 1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XXXIX. Average Daily Wages where Wages Were Paid Wholly in
Money or Partly in Money and Partly in Kind, 1927
XL. Number of Factories Paying Wages at Specified Intervals
in Kanagawa Prefecture, 1928 . . . . . . . . .
XLI. Comparison of A\erage Daily Wages in Factories and
Mines, as Reported by the Labour Census and by the
Monthly Report on Wages and Prices, October 1927
XLII Comparison of Aterage Daily Wages of Male and Female
Workers Employed in Manufacturing Industries,
. . . . . .
1927-1931 . . . . . . . . .
XLIII. Average Daily Wages of Workers in Various Industries,
September 1928-1931 . . . . . . . . . . . .
XLIV. Average Daily Wages of Workers in Mines, September 1928-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XLV. Average Daily Wages of Workers in Transport and Postal,
Telegraph and Telephone Services, September 1928. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1931
XLVJ. Items and Their Weights Used for the Computation of
the Cost-of-Living Index Numbers . . . . . . .
XLVII. Index Numbers of Cost of Living and Real Wages,
January 1926-February 1931 . . . . . . . . . .
XLVIII. Average Monthly Income and Expenditure of Employees'
Households
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XLIX. Average Monthly Income and Expenditure of Indu. .
strial Workers' Households . . . . . . .
L. Scope of the Family Budget Enquiry, 1926-1927 . . . .
LI. Average Monthly Income and Expenditure of Land
.
. . .
. .
Workers' Households .
LTI. Average Size of the Family in Relation to Income, as
Ascertained by the Family Budget Enquiry of 1926. . . . .
. .
1927 . . . . . . . .

.

.

.

.

. .

.

.

. .

Page

160

LIST OF STATISTICAL TABLES
p
-

-

~111.Analysis of Expenditure for Food in the Families of Employees, Industrial Workers and Land Workers,
1926-1927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LIV. Average Monthly Expenditure of the Families of Employees
LV. Average Monthly Expenditure of the Families of Industrial
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Workers
LVI. Average Monthly Expenditure of the Families of Land
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Workers
LVII. (A) Accidents in Various Factories, 1921-1930 . . . .
(B) Fatal Accidents in Various Factories, 1921-1930 . .
LVIII. Proportion of Industrial Accidents in Various Factories,
1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LIX. Causes of Accidents in Private Factories, 1930 . . . .
LX. (A) Number of Accidents in Mines, 1920-1929 . . . .
(B) Rate of Accidents per 1,000 Workers (Surface and
Underground) in Various Mines, 1929 . . . . .
LXI Workmen's Compensation Paid to Factory Workers, 1930
LXII. Additional Rates of Compensation Paid in Some Factories
and Mines, April 1929 . . . . . . . . . . . .
LXIlI. Benefits Granted by the Mutual-Aid Society of the Japanese
State Railways . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LXIV. Cases of Sickness and Injury in Factories Employing at
least 500 Workers, 1926 . . . . . . . . . . .
LXV. Sickness and Injury Rates per 1,000 Workers in Factories
Employing at least 500 Workers, 1926 . . . . . .
LXVI. Morbidity among Factory Workers in Privately-Owned
Factories, Classified by Factories and Principal
. . . . . . . . . . .
Diseases, 1926 . .
LXVII. Principal Diseases of Workers in Factories Employing
over 500 Workers, 1926 . . . . . . . . . . .
LXVIII. History of Tuberculosis Cases . . . . . . . . . .
LXIX. Sickness and Injuries of Mining Workers, 1927 . . . .
LXX. Sickness in Various Groups of Mines, 1927 . . . . . .
LXXI. Incidence of Various Diseases in Mines, 1927 . . . . .
LXXIT. Occupational Diseases in Factories Employing more than
500 Workers and Amounts of Compensation Paid,
1926 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LXXIII Reduction of Injuries in Tokyo Prefecture, Safety Week
in October 1927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LXXIV. Reduction oC Sickness and Injuries in Hyogo Prefecture,
Safety Week in October 1927 . . . . . . . . .
LXXV. Reduction of Injuries throughout Japan, Safety Week
in July 1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . , .
LXXVI. Safety Committees in Japan, 1928 . . . .
. . . .
LXXVII. Number of Workers Covered by Health Insurance, 1926. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1930
LXXVIII. Health Insurance Societies, 1931 . . . . . . .
.
LXXIX Financial Situation of Health Insurance, 1926-1929 . .
LXXX. Unemployment in the More Important Industrial or
Mining Centres, 1925-1930 . . . . . . . . . .
LXXXI. Monthly Estimates of Unemployment, October 1930-Sep. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
tember 1931
LXXXII. Extent of Public Works undertaken for Unemployment
Relief, 1925-1931 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

XV I

LIST OF STATISTICAL TABIZS

LXXXIII. Employment Exchange Offices, February 1932 . . . .
LXXXIV Work of the Employment Exchanges, 1920-1930 . . .
LXXXV. Day Labourers' Wages Advanced by Public Employment
Exchanges, January 1931 . . . . . . . . . .
LXXXVI. Work of the Seamen's Employment Exchanges, November 1930-October 1931 . . . . . . . . . . .
LXXXVII Work of Fee-Charging Employment Agencies, 1921-1930
LXXXVIII. Number of Enligrants Sailing from and Returning to
Japan, 1921-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LXXXIX. necertt Emigration, Classified by Countrics of Destina. . . . . . . . . . . . .
tion, 1925-1930
XC. The Savings of Factory Workers, 1 October 1930 . . .
XCI Welfare Funds i n Representative Firms, 1930 . . . . .
XCII. ( A ) Primary, Secondary and Low-Grade Technical
Schools, 1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(B) State Expenditure for Popular Education, 1928-1931
XCIIT. Extent of School Attendance of Workers, October 1924 .
XCIV. Adult Education Courses Organised by the Department
of Education, 1923-1928 . . . . . . . . . . .
XCV. Training Courses for Foremen, 1929 . . . . . . . .
XCVI. Labour Schools, 1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XCVII. Progress of Co-operative Societies, 1900-1930 . . . . .
XCVIII. Proport:on between the Number of Co-operative Societies
and the Number of Cities, Towns and Villages, 19001930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
XCIX. Average Number of Members of Co-operative Societies,
1907-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C. Classification of Members of Co-operalive Societies accordi n g to Occupation, 1929 . . . . . . . . . . .
CI. Share Capital, Reserve Funds and Loans of Co-operative
Societies, 1918-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . .
CII. Development of Co-operative Credit Societies, 1921-1930 .
C:III. Development of Co-operative Selling or Marketing Societies, 1921-1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CIV. Purchases made by Co-operative Buying Societies, 19201929. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV. Progress of Co-operative Utility Societies, 1920-1929 . . .
CVI. Memhership, Capital, Surplus and Turnover of the Federationsof Co-operative Societies, 1 9 3 0 . . . . . - .

Page

297
299

300
302
302
311
311
328
329
336
336
337
338
345
346
352
352
353
353
354
355
356
356
358
360

PART I

INTRODUCTORY

CIIAPTER I

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Geographical and Political
'I'he Empire of Japan consists of the fom main islands of
Bonshu, Hokkaido, Kyusku and Shikoku, the outer islands of
Sakhalin and Formosa, the peninsula of Korea and seweral
hundreds of small islands. The total land area is 252,085.3 square
miles, of which 143,558.8 for Japan proper'. The coast line
is very broken and of great length in proportion to the land
area, the ratio being 1 mile of coast to every 9.5 square miles
of area ; there are many ports and natural harbours. The islands
are very mountainous, many of the mountains being volcanic,
and the soil is mainly lava, volcanic ashes and sand ; barcly
18 per cent. of the total area is under cultivation. Japan is well
watered, though the rivers are not navigable. The climate is
humid - the result of cocditions produced by the ocean currents
The total area of the Japanese Empire is as follows :
Sq. miles

Per cent. of area

Japan proper
IInnshn (with outlying islandz)
,,
,, )
Shiknkn ( ,,
,.
)
Kynshu ( ,,
Ilokknido
Kurilcs (31 inlands)
1.11chu (55 i.~lands)
Ol h w s
Sakholin (Knmfufo)
Ror-ea (Chwen)
Formosa (Taiwan, w i t h Pescadows nnd other islands)

143,558.8
85,203.7
6,945.9
15,558.7
32,846.8
1,104.3
882.9
1,010.5
13,353.2
81,6'3.1
13,500.2

56.96
33.83
2.75
6.17
13.03
0.43
0.36
0.40
5.29
32.39
5.36

Total

252,085.3

100.00

J J

INDUST111AL LABOUR IN JAPAN

----

2

IRDLS'TRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

-

-

surrountling the islands and by the forests, carefully maintained
by the traditional policy of afforestation. Japan is still mainly an
agricultural country, and industry is handicapped by the shortage
of raw materials, only coal and copper being found in considcrable quantities, with smaller quantities of gold, silver, iron and oil.
At the head of the Japanese State is the Emperor, who is
called by his suhjects Tenshi (son of heaven) or Tenn6 (heavenly
king). Under the Constitution of lSS9, the Emperor's person is
" sacred and inviolable ", sovereignty is vested in him, he exercises
the legislative power with the consent of Parliament, appoints
the Ministers who are responsible to him, declares war, makes
peace and treaties, and has the supreme command of the army and
navy. Parliament (the Diet) is composed of the House of Peers
and the House of Representatives, the latter elected since 1925 by
manhood suffrage. The Cabinet is formed of the Prime Minister
and the eleven Ministers who are heads of the eleven Departments
of State ; it is not mentioned in the Constitution and has no collective responsibility, for Ministers are individually responsible to
the Emperor alone. The Emperor is further advised by a Privy
Council, and when very important decisions have to be taken he
also consults the Elder Stalesmen (the genrb)'.
For administrative purposes, the Japanese Empire is divided
into two parts : (1) Japan proper" consisting principally of the
big islands of Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu and the
archipelagos or chains of small islands of Chishima (Kuriles)
and Riukiu (Luchu) ; and (2) dependent areas Vncluding Karafuto (Sakhalin) , Ch6sen (Korea), Taiwan (Formosa with Pescadores and other adjacent islands), leased territory of Kant6
(Kwantung) and the mandated islands in the Pacific.
Japan proper is subdivided into forty-seven autonomous
administrative units under three different appellations : Dij for
Hokkaido, Pu for the three big "urban prefectures" of Tokyo,
At present, Prinre Saionji is generally regarded as the only surviving
Genr6.
Nai-chi, meaning " inner land " literally, corresponds to t h e common
English expression '' Japan proper ".
"There
is no lapnnese e..pression designating these areas as a whole.
The late Marquis Komura s u ~ g e s t e dthe use of the word Gni-chi, meaning
" o r ~ l e r land ",
but it has not found wide acceptance. The department
of the metropolitan Go>ernment sl~pervisingthese areas is called Taka-mu
?ha, which is tran4nted in English '' Department for Overseas Affairs ",
t h o ~ ~ gTnliu-mu
h
strictly means the n o r k of development of u n c ~ ~ l t i v ~ t c d
lands.

THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

c

rc

Osaka and Kyolo, and K e n for the other forty-three "local prefectures ". However, as there is but little difference in their respective organisation and powers, for practical purposes these fortyseven units may all be regarded indiscriminately as "prefectures". The prefectures are subdivided in their turn into cities,
towns and rural districts. Each prefecture, city, town and village
has its elected assembly, the powers of which, however, are
mainly advisory and concerned with local finance ; the cities are
also empowered to own and manage municipal undertakings.
The control of the local administration is very centralised ; governors of prefectures are appointed by the Government, mayors of
cities are selected by the Minister of the Interior from three candidates chosen by the city council, and strict supervision of all acts
of local authorities is exercised by the central administration.
The civil service is highly organised, and the total number of
civil officials is well over 300,000.
Such is, in very brief outline, the geographical, political and
administrative setting of the story of Japanese labour which is
to be told in this report. The remainder of this chapter will be
devoted to giving a few essential facts about the Japanese people,
their characteristics, numbers, composition and special problems,
while the other chapters of this introductory part will give some
account of the evolution of Japanese industry and the economic
structilre of modern Japan.
The People of Japan

v

The population of Japan is hornogeneous, having a common
tradition and speaking a common language '. This is, of course,
true only of Japan proper, but the sentiment of kinship with the
peoples of the other parts of the Empire is said to be such as to
exclude any racial feeling on the part of the Japanese. The social
coherence of the Japanese is strengthened by the family system
(Kazoku Seido), to which reference will frequently be made in
this report ; this syslem not only regulates the relations of persons bound by ties of blood, but also extends to many other social
relationships, such as that of employer and employed, and creates
a feeling of nation-wide kinship.

' An interesting study of the racial characteristics of the Japanese and
the traits of Tapanese civilisation is found i n J. T. SUNDPRLAND: Rising
Japan, New York, 1918. See also INAZO
NITORB: Japan - S o m e Phases of
ller Problems and Development, London, 1931.

4

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N JAPAN

The Japanese have the reputation of being patient and industrious ; that they are also very adaptable is shown by the rapid
transformation of Japanese economy during the last sixty years.
There has, however, been little scientific study of their industrial
efficiency. They are said to be deficient in the sense of time, a
survival of the feudal idea of unrestricted service as a duty of
loyalty. On the other hand, increasing attention is being paid to
industrial efficiency, and progress in this direction is facilitated
by the system of education '.
Productive popalation. - The latest available detailed figures
of Japanese population are those of the census of 1920 and of the
interim census of 1925, but the general results of the 1930 census
are known and will be used whenever possible? According to
the 1930 figures, the total population of Japan proper was
64,450,005, of whom 32,390,155 were men and 32,059,850 women.
The increase in the total population and in density since 1879 is
shown in table I.
TABLE I.

- INCREASE I N NUMBER

AND DENSITY OF

POPULATION,

1879-1930
Year

1

Population

1

Density of
populalioo 2
(per sq. mile)

4Gth, 48th and 50th Nihon Teikoku TBkei Nenkan, pp. 20, 18 and 18 respectively.
Computed, with 143,558 square miles as the total lrnd area of Japan proper.

Ninety per cent. of the Japanese are literate. Elementary education
is free and compulsory. There are thirty-five universities and colleges,
State, municipal or private, and a large number of technical schools which
are public or private.
A full census is taken in Japan every ten years, but an interim census
is taken half-way through each ten-year period. The first decennial national
census was taken in 1920, the first interim census in 1925, and the second
decennial census in 1930. Further, an invrstigation for the collection of
labour statistics, which is in essence Japan's national labour census, is
carried out every three years. The first such investigation was made i n
1924, the second in 1927 and the third in 1930, coinciding with the second
decennial census. (Cf. R6d6 T6kei Jitchi ChBsa in Japanese, and for the text
LAROT
R OFFIPR: Legislntiw Series, 1922, .Tap. 1.)
of the law : INTERNATIONAL

t

P

5
-

THE L A h D AND T H E PEOPLE

It will be seen from this table that the population has practically doubled within half a century ; some of the problems to
which this rapid increase has given rise will be mentioned
below '.
The proportion of the two sexes is almost equally balanced
in the total population; the slight preponderance of males is more
marked in the productive ages and less marked in the non-productive ages, the explanation being the normal one that more
women than men live to over sixty-one years of age so that their
longevity more than counterbalances the excess of male over
female births. The term " productive ages" is used here to mean
the ages between fifteen and sixty years. The following table
shows these ages according to the interim census of 1925 :
TABLE 11.

- PRODUCTIVE

POPULATION CLASSIFIED BY AGE

/

- Percentage

....

Told

of t o t l

I

Total population
Productive population
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
Non-productive population
Below 15
Over 60
R6dd T6kei YGran, 1930 edition, p. 7
This proportion of productive populdlion in Japan (slightly o\er 55 per cent.) is lower
than that of other industrial couutriev such as the IJn~tedStates (60 per cent. in 1920), England
(63 per cent. in 1921), Germany (63 per cent. in 1910), France (62 per cent. in 1911), etc.
1

2

A valuable study of the population problem has been made by Dr.
I . TAKANO
: Honpd Jink6 no Genzai oyob; Sh6rai (Present and Future of
Japanese Population). It seems probable that the population will continue
to grow at the present rate for some time to come as recent figures show
the death rate is being steadily reduced to less than 20 per thousand, and
that there are fewer and fewer still-hirths, while the h i ~ f hrate is well
above 34 per thousand.

6

ISDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

Obviously not all who appear in the " productive age " class
are at work. The 1920 census distinguished between the
27,378,000 Hongyo-Sha (occupied persons) and the 28,585,000
Jiizoku-Sha, their " dependants ". Only 49 per cent. of the total
(55,963,000) were in occupations, 51 per cent. were dependants.
Among those classed as occupied some were not dependent on
any definite work for their livelihood ' and when these were subtracted the remaining 26,626,000 definitely occupied persons
were classified as follows :
Gyoshu (masters) . . . . . . . . 8,958,000 (33 per cent.)
Shoku-in (staff) . . . . . . . . 1,515,000 ( 6 per cent.)
lj6mu-Shn (workers)
. . . . . . 16,153,000 (61 per cent. )

The 16,153,000 workers w i t h their 4,594,000 dependants
make up, according to the report of the Statistical Bureau of the
Japanese Cabinet, the whole working class of Japan, i.e. 37 per
cent. of the total population of Japan proper.
In 1920 agriculture was the most important industry,
accounting for 55.4 per cent. of the total working population.
Industrial occupations were next in importance, employing
23 per cent., of which 6.8 per cent. were in the textile industry.
In the various industrial occupations the proportion of workers
(as compared with " masters" and " staff ") was highest in mining : 88 per cent.; in manufacturing industries, agriculture,
marine products industry and transport it exceeded 60 per cent.
Urban concentration of the population. - In Japan, as in
Europe, the population tends to desert the country and concentrate in the towns ; this renders still more serious the problem presented by the rapid increase of population in the country as a
whole Even if the population of districts of less than 10,000 inhabitants be considered as rural and only towns with over
10,000 inhabitants as urban, the rural population, which
was 82.28 per cent. of the total in 1898, fell to 75 per cent. in 1908,
in 1920 to 67.77 per cent., and again in 1925 to 65 per cent. Jt
m w t be granted that all the urban population is not necessarily

'

Desrrihed as Mcl-shokugyo-Sltn.
Carr>ing on their own undertakings.
" Assistants of the employer.
Employed workers u h o are not necessarily wage earners in the
sense of receiving money wages. In agriculture, fishing and some othrr
industries payment is often in kind.
8,239.000 of these are w o m e n .

.

C

I

P

P

TEIE
-

L A N D AND THE PEOPLE

-

7

--

industrial ; neither is the rural population wholly agricultural,
because as communications develop and the use of electric transport increases, an ever-growing number of people enter other
industries than agriculture. I'evertheless, owing to the expansion of manufacturing industries tens of thousands of the country
people are streaming into the towns every year, and the size and
number of towns between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants is rising
in consequence. There were only 153 such towns in Japan
in 1898, but their number rose to 3'78 in 1919 and in 1925 to 392.
'The rapidity of the increase in the development of the smaller
towns is demonstrated by the rise of the total number of
towns of more than 10,000 inhabitants from 233 in 1918 to 609
in 1925. The six largest cities, which are also the leading industrial centres of the Empire, have each a population of over
500,000 '.
In spite of the efforts made by the authorities to stop this
exodus from the country, the farms are deserted by ihe more
ambitious young men, exhausting the capacity of the urban
centres to absorb them and creating grave unemployment problems. But so long as agriculture -- which has been hut little
mechanised - involves heavy labour, the worker is bound to be
attracted by the labour-saving devices of industry in addition to
the far higher wage that can be earned for fhe same or less expenditure of physical energy '.
Population and food. - 'The problem of feeding Japan's
growing population is one of the most serious that the country
has to face. The principal food of the Japanese is rice, in the
production of which 5 3 million agricultural families arc
engaged. The other main foodstuffs such as barley, wheat, soya
bean, sweet potato, potato, etc., are subsidiary to rice, on the
increased production of which attention is primarily concentrated.
By an immense amount of painstaking labour the soil has been

' According to the last census on 10 October 1930 the population of
t l ~ csix largest cities was as follows :
Osaka . . . . . . . . 2,S.%,fi00
rokyo . . . .
. 2,051.400
Nagoya
. . . . .
905,400

Kobe . . . . . . .
Kyoto . . . . . . .
YoLohame . . . . . .

787,000
764,000
619,000

'(T a n ~ a n agojiu rii Shikisliimn hitofs1.r " (fifty cabbages for a box of
cigarettes) is a common street saying; this is a terse description of the
position of Tapanese asrricult~~re
to-dav.
Cf. 50thA,VihonT e i t o h T5kei ~ t n l i a n p.
, 71. Tn 1929 the w a r t figure
was 5,575,583.

8

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

--

forced to yield an increasing amount of rice; but it has been
well said that rice cultivation in Japan is intense, as it is laborious. but not intensive, since it is carried out in a primitive way,
and the future depends on the improvement of methods of cultivation l . There have already been improvements in cultivation
and many official commissions have studied the question. Moreover, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry drafted in 1926
a thirty-year plan providing for scientific methods of cultivation,
a rational system of fertilisation, State subventions, clearing of
virgin soil, destruction of insect pests, etc. This plan was designed to foresee and meet the needs of a population which should
be approximately 86,000,000 in thirty years if it continues to
increase at the rate per year shown in the 1925 interim census.
But even with improved cultivation and supplies of rice drawn
from Korea and Formosa it was recognised that the problem of
providing sufficient rice for food could barely be met at the end
of thirty years.
It is this food situation which gives all its importance to the
emigration problem. The Japanese do not desire to emigrate. As
Dr. Nitobe has pointed out, their natural inclination "is to be a
stay-at-home people ", because of their reverence for ancestors
and their reluctance to break up the family. If they move at all
they prefer to remain within the boundaries of their own
country '.
It is not therefore surprising that this reluctance to emigrate, combined with the obstacles to emigration, should have
given rise to a birth-control movement. It is as yet on a small
scale, but a beginning has been made in Tokyo and Osaka to teach
methods of birth control to workers. Several clinics have been
started in these cities within the past year or two, and, apart
from certain measures of supervision, the Government does not
I Studies of the population problem from the angle of food supply
by foreign observers are: JOHNE. O R C ~ A :R"DThe Pressi~reof Population
in Japan ", in the Geographical Review, July 1928; G. C. ALLEN: "The
Population Problem in lapan ", in Economics, June 1926; and E. F.
PENROSE:Food Supply and Raw Materials of Japan, Chicago University
: " The
Press, 1930. Among the studies by Japanese are : I. F. AYTJSAWA
Population Problem and Tndustrialisation in Japan ", in the International
Labour Rewiew, Oct. 1927 ; S. Nasu : The Problem of Population and
Food Supply in Japan, paper prepared for the Conference of the Institute
' I Over-population - Japan's Basic
of Pacific Relations, 1927 ; H. YOBOTAKR,
Problem ", in Far Eastern Review, October 1930.
a Cf. Dr. I. NITOBE:' I The Question of Food and Population in Japan ",
in World Outlook, April 1927, p. 29.

w

.c

THE LAED AND TIJE PEOPLE

-

9

apparently suppress the movement so long as it is the hands of
specialists. Although, however, a number of official and unofficial institutions have been set up to deal with this question
from the point of view of eugenics ', it is still too early to judge
of the ultimate effect of birth control on the population problem '.
The difficulties of a densely populated country having a
limited land area and faced with the prospect of a shortage of food
supply and insufficient outlets for emigration have led the Japanese to the conclusion that Japan must become more and more
industrialised, and this idea has found popular expression in the
phrase Sangyo Rik-koku (literally : "founding the nation upon
industry "). Sangyo Rik-koku is not only a traditional policy of
every Government, whatever party may be in power, but it has
come to embody a national determination common to every thinking Japanese. To bring about a definite increase in the country's
industrial capacity is the task which the Government and people
of Japan have set before them.

The population question is being :studied from the eugenic point
of view hy: (1) the Japan Eugenics -kssoci:~tion(Nihon YUsei Undo Kyokai)
under the leadership of Mr. R. Ikeda; (2) the Health Bureau of the
Department of the Interior; (3) the Bureau of Social Affairs at the Institute
for the Study of the Physical Character of the lapanese, and several
other institutions.
The traditional attitude that a large family is a sign of uprightness
in the parents still subsists (the proverb runs " an honest man has many
children ), and this is unfavourable to the spread of a movement to
populnrise birth control.

CHAPTER 11

THE HISTORICAL BACHGROUND

Consideration of social and labour problems in modern
Japan must necessarily take account of the fact that while her
present political and economic organisation is of recent origin
and has developed largely under Western influence, the more
important of her social institutions are steeped in tradition.
Therefore, to understand the problems now confronting Japanese
industry, it is essential to know something of the economic and
social conditions of the country in the feudal period and how thc
modern system evolved out of these conditions. To describe these
conditions and trace this evolution is the main purpose of this
chapter.

-

The Feudal Economy
From the latter part of the twelfth century, whcu the Emperor
delegated his governing powers to the Shogun, until the Restoration of Meiji in 1868, the land was divided among feudal lords
(Daimyo). who numbered some two hundred and sixty under
the rule of the Tokugawas and who were pledged to maintain
a hereditary fighting force (Samurai) in their respective fiefs.
Below the Samurai came the plebian orders - peasants. artisans,
merchants, between whom and the martial and lettered nobility
the line was as sharply drawn as in the medizval feudalism of
the Western world '.
The basis of the feudal economy "as,
of course, agriculture,
and, as rice was then as now the principal food of the people,
everything turned upon the maintenance of the cultivation of
For an account o f Lhe feutlnl >ystern, cf. I<. H 4 n i Ar, Introduction to
llle History of Japan, Ac\v Jork, 1920.
Y o s k n u ~ oT A E C ~ O S X
Economic
~.
/ t s p e c f s of t h e ~ r i s f 0 r vof the C i l d i sation oJ .lopan, London, 19.30

'I

IlISTORICAL BACKGROURD
-

*'

r

--- -- .-

---

rice. The fiefs of the feudal lords were valued according to the
normal yield of rice ', and this also determined the official rank
of the holders of the fiefs. Moreover, rice took the place of money
in the remuneration of the Samurai and the higher ranks of the
lords' servitors', and would sometimes serve as a medium of
exchange, for money was held in contempt. The special importance attached to agriculture and its encouragement by the feudal
lords led to the farmer being esteemed more highly than other
plebeians. Artisans and craftsmen, those living by productive
work, had the next place in the hierarchy, while traders and merchants - who were considered as thriving on the labours 01
others - enjoyed least consideration even when they were not
actually despised, 'She term ch6-nin ( " town-man ") by which
inerchants were describcd was used in a contemptuous sense.
The fine arts had developed in Japan long before the Shogunate. having begun to be widely practised soon after the introduction of Buddhism and under the vigorous influence of that
religion. It was in the eighth century, the period of the greater
part of the marvellous architecture of Wara, that the ancient arts
and crafts of Japan reached their highest degree of perfection.
Many of them had, however, been borrowed from the old civilisations of China and Korea ; but later, when the policy of strict
seclusion from the outside world was adopted and communication with foreign countries was severely forbidden, the imported
arts and crafts were gradually absorbed into Japane~eculture, and
they continued to be perfected until their culminating point in
the golden age of artistic work under the Tokugawa Shogunate
(1603-1866), a period in which Japanese handicrafts enjoyed
great prosperity.
Apart from the fine arts -- sculpture, painting and ceramics
- industries had developed and had made progress in spite of the
social inferiority of the position of artisans in the feudal system.
Painstaking individual craftsmanship produced fine samples of
weaving, dyeing, embroideries, wood carving, metal engraving,
copper goods, earthen and lacquer wares. Moreover, labour-saving devices were not entirely unknown in the pre-Restoration
period ; some feudal lords encouraged their use, especially in
cotton spinning and weaving.

12

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

The moral foundation upon which the feudal State rested was
loyalty and this spirit animated not only the governing classes
but also the governed. As Bushido, an unwritten code of high
moral precepts, came to be the supreme moral law of the warrior
class ', so among the people who worked with their hands there
was a gradusl growth of proletarian chivalry peculiar to their
class ; it was this spirit which inspired them, and, combined with
certain ethical principles, was the directing force of their life and
conduct. Such Japanese words as Kikotsu, Otokodate and Gikyoshin are used to express this attitude of mind which has been
described as a racial trait of the Japanese. No single foreign word
expresses the exact meaning of the three Japanese words quoted
above, but they convey the idea of heroism, manly endurance and
sympathy for the weak with readiness to sacrifice self for the cause
of social justice? So long as the common people were actuated
by this spirit, and Rushido dominated the nobility, social order
rested on a solid basis. In the later days of the Shogunate, when
feudalism itself was declining, t,he Samurai began to abuse their
privileges, and it was the leaders among the plebeians (Kyokaku)
who championed the oppressed, seeking in defiance of despotism
to obtain justice for them in the true spirit of Gikyoshin.
The daily life of the people was governed by two leading
principles : Giri - the moral obligation to uphold the cause of
justice - and Ninjb - humane sentiment. Neither the word
" right" nor " d u t y " existed in the Japanese vocabulary before
the idea of the value of the individual was introduced from the
Western world, and the man of feudal times solved social problems in the light of Giri or hTinj6. These principles naturally
influenced the relationship of the master craftsman (Shi-ShB)
and his apprentices and workmen. 'The relationship was largely
one of close comradeship and even of affection. The employer
was addressed, as he still is even to-day, as oya-bun or oya-kala,
a term suggesting that he stood in a paternal relation to his employee ; then the apprentice was called de-shi (younger brother
or son), a further indication of the bond between master and
apprentice, the intimacy of their relations and the loyalty owed
to the master craftsman.
Cf. INAZO
NITOBE:Bushido, T h e Soul of Japan, New Y o r k , 1905.
K. SATOand I. IYEXACA
: Japan and the Californian Problem, pp. 9-32,
New York, 1921.
a

1

.*

*

I

-

C

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

13

The immediate cause of the downfall of the feudal State was
the sudden appearance of Commodore Perry's "black ships" before Uraga in 1853, but for generations before this event the
foundations of feudal society had been gradually undermined by
the decay of the feudal economic system. Traces of a process ol'
disintegration are discoverable even in the remote period when
the transition of the early feudal agrarian economy to an economy
founded on a currency system began to take place. Between the
tenth and fourteenth centuries currency gradually came into use.
It is on record that gold currency of a standard weight - to
replace the gold dust formerly used - was minted by the merchants of the ciiy of Sakail for their vast trade with China and
Korea ; it was privately circulated, backed by the individual credit
of wealthy traders. The practice was soon followed by the feudal
lords, who minted their own currency, and gradually the trader
class gained in power and importance. In their relations with
the merchants the lords were obliged to replace extortion by bargaining, and the privileges of the guilds and commercial corporations increased while the prestige of the Samurai, and of the Shogunate itself, suffered when they had to approach the once despised ch6-nin to obtain loans. Gradually the use of currency became general and a complete financial system was gradually built
u p ; and with long-continued peace and prosperity the Samurai
not only lost their warlike occupations but fell a prey to humble
townsmen who possessed money '.
The decline of the power of the nobles and the Samurai was
hastened by the policy of the Shogunate of enforcing alternating
attendance ( S a n k i n K?jtai) of the feudal lords at the court of the
S h d g u n , as a means of ensuring their fidelity. An official residence was provided for each of them at Yedo" the seat of the Shogunate, and to carry out S a n k i n KBtai they were compelled to
move to and from their castles at stated intervals, accompanied
by their vassals, the Samurai. The time that a d a i m y o might
remain in his territory varied according to its distance from
Yedo, hut he was constrained to leave his wife and children always
-

-

Probably the greatest trading centre of the period and situated near
the present city of Osaka, then an isolated hamlet on the seashore.
Cf. E. HONJO: Nihon Shakai Slzi (History of Tapariese Society),
pp. 201-237. Tokyo, 1928.
' The former name of Tokyo.

14

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

at Yedo ' as hostages. 'She frequency of these official visits and the
luxury of the life at court imposed heavy financial burdens on the
daimyo and especially on the warrior class, who were led to live
beyond their means in spite of sumptuary laws prohibiting the
use of silk and other costly fabrics. The result was heavy indebledness with subsequent improverishment and moral decadence,
and the transfer of wealth to the merchants of the towns.
It was a Shogunate thus weakened, demoralised and on the
verge of bankruptcy which had to meet the invasions of the
Russians from the north and of other Europeans from the south.
From 1793 to 1846 Russian, English and French vessels appeared
in Japanese waters, harassing the coast population and insisting
on trading with them" 'To repel these "barbarians" who,
according to the traditional policy of seclusion, could not be permitted to defile the " land of the gods"" the Shogunate needed
large sums of money, but the Government's financial position
was so bad that funds could not be found except by repeated borrowing from the merchants.
The coup de grdce to the power of the Shiigun was really delivered in 1853 when Perry's squadron anchored in the port of
Uraga, for although the Shogunate continued to exist for thirteen
years thereafter its dignity and prestige had gone for ever. Reluctantly, to save the country from foreign invasion, the demands
for the open door had to be accepted : ports were opened to and
treaties concluded with foreign Powers. The bombardment of
Kagoshima by the British in 1863 kindled a desire to organise the
defences of the country on modern lines. In 1865 various treaties
were ratified by the order of the Emperor. It was a new departure for him to take political action, for although the Mikado had
always remained the religious head of the State, for seven centuries the dynasty had been in strict retirement in Kyoto, closely
guarded '. Dissatisfaction with the division of power had gradually permeated the mind of the people, and they were ready

' Cf.
' Cf.

K. H A R ~o,p cif., pp. 300-302.
T. MACIIID~
: Shnliai H e n d o S h i k a n (History of Social Changes).
,,
pp. 20-29. Tokyo, 1924.
Shintoism, the ancient indigenous cult of lapan, taught t h a t Japan
is inhabited by myriads of deities ; hence the poetic name S h i n - K o k u or
Shin-Shii or " land of the gods ".
" The court guards were supplied hv and owed allegiance to t h e Shogunate.

n

-

*

q

w

.

HISTORICAL

DACKGHOURD

15

for a change I . There were struggles between those who upheld
the ShiSgun's power and those who desired the restoration of the
temporal power of the Emperor, and at the end of this period of
unrest the reformists "ere
wholly victorious, succeeding alike in
the transfer of the reins of government from the Shagun to the
Emperor3 and the abolition of feudalism. So it came about that
within a generation the structure of the Shogunate collapsed.
Modern Japan was built up on its ruins.
T h e Imperial R e g i m e

P

In a literal sense moderri Japan came into being with the
Restoration of the Imperial regime. A new and eventful epoch
- both economic and political - began when the young Emperor
removed the capital from Kyoto to Yedo, changing the latter name
to Tokjo. Japan's development as a world Power took place in
the Meiji era, 1868-1912.
Old feudal institutions were abolished one after another and
Western methods were adopted, as being more efficient. The
country wholly and permanently discarded the historic policy of
seclusion and eagerly sought to acquire the technical knowledge
already possessed by Europe and America. To this end one of the
first acts of the Government was to send delegations abroad to
study Western civilisation; the delegates were influential reformists, officials, promising students or men with technical knowledge of their craft. As a result of this study Western models were
adopted for the organisation of the Government Departments, the
courts of justice, the legal system and the fighting services, and in
planning docks, shipyards, schools, factories and workshops.
Under the new regime Japan was united by a strong national consciousness and by a common will to join in the progress of the
rest of the world. The solemn oath4 by which the young Emperor

' Yet only a small minority held strong views either for or against
the policy of seclusion.
Young men, mostly of humble origin, from the estates of the feudal
lords of Ch6shC1 and Satsuma were instrumental in bringing about the
overthrow of the Shogunate and in establishing the Meiji Government.
(Cf. I. IWASAKI
: T ~ W
P o r k i n g Forces in .Tapancse Politics, pp. 16, 66-78.
New York, 1921.)
The Emperor K6mei, who died in 1867, was succeeded by his son
Mutsuhito (later called Emperor Meiji), who was only fifteen years of
age when he came to the throne.
* " All Government affairs shall be decided by public discussion ; both
rulers and ruled shall unite for the advancement of the naiionnl interests ;
ways shall he open for all people to rise and never to harbour discontent ;

16

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

bound himself when he took possession of the throne laid down
the policy of modern Japan in harmony with the spirit of the
whole people.
With a view to the development of industry, model factories
and workshops were established by the State, and national industries were fostered. Cotton spinning, power-loom weaving, filatures, shipbuilding, the manufacture of glass, safety matches,
coke, gas and bricks, coal-mining, type-casting and many other
thriving industries of the Japan of to-day may be traced back to
the initiative, guidance and encouragement of the Meiji Government. Legislation was passed dealing with the formation of
guilds and the establishment of new factories ; local authorities
were charged with police and sanitary inspection duties in connection with factories '. Since, in the early days, domestic induxtries were predominant, provision was made for grants in aid ;
and the more costly machines, such as water-looms and dyeing
appliances, were loaned in large numbers to promote local enterprise.
Roughly speaking the main industrial and commercial
business of Japan was carried on by the State from the time of the
Restoration to about 1883. The lack of experience of the Japanese
people led the Government to start and continue to manage the
large factories until such time as the ordinary citizen had acquired
sufficient knowledge and ability in modern methods of business
management to dispense with Government help. Railways, coal
and other mines, shipbuilding yards, textile factories including
silk, cotton, wool-spinning and weaving mills, paper mills and
glass-works were mostly owned and managed directly by the
Government. A beginning was made with the transfer of industrial undertakings to private ownership and management in 1884,
but such transfers were exceptional and the beneficiaries continued to receive a State subvention while official supervision was
only withdrawn by degrees. It was not until 1895 that the pace of
the replacement of the State-owned factories by private enterprise
began to be accelerated, and, having been carefully organieed, it
was very successful and industry soon made remarkable progress.
The way had been prepared for the change some years before by

all base customs of former times shall he abolished ; knowledge shall he
sought far and wide. "
1 National lrcislntion for the supervision of factories and workshops
was not cnacted 11ntil 1911.

w

-

i

4

I

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

.

17

the enactment of the new Commercial Code (promulgated March
1890), the Banking Act (enforced July 1892) and the Stock
Exchange Act (promulgated March 1892). Industries connected
with war supplies had flourished during the Sino-Japanese War
1894-1895, although Japanese industry in general was depressed
owing to financial difficulties, scarcity of labour and disorganisation of transport. After the conclusion of the Peace Treaty of
Shimol~oseki' many new industries sprang up, and when the gold
currency system was established in 1897, the post-war boom was
at its height. The revision of the unequal treatiesvook place at
this time; Great Britain led the way in 1894 and other countries
followed her example a year or so later. This boom was, as
usual with post-war booms, followed by a slump in 1898 and a
financial panic in 1901, but in a few years' time business prosperity was restored and industrial undertakings were working
in normal conditions.
The subsequent development of Japanese industry will be
treated in the next chapter. Japan was to receive one more shock
before entering on the period leading to its present development.
This event was the war with Russia in 1904. The financia1
situation became critical and, except for those concerned with the
manufacture of or contract for war supplies, the industries of the
country were severely affected. The textile industry was especially badly hit, but the victory of Japan was followed by a phe,
trade and the volume
nomenal expansion in i n d u ~ t r y commerce,
of capital.

' The terms of this Treaty i n c l n d ~ dthe payment to Tnpan of a war
indemnity of 200 million taels and the cession of Formosa and of thr
Liaotung peninsula.
A relic of the Eemlal Government which had concluded them in 185s

CHAPTER 111
RISE OF IND USTRIALISill

Development of Industrial Employnzent
The first recorded large-scale factory in Japan was a cottonspinning works, with 5,000 spindles, set up by the feudal lord of
Satsuma in 1862, six years before the end of the feudal period.
It was not long before the success of this experiment aroused the
interest of other enterprising people, and similar mills were
established in various parts of the country, in and around Osaka
in particular. Factories for silk-reeling came a little later. One
was opened in the spring of 1870 by the feudal chief of Mayebashi;
another, started in the autumn of the same year by Nabeshima, the
old feudal lord of Saga, employed a hundred workers, and a
Swiss engineer was engaged to train the women operatives. In
January 1871, Mr. Tchibei Furukawa started his reeling factory
in Tsukiji, Tokyo. Within a year the French system of filature,
on French machines, was tried by a French engineer at Tomioka
in the prefecture of Gumma, and it is recorded that about that time
the Italian system of filature was installed by Zensuke Ono, a rich
Tokyo merchant. These pioneer efforts served to introduce the
new methods, and factories with Western machines sprang up in
Fukushima, Shinano and other prefectures I .
The political transformation was undoubtedly favourable to
the spread of the factory system. When the Imperial Government
abolished the feudal clans and set up the prefectures, hereditary
pension bonds were granted to the former vassals and retainers of
the feudal lords. The result was a sudden increase in capital
available for investment in industry, and the possession of this
Loc~r.E~P~.OYMENT
EXCHANGE
BOARDOF TOKYO
: Kannai Seishi Jok6Ch6sa (Enquiry into the Working Conditions of Female Operatives), pp. 3-4.

.

--

--

RISE O F INDUSTRIALISM

19

capital proved an irresistible temptation to engage in enterprises
aiming at large-scale production in the place of the more laborious
and less remunerative hand processes. Speculation was inevitable
during this experimental stage, and many Samurai, ignorant of
finance and untrained in business, failed in competition with the
townsmen, who had long experience of trade and commerce. But
the more far-sighted feudal lords and the Government itself did
rnuch to lessen the difficulties of the period of transition. Help
was not confined to the cotton-spinning and silk-reeling industries. The first hemp-spinning factory of modern type was started
with State aid in 1886, in the province of a m i ; and this
experiment having shown that the industry was profitable,
similar factories were soon established in Hokkaido, Osaka and
elsewhere.
The steady industrial development of Japan after the
Restoration is shown by statistics of new factories and workshops
opened year by year and the number of workers employed. There
has been some fluctuation, since some workshops have failed
shortly after establishment or have carried on with less than five
workers '. The net increase in the number of factories during the
first thirty years after 1868 was roughly from 100 to 300 in a year.
The numbers then rose steadily, and in 1907 the number of
factories established during the year exceeded a thousand ; in 1917
it was over two thousand and then the figures continued to rise
until 1927, save for a temporary drop in 1925. In 1919 and 1920
the boom which was expected after the Great War accounts for
the steep rise in the numbers of factories started ; 1921 again
shows the normal yearly increase over the 1918 figures. It is
interesting to note that there were 2,362 factories or workshops in
existence before 1868 which in 1927 were still working. The total
number of factories at work in 1929 was 59,887.
The new Japanese industries which have created the largest
demand for labour are those of an essentially foreign character or
using purely Western methods. Railways, cotton spinning,
paper, cement or glass manufacturing, sugar refining, shipbuilding, gas and electricity fall into this class; to some extent
Up to 1921 only factories employing five or more workers are included in the figures given, and State-owned factories were eucli~derl. From
1921 workplaces employing less than five workers are included nrovided
they used prime movers or were engatzed in ctanperoi~sor unhealthy processes. Cf. KGjG TGkt-i Hyo or Factory Statistics for 1930, pp. 2-3.

20

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

also mining. It is also these industries which have provided the
main stimulus for the development of banking and insurance.
Next in importance come the indigenous industries which have
been reorganised to meet the demand of foreign markets on a scale
unknown before 1868. For the production of raw silk and of
miscellaneous goods the former domestic methods have had to
yield to the factory system; and as a consequence of this change a
considerable demand for industrial labour has arisen. Lastly, the
factory production of goods formerly made at home' is on the
increase and gradually swelling the numbers of factory workers.
Statistics of factories and of the number of workers they
employ show how rapidly the demand for industrial labour has
increased. For forty years there was almost unchecked expansion during the last four or five years the rate seems to have
slackened, but this may be accounted for by the general trade
depression. Apart from the steady growth of the demand for
industrial labour in Japan, table 111 (see page 21) shows the preponderance of female labour; this is due to the fact that textile
mills predominate among Japanese factories and that in the textile
industries women and girls form some 80 per cent. of the total
number of workers employed. In studying the table it should
be kept in mind that the Factory Act in its amended form applies
principally to factories employing ten or more workerss.
Nevertheless, the factory population of Japan is greater than
is shown by table 111, for workshops employing between five and
nine operatives (other than members of the family) must also be
included. It was only in 1909 that reliable statistics of such
workshops or factories first became available. If they are

.

>

Tapanese socks (fahi) for instance, formerly a housewife's occupation, are now mani~fncturedon a large scale on the factory system.
Notwithstanding the financial and indi~strialcrises in lapan in 1890,
1897, 1900, 1908, 1914, 1920, 1923 and 1927. Cf. T o s r r z o - ~ K U D: A
" La cvclicite de la vie Cconomique et de la politiaue Economique BcIair6e par l'exemple de 14volution japonaise de 1868 1925 dans ses rapuorts avec 1'8tranger", in Journal des Economistes, Paris, April 1926, and W. L. THORPin
Business Annals, New York, 1926, pp. 241-3.50.
The amended Factory Act of 1923, which is now in force, applies
to factories (1) where ten or more operatives are regularly emploved
or (2) where the work is of a dangerous nature or injurious to health
regardless of the numher of operatives employed. In 1930, on 1 Octoher, the number of factories employing less than ten operatives but
where the work is dangerous or unhealthy and covered by the Fartorv
Act was 29,686, and the numher of operatives engaged was 95.761,
includinq 10,304 men and 46,336 women workers.
Cf. Rodo Jiho.
Dec. 1931, p. 6.)

1

TABLE 111.

- NUMBERS

O F FACTORIES EMPLOTIKG A T LEAST TEN OPEX-

ATIVES AND OF WORKPEOPLE

CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO SEX

Total

I

1889-1930'
Female

1 Compiled from Red6 T6kei Yoran (Summary of Labour Statistics), 1929 edition, supplemented with K6j6 Kantoku Nenp6 (Annual Report of Factory Inspection), 1927, 1928, 1929
and 1930 editions, quoled in RGd6 JihB (Labour Gazette), Feh. 1929, Dec. 1929 and Dec. 1931.
I'actories employing less thau ten workers have been excluded, even if they are covered by the
Factory Act for the reason that they are engaged in dangerous or unhygienic works.

included in the totals, the number of factories in 1909 becomes
32,000. while by 1930 it had reached close on 60,000. When the
workers employed by them are included in the totals, it is seen
that the expansion of the factory population in t,he twenty years
1909-1928 wss from 800,000 to 2,000,000'.
Table IV (see page 22) shows the place i n Japanese industry
of small factories employing only five to nine workers. In 1929
they numbered over 33,000, or more than half - actually 55 per
cent. - of all Japanese factories. It is true that the workers
employed in them represented in 1928 only 10 per cent. of the total
number of factory workers (see table V, page 23) ; but their role
in Japanese economy is an important one, and the question of
their protection a matter of concern to the Government.

'

'I'hc total factory p o p l a t i o n on 30 Tune 1931 was 2.032.358

22

INDUSTRIAL L A B O U R IN JAPAN
-

.-

HISE OF lNDUSTRI.4LISM

23

24

--

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

--

- - --

.-

-

Though Lhe growth of larger factories employing a hundred
or more operatives has been retarded in the past few years, they
tended to grow more rapidly both in number and proportion ' ;
from 1,120 in 1909 they increased to 2,820 in 1928', representing
an increase from 3.5 per cent. to 5 per cent. of the total number oI
factories.
Another indication of the development of Japanese industry
is the increase in the number of mine-workers. It has been shown
that in fifteen years (1899 to 1914) the total number of workers
employed in Japanese mines more than doubled, i.e. from
119,000 to 294,000; and over the period of twenty years, 1899 to
1919, the number of mine-workers quadrupled, being 465,000 in
the latter year. The high figure for 1919 was, however, due to
the exceptional economic conditions of the war years, and from
1919 to 1931 the numbers employed steadily declined to 201,900
TABLE VI. - IVIJMBER O F FACTORIES UTILISING PRIME MOVERS AND O F

Number of factories

Date

--

1900
1904
1909
1914
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1827
19"s
I929

Factories
using
prime
movers

Total
number
of
factories

'ercentagr
f fact.,^ ien
using:
prime
movers

Male

Female

'ercenta g e of
female
operatires

257,307
318,264
493,498
564,308
870 797
824,308
878,166
856,705
926,936
9.9,835
955,8'27
981,161
975,671
987,373
969,835

Figures for 1900-1904 are those of factories employing at least ten operatives. Figures
after 1909 are for faclories employing five o r more operatives. Only the figures for 1921 included
exceptionally all factories using prime morers even when the number of operatives employed
therein is less than five, hence the sudden increase in the num1)ers. The total numbers of
hctories for 1909, 1914 and 1919 given here do not axree with those given in table I V , these
two different sets of fiqures occurring always in K6j6 T6kei H y o . The reason lor the discrepancy
is unexplained. The ahore table has heon computed from Ihe figures on pp. 8 and 74 of K6jd
T6kei H y o (for 1926-1927) and A'ihon Teilioku T6kei Nenkan, 1931 enition, p. 228.

Moreover, in these larrer-scale factories, thongh they represent only
about 4 per cent. of the total of Iapanese factories, the labour employed
is roughly 50 per cent. of factory workers.
a This fell to 2.665 in 1929.

in 1931, which is near the 1899 figure'. The coal mines employ
by far the greater part of this labour, and although there is now
a marked tendency to use hydraulic power, the number of miners
employed remained above the pre-war figure (187,000 in 1914,
238,000 in 1928) until 1931, when, owing to the crisis, it fell to
pre-war level.
Table V I (see page 24) shows the growth in the number of
TABLE VII.

- VALUE

01' FACTORY PRODbCTS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING

TO INDUSTRY,

Year

/

1909-1929 '

[In 1,000 Y e n )
Textile

Metal

Machine
a n d tool

Ceramic

Chemical

Woodwork

-19,931
27,913
15;,03 1
163,59 I
19 ,824
158,586
195,019
180,839
175,230
185,343
187,059
193,519
194,389

2.5 01,

--

Year

Gas and
electrical

Repairs
of boats,
mach ineu,
tools ;
,leaching ;
lyeing, etc.

Total

25,151
66,649
61,433
45,374
43,997
97,766
106,@20
108,214
150,016
149,276
172,910
50,003
0.6 01,

1 The tahle shows (in 1,000 yen) the increase of the products of Japanese factories (-,\here
at lcast five operatives are engared normally). From this fable not only can the iucv~ascof
lotal output of Japanese industry he trlced but the reiatire importance of various industries
can he compared. (Cf. K6jd T6kei IZyo for 1926-1930.)

' Cf. RBdB TBkei YGran, 1931 edition, pp. 50-51, and H6d6 JihiT, Supplement Sept. 1931. The exact figure on 30 J u n e 1931 was 201,926.

26

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR 1N J A P A N

factories using motive power in relation to the total number of
factories and the variations in the number of men and women
employed. In connection with these figures, it is interesting to
observe that from 1900 to 1928 there appeared to be a slow tendency for the proportion of women to men employed to decrease
as the use of motive power increased. This movement was not
maintained in 1939, when the percentage of women employed
(60.87 per cent.) was as high as in 1900.
The progress of industrialisation can also be measured by the
increase in the output of factories. In 1909 the total product of
Japanese factories was valued at some 780,000,000 yen, but at
the end of 1929 it had attained 7,716,000,000 yen, an increase of
almost ten times. As table VII shows, this increase has not been
even. There was a steep rise in the value as well as in the quantity
of manufactured goods during and immediately after the Great
R ar when - the supply from Europe being suddenly arrested markets in Asia, and to some extent elsewhere, were led to depend
on the manufacturing capacity of Japan and other countries where
man-power had not been absorbed by the fighting forces. The
post-war depression was at its worst in 1921, and necessarily
pressed most heavily on those industries which had undergone
the most abnormal expansion '. A few industries escaped the
general fate; among these were the printing and bookbinding
trades, ceramic manufacture and foodstuffs" for the return to
competition with European trade did not affect them appreciably.
The position as regards the volume of industrial employment
in Japan at the end of the period of development described in this
chapter is shown by the statistics published by the Bureau of
Social A f f a i r s h h i c h issues twice yearly figures showing the
number of workers in factories, mines, transport and comI For evample the metal industry before
the war produced under
48,000,000 yen's worth of goods and at the close of the war the value
of its production was 338,000.000 yen. From the lowest point of the slump
follo\%ing the Armistice (250,000,000 yen in 1921) production increased
ayain until it reached 689,800,000 yen at the end of 1929.
"he
manufacture of foodstuffs has never suffered any serious setback.
If the sliqht decrease in production during the last few years is excepted
expansion has remained remarkahly steady. The annual valve of its
manufacture (which includes sakC, beer, liquor, etc., solely for home
consrlmplior~) comes next in order to that of textiles, amounting to
1.121.000,000 pen.
Published as supplement to R6dB Jih6 (Labour Gazette). The figures
for 30 Tune and 31 Dec. appear usually in the numbers of the following
months of September and March respectiveiy.

--- ---

RISE OF IiYDUSTRIALISM

. - --

-

27

munications, building, engineering, etc. ' The figures for 1930
and 1931 are reproduced in table VIII.
The classification of occupations in these statistics may seem
arbitrary, as a considerable number of industrial workers, if the

1. Factory workers :
State or municipal
factories :
Men
Women
Total
Private faclories :
Men
Women
Total
All factory wo1.ker.s :
Men
Women
Total
11. Mining workers
Men
\Tornell
Total

I

I
I
I

111. TI-nnsport a n d
communication
Men
Worn e n
TotaI

1V. Casual workers :
Men
Women
Total

' I,
I

i
8--

Gr-and total
Men
Women

1,518,572
444,792
1 ,!163,36-1 --

I

3,225.23
1.514.180

Figures lor 30 June 1930 and 1931, as published in RBdB Jihb, supplement lo1 x p l 1930
and 1931.
'The reference is to the Hi-Yatoi who represent unskilled or semi-skilled labour in Japanese
industry. Their work for the same employer may continue, b u t their contract must be renewed
daily ; as a rule this is done \erbally at the end of each day's work.

' Ovcing to a difference of sources these figures are not comparable
with those given in the previous tables, which have been collected hy t h e
Department of Commerce and Industry.

28

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

word "industry" be used to cover all productive work, do not
appear in the table ; but it will be seen that most of the trades
and occupations which have been affected by the spread OF industrialism are included.
It is with the conditions of labour of this industrial population of 3,200,000 men and 1,500,000 women that this report is
principally concerned, but before proceeding to describe these
conditions, some more detailed account must be given of the economic struclure of modern Japan.

I

CHAPTER IV

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE O F MODERN JAPAY

Raw Materials
'The development of Japanese irlclustry is the more remarkable
as Japan is not rich in natural resources and particulariy in the
raw materials of industry l . Many raw materials must therefore be
imported. in some cases the home supply just meets the demand;
in a few exceptional cases there is a surplus for export. The
situation regzrding the supply of the principal raw materials will
be discussed in the following paragraphs.
Cocoon. - Japan is completely independent as regards the
supply of cocoon, only a small amount being imported from Shantung Indeed, the production of cocoon has been developed to
such a point that Japan is the most important producer of cocoon
and raw silk. In 1928, Japan's production of these goods
amounted to 61.7 per cent. and 55.9 per cent. respectively of the
total world production. Raw silk is by far the most important
single item of Japanese exports, representing an average of 37 per
cent. of the total exports during 1937-1929. Its export value kept
rising year by year till it amounted to over 781 million yen
in 1929 '.
The importance of the export side of the cocoon-raising
industry has not been without serious disadvantages. This paradoxical situation arises because cocoon raising is carried on extensively in the small, poor and widely scattered agricultural households as a " subsidiary occupation ", while as a matter of fact it is
Cf. S. HARADA
: Lobour Condifions i n Japan. New York, Columbia
University, 1928.
' This fell suddenly to 416,647,000 yen in 1930. (Cf.50th Nihon T e i k o k ~ r
TGkri Y m k a n , p. 171.)

30
-

--

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR 1 N J A P A N

---

-

----

the main source of their money income. The amount of cocoon
supply therefore can hardly be regulated rapidly enough to meet
the fluctuations of the market. II raw silk were produced for the
home market wholly or mainly this situation would not arise, but
since the principal markets are foreign there is fierce competition
to buy up cocoon when there is an unexpected demand for silk,
while a slump' in the foreign market makes the price of cocoon
fall suddenly, causing no small amount of hardship to the agricultural population and to the filatures also. The fact that the
supply of cocoon is independent of foreign countries has also led
to considerable speculation.
There is another difficulty from which this industry suffers.
The process of raising cocoons is delicate and laborious and does
not lend itself to intense mechanisation. Scientific improvements have been progressively introduced and have effected some
saving of labour, but of all work which is on such a scale to be of
high economic importance this industry would seem to be and
is likely to remain the least industrialised. Moreover, the process
of work involved in reeling silk is of such a nature that it does
not need, or cannot use, much machinery with the result that
the establishments for silk reeling on a large factory basis are
not compensated necessarily by proportionate decrease of costa.
One of the consequences of this is that only a few large silk
reeling factories have developed ', so that the bulk of the nation's
production still depends on the work done by petty undertakings
with but small capital to hack them. This means that the people
carrying on these undertakings suffer severely when sudden fluctuations take place in the silk market. Moreover, in the case of
small mills where undried "fresh " cocoons are used for reeling
silk, though at present such cases are rare, the workers tend to be

' As

for instance lately in t h e TJnited States.
The mills having from 100 to 299 basins occupied t h e largest proportion (35 per cent.) i n 1930 and it is believed that they constitute t h e
backbone of this industry i n Tanan. The estimate of experts is that a
mill having from 100 to about 200 is t h e most eronomic and efficient unit.
The dimensions of silk reeling mills in 1929 were as follows :
Size

..
. . . .
,, . .

Less t h a n 10 basins.
tn to 299
,, .
ROO to 909
t.000 or m o w

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

Total

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

..
.
.

......

Cf. N i h o n Keizai n o Saikirz J i u n e n , p. 542.

Number of
establishments
367
3.13t
213
8
3,719

31

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF MODERN JAPAN

overworked at the seasons when a large amount of work must he
done quickly to avoid the deterioration of the cocoon. It is by
intense human labour that raw silk has attained the leading place
in the export list. At one time the advent of artificial silk
threatened the prospects of the silk industry hut recent figures do
not appear to justify the apprehension that rayon will take the
place of real silk or even diminish materially the economic
importance of the silk industry. The gradual expansion of the
silk industry in China may possibly have some effect on the
Japanese industry in the future.
Cotton. - Very different is the position of the cotton
industry. The cotton plant does not thrive on the soil of Japan
and the native supply of raw cotton is totally inadequate to meet
the demand. After the United States and Great Britain, Japan
comes third among the cotton-consuming countries of the world ;
the export of cotton goods form about 20 per cent. of the total
Japanese exports ' ; in 1930, therefore, 362,047,000 yen's worth of
raw cotton2 had to be imported, of which over 89 per cent. came
from the United States of America and India.
Coal. - Coal is mined in Japan in considerable quantities.
The annual production averaged 32,907,000 tons, valued at
285,086,000 yen, during the five-year period ending 1929 while
the average value of the imports of coal was 33,506,000 yen4 for
the same five-year period and actually 34,204,000 yen in 1930.
There is, however, a considerable amount of coal exported every
year, and until a few years ago, the amount exported exceeded the
amount imported by several millions of yen ; but since 1927 the
situation has altered and the annual excess of imports is worth
about 12 million yen in the past few years. Adding together the

"

I I n 1930, out of the total exports of 1,469.852,OOO yen, cotton goods
amounted to 298,200,100 yen or 20.3 per cent. of all.
' Since 1925, the import of raw cotton has decreas~d steadily from
923,355,000 yen in 1925 to 725,930,000 yen in 1926 : 624,631.000 ven i n
1927 : 549,942,000 yen in I928 ; 573,016,000 yen i n 1929 and 362,047,000 yen
in 1930.
Cf. 50th Nihon T ~ i k o k uT6lcei Nenknn, 1931, p. 115.
' Ibid., p. 172. The imports and exports of coal from 1925 to 1930
were :

Year
1925

. . . . . . . . .

Imnorts
24.526.000 ven

Exnorts
33,2nl,000 yen
91,032,000
2.5,ROR.OOO
24,514,000 ,,
23,215,0110 ,,
21,78:!.1!00
,,

,,
,,

32

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

value of the home production and of imported coal, it will be seen
that nearly 300 million yen's worth of coal is consumed yearly
in Japan. Practically all the coal consumed in Japan is consumed
for industrial purposes. Coal is used only to a very small extent
for heating purposes ; as a rule Japanese houses are heated, if
at all, by charcoal braziers.
As regards the adequacy of coal production in Japan, some
serious studies have already been made, and the opinion has been
expressed by a Japanese writer ' that the production of coal would
be found insufficient should the standard of living rise and coal be
consumed for heating the houses. The high price of coal is also
a serious handicap to industry, being about double the price in the
United States? Difficulties of production and high freight rates
are stated to account for the price of coal.

Oil.- Every year there is an increasing demand for oil, but
it is not produced in sufficient quantity to meet the demand.
I he average annual production of petroleum during the five-year
period ending 1929 was 2,801,000 hectolitres, valued at 14,186,000
yen. The bmount produced has, however, heen decreasing
steadily in the last few years, with but a slight rise in 1930, while
the consumption has been increasing year by year. The value of
imports of petroleum was over 34 million yen in 1929 and nearly
40 million yen in 1930.
r

7

Iron. - The domestic supply of iron also falls far short of
the requisite amount. There are certain quantities of magnetite,
hematite, etc., produced in Japan proper, and the total deposits
have been estimated at roughly 123 million tons. The amount of
pig iron produced in the country, however, fails to satisfy the
demand, although the home production of pig iron has been
considerably increased ; the average amount of pig iron produced
annually during the past decade represented about 60 per cent.
of the national consumption.
For steel materials already manufactured into iron sheets,

'

Cf. S. HARADA,
op, e i t . , p. 35.
The avernm p ~ i c eof coal per metric ton i n Janan (averwe for
Tokyo, O s ~ k a ,Kyoto, Kobe, Nngovn and Yokohama) in 1988 was 21.27 yen,
wide the price in the Unitpd Ptntes (average export price of b i t u m i n o ~ ~ s
coal: was 3.59 dollars for Canada and 4.23 dollars for oversea countries.
(Cf. 48th Nihon T e i k o k u TGkei N r n k n n , 1929, p. 120, and 1J.S.A. DI~PT.OF
Comwncr!, BURT:.^^. oi. hlrum : Con1 i n 1928, p . 471.)

ECOXOMIC STRUCTURE O F RlOUERN J A P A N

33

~

rods, bars, wires, etc., the situation is somewhat different. Here
again, the home production is far from adequate to meet the need
for home consumption, but statistics show that both the proportion to the total consumption and the actual amount of these
materials produced at home are increasing. Of course these partly
manufactured goods are not strictly "raw materials", but the
figures are interesting as showing the decreasing dependence of
Japan on foreign countries for her supplies. The proportion of
home production to consumption of steel materials was as low
as 36 per cent. in 1920, but in recent years this has risen to about
65 per cent.
The problem confronting Japanese industry as regards
iron - as with coal - does not arise so much from a deficiency
of deposits as from the cost of production. The cost is considerable, for Japan has no rich deposits concentrated in comparatively few districts as in England or the United Stales, but a
number of small deposits scattered all over the country, the
quality of the ore not being particularly good. And the difficulty
is increased by the high freight rates.

Copper. - Before 1914 Japan was one of the world's main
copper-exporting countries, being second only to the Unted States.
Since the war, however, the situation has altered. The opening
up of new mines in South America and Africa, the copper
exporter's combine formed in the United States towards the end
of 19%. followed by the general collapse in prices, have so lowered the price of copper that Japan's copper industry has suffered
severely. In 1928 Japan exported less copper than she imported
from the United States, and was only the fourth copper-producing
country ', producing only about 66,000 tons '. The value of the
1928 exports was about 2,505,000 yen, while imports were of the
value of 9,958,000 yen. The situation has, however, again
improved, the imports falling to 3,574,000 yen in 1929 and
620,000 yen in 1930, while the exports have risen to 7,409,000 yen
in 1929 and 21,281,000 yen in 1930 '.
Miscellaneous. - Such raw materials as wool, leather, hides,
bones, etc., the products of animal husbandry, are almost wholly

'

Chile and Africa produced more than Tapan.
This rose to 69,400 tons in 1929.
" 0 t h Nihon Trilcohw T 6 k r i .Vc~rlinn.pp. 172-176.

34

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

lacking in Japan. The limited land area, absence of pasture land,
and indifference of farmers to stock-farming make it probable that
Japan will remain dependent on other countries for these
products.
TAIILE I X .

fear

!

- EXPORT

1

a n a tnred
food

AND IMPORT OF FOODSTUFFS. RAW MATERIALS

1

Partly Y m p I p I l y
flnibhed
fhisll~d
materials materials

other
manufactures

1

Total

EL~por,ts(In 1,000 Yen)
1,252,838
l,ti:ii,451
1,447,752
1,R07,0:\.5
2,3115,589
2,011,728
I ,99-,317
1,971,955
2,148,619
1,469,851

1,614,1$5
1,800,ROS
1,982,231
2,45 i,40'L,
2,572,657
2,:177,1X i
2,l79,lt3
2,196,315
2,211i.240
1,s 16,051

Exports (I'er~xntage)
100
200
100
100
1uo
100
100
100
100
100

Imports (Percentage)
100
I00

ion
1no
100
100
1110
100
1110
100

1

50th ,Vihon Teilioku TAkri ,Yer~liurl,p . 167.

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE O F MODERN J A P A N

:3 5

Japan produces flax, hemp, ramic, jutc, etc., the annual
value of which is about 10 million yen ; but the demand for these
materials is about four times as large as the domestic supply, and
the balance has to be imported from abroad.
Shortage of Raw Materials and Forrign Trnde
The influence of the shortage of raw materials on the economic structure of Japan is reflected in the statistics of foreign
trade in two ways : the preponderance of raw materials among the
imports and their comparative unimportance in the exports, and
the adverse balance of trade.

- . . .~

.

Class of r o ~ n m o d i t i ~ s

Exports (h1,000 Yen)

I. Food, drink and tobacco
2. Textiles and materials for textile
manufacture
3. Iron and steel and manufactures
thereof
4. Fuel
5. Building materials other than
iron and steel
6. Miscellaneous
Total
Imports (In : 300 Yen)
1. Food, diink and tobacco
2. Textiles a n d materials for textile
manufacture
3. Iron and steel and manufactures
thereof
4. Fuel
5. Buildinr materials other than
iron'jnd steel
6. Miscellaneous
Total

251,726

11.2

756,726

34.9

1 *ilmsrnmln G6sm KAISHA:Monthly Circular, Feb. 1930
pp. 16-17, quoted in Credit
Position of Japan (Revised), Bulletin No. 39 of the Institute of international Finsnce,
25 01.t i- w
-- - n- , r. 1 5
In the list of important materials imported i n 1928 raw cotton led all others with the
figure of 549,613,000 yen (25 per cent.), follo\ved hy that or wool 111,856,000 yen ; lumber
111,008,000 ?en : soya bean cake 73,362,000 yen ; wheat 67,787,000 yen ; sugar 64,959,000 yen ;
iron plates 55,854,000 yen ; soya hean 49,681,000 yen and crnde o r heavy oil 45,163,000 yen.
The import of rice, sulphuric acid, ammonia, u-oollen yarn, coal and petroleum, each
amountcd t o from 30 to 40 million yen.

Reference to table IX shows that, in 1930, 53.6 per cent. of
the total imports were raw materials, while they formed only

36

--

-

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

---

-

4.4 per cent. of the total exports. Japan exports ~ a r t i a l l y
manufactured goods in considerable quantities - 35.7 per cent.
of the total exports - but if the exports of raw materials and partially manufactured goods are compared with the imports of the
same classes, it will be seen that the imports are still notably in
excess of the exports, the imports being almost 70 per cent. and
the exports 40 per cent. In the ten years ending in 1930 the export
of raw materials never rose above 7.2 per cent. of the total
exports - with an average of 5.6 per cent. for the ten-year
period - but the import of raw materials averaged 52.0 per cent.
of the total imports, with a maximum of 58 per cent. in 1926.
Incidentally, table IX illustrates the present importance of
the export of partially manufactured or manufactured articles ;
in 1930 they formed together 82.7 per cent. of the total exports,
while the imports of such articles amounted to only 31.8 per cent.
of the total. If the percentages for manufactured foodstuffs and
"other manufactures" are added, the figures are even more
striking : manufactured articles form 90.4 per cent. of the total
exports, but only 36.6 per cent. of the total imports. The general
nature of Japanese exports and imports is shown in table X.
The excess of visible imports over visible exports which is
shown by the two preceding tables is not very large, but it is
important as a normal feature of Japan's foreign trade. There
have been fluctuations, as for example in 1929, when the excess
of imports fell to 67,000,000 yen ' ; but the excess increased again
in 1930. To counteract this adverse balance, resort has been had
to the now common device of intensive propaganda for the consumption of home products in preference to foreign imports. But
the fundamental causes - the dependence on imports of raw
materials and, to a lesser extent, of foodstuffs and partially manufactured articles - still remain operative.

Capital
The Statistical Bureau of the Japanese Cabinet estimated the
national wealth in 1924 at 102,342 million yen, or 1,738 yen per
The foreign trade of Japan in 1927-1930 was as follows
1,000,000 yen) :
Year

Exports

1927

1,992
1,972
2,149
1,470

1928
1929
1930

Imports
2,179
2,i96
2,216
1,546

(in

Escrss of imports
187
224
6i
76

ECONOMIC S T R U C T U R E O F MODERN J A P A N

37

capita The national income in 1925 was 13,382 million yen with
the per capita income of 218 yen '.
Statistics of capital investment show that on the eve of the
Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 the total of nominal capital of
companies amounted to 308 million yen. Since 1895, Japan's
industrial capital has increased over a hundred times and her
commercial capital more than fifty times : in 1929, the total capital
was estimated at 13,790,758,000 yen. The bulk of the capital,
44.7 per cent., is now invested in manufacturing industries and
mining ; commerce and banking account for 42.7 per cent. ;
Lrnnsport absorbs now less than one-tenth, and agriculture and
fishing the remainder of the lotal capital investment. The number of joint stock companies and partnerships of limited or unlimited liability increased from 4,133 before the above-nnmcd
war to 46,692 in 1929 '.
While there has been a great increase in the number of small
companies, capital has tended to be concentrated in a relatively
small number of important companies '. The latest figures (for
1929) show that the capital of 27,740 companies (59.4 per cent.)
was not more than 50,000 yen, while that of only 733 companies
(1.5 per cent.) exceeded 5,000,000 yen. It is significant that over
8,000,000,000 yen or over 65 per cent. of Japanese capital is invested in 1.5 per cent. of the total number of companies, while
only about 295,000,000 yen or 2.1 per cent. of capital is invested
in nearly 60 per cent. of all the industrial and commcrcial companies of Japan4. Again, i n 1929, over 83 per cent. of investetl
capital was under the control of companies with capital of a
million yen or over, while less than 4 per cent. of the capital war,
at the disposal of those working on a capital of less than
100,000 yen. These comparisons show the increasinf difficulties

"'I'he

income of the Tapanese nation has increased as follo\vr:
Year
1887
1907
1916
1925

Incorne i n million yen
233
l,.i3a
2,333
13,382

Index
100 0
(iX.0
1,012.2
.F>,732.H

l'hesc figures are taken from Nihort T(~ilro1clrT 6 l i ~ iZ e n s k ~ ,pp. 8788, and 50th Nihon Teikoku T 6 k ~ iNenknrt, 1). 130.
This h a s had a reperrussinr~ on industrial conditions and relations
(cf. Part 11, Chapter 11).
There has h e n a rapid decline of capital investment in the smaller
companies in the last twenty years, a n d a corrcspnnding rise in i t <
irrlporlnnce i n the big companies.

38

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

encountered by the small companies in competing with the big
companies '.
Apart from share capital, Japanese companies issue corporation bonds to finance new undertakings, a method of finance
which became general during and after the Great War. The
amount of outstanding internal corporation bonds exceeded
2,508 million yen at the end of 1930 : there were, for instance,
936.5 million yen in electric and gas works, 618 million in railways and tramways, 367 million in manufacturing industry,
192 million in shipping and shipbuilding. Bank bonds have
also had an important share in the promotion of industries ; they
amounted to close upon 2,274 million yen at the end of 1930.
The banks, and especially the Japan Industrial Bank, play
an important part in financing new undertakings. The Japan
Industrial Bank was established under the Japan Industrial Bank
Act' and began business in April 1902 with the express object of
providing financial facilities for industrial enterprises Y The bank
is authorised to issue bonds up to ten times the amount of its
paid up capital (50,000,000 yen). It makes loans on the security
of the actual factories, their land or title deeds. There are in
addition (also established by legislation) the Hypothec Bank, the
Hokkaido Colonial Bank and agricultural and commercial banks
in various prefectures. With the exception of the Hypothec Bank
they were designed mainly to support agriculture and commerce
and do not mean so much to induslry as does the Japan Industrial Bank.

l?nilway and road transport. - From the time that the first
line was opened in 1872, between Tokyo and Yokohama,
until 1907, the management of the raiIways was shared by the
State and private companies. The State4 took over the management in 1907, and since then mucll progress has been achieved
and many improvements have hem made in regard to speed, com-

' In 1039 the r e s e n e fund of t h e 46,692 companies exceeded 2,873 million yen.
Art No. 70 of 1900.
Industrial finanre in lnpan i n connection with marketing is disop. c i t . , pp. 48-74.
cussed i n some detail b y S. HARADA,
Railway finance is not included i n the Budget or other State
Accounts ; the Railway Act stinr~lates that all capital expenditure for
construction, improvement, repairs, railway stores, etc., sholild he met
by the oper n 1'I n r rwpnlle

-

ECOllOMIC STRUCTURE O F NODERh J A P A h

-- --

-.
-

39

fort and safety ', including some to cornpensate the handicap of
the narrow gauge. In 1930 the total mileage of Japanese railways was 12,813 miles, and the receipts from passengers and
freight carried and from other sources amounted to 612 million
yen. Passenger rates are low, but freight rates are considered by
some writers to be unduly high.
As regards road services, there were, in 1930, 1,283 miles of
electric tramways and 390 miles of horse-drawn or other tramways. In 1929, there were 45,855 passenger motor-cars and
25,700 motor-lorries, while the number of rickshaw men ( j i n riki-sha) fell from 90,000 in 1923 to 33,000 in 1929.

S h i p p i n g . - The Japanese have always been seafarers, and
up to the seventeenth century Japanese vessels sailed the South
Seas and along the south eastern Asiatic coast; they even went
as far afield as India2. Maritime expansion was, however,
checked by the Shogunate, which, fearing Jesuit penetration into
the country, strictly prohibited the building of ships for ocean
navigation, and was not renewed until the policy of seclusion
was abandoned and the country re-opened after the Restoration.
Since 1868, there has been rapid and continuous expansion and
Japan is now one of the most important maritime countries 3.
The present development of Japanese shipping is the result
of the policy of the Meiji Government which in the early 'seventies
promulgated maritime laws and promoted the formation of shipping companies, preferring to put the merchant service into private hands under the protection of the State rather than to make
it a State enterprise. In 1875 such vessels as the Government
possessed were handed over to the Mitsubishi Company with an

' Automatic

couplings have becn adopted.
Cf. Y. TAKEKOSRI,
op. c i t . , Vo1. I, pp. 480-502.
The total gross tonnage of vessels over 100 tons, including mechanically propelled fishing v e s s ~ l s ,of the countries of chief maritime importance
is as follows :
Country
Grrat Britain .
United States .
Japan . . . .
Germany . . .
Norway . . .
France
Italy. . . . .
Nrtherland4 . .
Sweden . . .
Greece . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Numher of vessrls
8,238
3,530
2,060
2,157
2,916
1,651
1,380
1,401
1,417
546

Cf. Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 1930-1931 edition

Tonnage
20,438,000
11,388.000
4,317,000
4,229,000
3,668,000
3,511,000
3,331,000
3,nx~,noo
1,624,000
1,391,000

40

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

annual subsidy for fifteen years of 250,000 yen for shipping and
15,000 for lhe training of seamen ; the total number of registered
vessels was then only 149, with a tonnage of 42,000. The present
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (N. Y. K.) came into being in 1885 by the
amalgamation of the Mitsubishi Company and a rival concern
started shortly before. The Osaka Shosen Kaisha ( 0 . S. K.) was
organised in 1884 and the hsano Shipping Department - later
the Toyo Kisen - in 1887. Between 1893 and 1896, with the
stimulus of the Sino-Japanese war, the gross tonnage of Japanese
shipping rose from 110,000 to 373,000 and the number of ships
increased from 680 to 899. In 1896 laws were enacted to encourage navigation as well as shipbuilding ; a new line to Europe
was opened, and three important trans-Pacific lines. The OsakaBombay line, discontinued during the war with China, was
resumed, a i d competition for the China trade led rival lines to
amaigamate in 1907 as Nisshin Kisen Kaisha (Japan and China
Steamship Company).
After 1906 there was a further important period of expansion;
ocean liners and cargo vessels began to be designed on a much
larger scale than before, and the total tonnage advanced from
something like 660,000 tons in 1903 to over 1,000,000 tons.
During the world war, Japan was able to concentrate on increase
of tonnage and succeeded in producing an increase of 7G per
cent. so that by the time the Peace Treaty was signed her gross
tonnage was over 3 millions. The annual income from shipping,
which now exceeds 4 million tons, has recently been about
120 million yen.
Power Resources'
Japan ranks high among countries having an abundanl
supply of water power" The heavy rainfall, combined with the.
hilly character of the country, offer great advantages for the
use of hydraulic power. Roughly speaking, water power
resources are distributed among the main Japanese islands as
follows : the thirty-three rivers of Honshu are capable of producing 9,600,000 horse power ; the seven rivers of Kyushu 677,000 ;
Power obtained from coal and oil is examined above i n connection
u i t h the supply of raw materials.
In this respect the United States, Canada, Norway and Swit7erland
come before I a p n , b u t the relative amount of siipplv is mlich higher for
Japan than for most other rountries because of her small land arrn.

I.:CONOMIC

STRUCTURE OF MODERN JAPAN

41

while the three rivers each of Holckaido and Shikoku could supply
496,000 and 296,000 respectively. It is estimated that the total
amount of normal level water that can be put to economic use is
approximately 1 3 + million horse ~ o w e'.r So far only 3,586,000
of this potential supply is actually generated (from 994 stations),
while permission has already been obtained from the authorities
to utilisr a further 4,730,000 horse power as and when opportunity
offers. Thus the amount of power under control represents only
27 per cent. of the total resources.
Until the last few years the progress of hydro-electric power'
was retarded by the difficult access to the water heads, which
made the harnessing of the power an extremely expensive undertaking. But the increase of capital due to the running of Japanese industry at its full capacity during the war has made more
rapid progress possible. The lucrative prospects attracted capital
to the hydro-electric industry, and to-day more capital is invested
in it than in any other Japanese industry; the total sum invested amounted in 1929 to 2,387 million yen (in 493 companies)
representing 32.5 per cent. of the entire capital invested i n industrial enterprises.
Lately there has been a marked tendency to concentrate the
different companies under the control of a few combines. The
Tokyo Electric Light Company has absorbed many other companies and is now the largest corporation of all undertakings in
Japan, with a total paid-up capital of some 350 million yen. The
T6hb Electric Power Company of Tokyo and the Daid6 Denryoku
of Osaka have taken in smaller companies and have now resprctively a paid up capitol of 130 and 113 million yen. The Osaka
company is planning to supply Tokyo from its water head in
Kiso, a distance of over 300 miles.
By the appearance of these huge capitalistic combines in the
electric industry, and the changes that electric power has brought
about in the processes of manufacturing, transport, ctc., Japan

' Researches made by the Government in 1923 revealed that the total
volume of water power that can be developed from 2,822 heads evisting
in Japan proper is 6,415,000 h.p. in drought, a maximum of 14,090,000 h.p.
at norrnal level and a yearly average of 11,933,000 h.p. (Cf. The Japan Year
Book. 1930. D. 386.)
' l r h ~'fiist pri;ate electric company in Iapnn (generating power by
coal) was formed in 1889. Canalisation work for conducting the water
of Lake Biwa to Kyoto (completed in 1890) suggested the ~ t i l i t yof water
power. Up to then hydro-electricity was unknowr , but gradually hydradic
powm hnq supcmeded coal for thc generation of electricit\.

42

INTIC;STRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
~-

seems to be entering on " another stage of industrial revolution " '.
The pace of mechanisation within the last twenty years can be
measured by a study of table XI, which shows also to what extent
the use of electric power spread during the Great, War ; it is the
largest single item of all kinds of motive power now in use in
Japan although in actual amount of horse power used the proportion (45.5 per cent.) of the war period has gradually declined
in the last ten years.
TABLE XI. - MOTIVE POWER USED I N FACTORIES,

1909-1929 '

(In 1,000 Ilorse Power)
Kind of motive power

S t e a m engine .
Steam turbine.
Gas e n g i n e .
Oil engine
.
Turbine w a t e r
wheel.
Pelton w a t e r
wheel.
.
Japanese w a t e r
wheel.
.
Electric motor.

.
.
.

.

.

.
. .
.
. .
.
.
.

Total horse power
Percent. of electric motive pow e r to t h e total
Factories :
Nurr~berof factories u s i n g motive power

. .

Total number of
.
factories

. .

Percentage of factories usingmotive power

. .

1 Compiled from K6jd Tcikei Hyo for 1926 and 1928, pp. 74-75, and The Thirty-First
Financial und Economic Annual of Japan, 1931, pp. 86-87.

' K.
p. 63.

TAKAHASHI
: Nzhon Kcizai no Kaibci (Analysis of Japanese Economy).

PART 11

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

CHAPTER I

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRORLERIS
OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Influx of New Ideas
In addition to leatures common to all industrial communities, industrial relations in Japan present special problems
which can only be understood in the light of the historical circumstances in which Japanese industry has evolved. The outstanding characteristics of the early period of development were
the influx of new ideas from the Wcst, their clash with feuclalistic
traditions, and the rapid absorption of social doctrines and political ideals which were foreign and antagonistic to the feudalistic
conception of old Japan1. Among these ideas none exercised
a greater influence than that of the individual rights of man '.
In the static feudal society under the Shbgun the family was
the unit, a rigid line was drawn between the noble and the
plebeian, and lineage counted more than personality. Any
commoner deemed to have insulted or injured the honour of a
Samurai might be killed by him with impunity. Under the moral
rule of the feudal a l e it was esteemed as a virtue for the common
A concise account of the influence of the new Wcstern ideas on
Japan in the Meiji era is found in S a i k i n no Shakai Undo, pp. 1-36.
The Japanese words Kenri for right and Gimu for duty or obligation
with the full content of their Western equivalents had to he coined when
the jurisprudence of the West was introduced into Japan. Up to then
they did not exist in the .Japanese vocabulary.

-14

IADUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

people to be content with their status; up to the abolition of class
distinctions no commoner might even have a surname.
N h e n the words Iienri and Gimu were first heard in the
schools, at public meetings or in the streets, they signified the new
spirit of revolt against the repressive customs of the old regime ihe awakening to newly discovered ideals of freedom and democracy. A flood of unfamiliar aspirations had taken possession of
Ihe popular mind; the change was as radical as it was sudden.
From the early 'seventies, as the people became more
conscious of the idea of political freedom, their growing demand
was for the establishment of a representative national assembly
and their favourite watchword was Min-ken (the people's rights).
The change of spirit was revealed by the strange political jargon
of the day, anti also by the phenomenal sale of translations of
many Western books, dealing with the rights of the people.
During the 'seventies and early 'eighties, the political treatises of
the forerunners of the French Revolution, such as Rousseau and
Montesquieu, were read with avidity hg Japanese scholars. h
translation of the " Contral social " made a sensation by its popularity. though it was translated not into Japanese but into the
more difficult Chinew. Throughout Japan the social philo~ophy
of Spencer, Bentham and the two Mills and utilitarian economic
theories generally were eagerly studied, as were at a later period,
the revolutionary doctrines of Kropotliin, Bakunin, Marv and
Lenin, in books or pamphlets surreptitiously obtained. The
publication of a complete translation of the Communist Manifesto
and of articles commenting favourably on these revolutionary
doctrines meant the imprisonment of the authors of the articles,
but neither prison nor even capital punishment' effectively
arrested the diffusion of these " dangerous ideas"'.
Once the people had secured some measure of political freedom, therefore, the new ideas from the West began to make their
influence felt in the sphere of industrial relations.
In the early stages of industrial development, while largescale factories and vast dockyards were still unknown, the rela-

' Capital punishment may he inflicted 11nder the r e ~ i s c dP~lhlicPrnrr
Preservation Act upon those who attempt the overthrow of the Tmnrrial
regime hy fonndinp, for example, a Republican or a Communist Party.
The earlier form of Communism, Syndicalism and sometimes even
moderate Socialism were tahooed in the Ueiji ma as Kiken Shis5 o r
" dangerous ideas ".

tions between employer and worker were still largely of a feudal
character. In the smaller workplaces, in particular, the spirit
of paternalism prevailed and the employer for the most part
selected and directed his workers himself. There was till close
personal touch and friendly co-operation, and organised disputes
- even the word "strike " - were still unknown.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was, however, followed
by a period of rapid expansion in banking, shipping, shipbuilding, manufacturing and mining; a new factor was introduced
into industrial life, i.e. a distinct class of wage earners. Although
this was a period of national prosperity and millionaires multiplied, heavier taxes and higher prices brought increased hardship for the poorer classes. 'The general tendency of the time was
towards the widening of the social gap between thc rich and
poor '. The infiltration of the individualism of the West and the
growth of a wage-earning class employed by capitalistic enterprises led inevitably to sharp class divisions. The stage was set
for the outbreak of labour disputes.
The various economic and other factors which have conditioned the development of industrial relations in Japan may then
be summed up as follows :
Western ideas (especially Socialistic doctrines) , elementary education and urban concentration, which have
faci!itated the organisation of mass movements.
Capitalistic economy, which has brought into existence
a large class of wage earners, and has led to the transformation of the old friendly relationship between the
Oya-kata and his dei-shi (at once pupil and worker) into
an impersonal relationship between the employer and
employed - a relationship of rights and obligations.
The principle of free contract adopted by Japanese
legislation early in the Meiji era, together with the conI The Kokumin no Tomo (People's Friend), an influential journal of
this epoch, wrote in March 1897 i n its editorial column under the title
" The Trend of the Social Problem " as follows : " . . . We now recognise
that the facts before our eyes are paving the way for the rise of social
problems. Take for example the millionaires of to-day. Who among
them is not a trading man under Government patronages Which one
among them has not amassed his wealth h j either direct or indirect support of the Government? A policy of this sort is to enable the rich to
crrate their fortune by fettering the masses with chains. The rich arcx
growing richer, and the poor even poorer. "

46

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

centration of capital in relatively few hands have tended
to keep conditions of labour on a low level, and from this
a deep social cIeavage has resulted.
The "Family System " on Trial
It has already been stated that what is known as the " family
system" is one of the most characteristic features of Japanese
society ; the development of industrialism has affected this social
heritage of the feudal age perhaps more than any other. Since
the adoption of the factory system many Japanese employers have
been actuated by the sincere belief that their relations with their
employees - however numerous these may be - should be
founded on the idea that they all form part of the same family '.
Those who maintain this point of view think that in modern
industry the same relationship as existed in feudal times between
the oya-kata and his men should continue, i.e. employers should
be moved in their treatment of their workers by feelings of affection ', should protect their interests and look after their welfare.
It is upon this belief that a great deal of their welfare work for
the workers has been based, welfare work which takes the form,
for instance, of granting allowances to workers on discharge, or
in cases of sickness, injury, marriage, childbirth, death, etc. On
the ground that these grants, which are important items in their
expenses of management, are made voluntarily under the family
system without any legal requirement, some employers contend
that labour legislation is superfluous. Further, the opposition of
the employers to the enactment of a trade union law was based
on the argument that such legislation would tend to incite class
feeling and thus be detrimenta1 to the precious traditions of the
family system.
There are a number of signs, however, that the family system
is weakening Probably the most important is the proposal made
by a Governmental Commission originally appointed in 1919 to
revise the Civil Code. The revision proposed by the Commission,
which is still under discussion, is concerned with a number of
sections hitherto regarded as provisiorls expressly inserted in the

' " If such a relationship is established between the employer and
the employed, it is believed that the relations founded on rights and
obligations in employment will at once change to a feeling of kinship,
based on humane sentiments, and all disputes will cease. " (BUNJIS u s u ~ r:
h'ihon n o Rodo Mondni ( The Labour Problem of Japan '9, pp. 164-166.
Onj6 Slzugi (literally " warmheartcdnes.; ").

--

- ---

IIVDUSTRIAId AELATIORS
--

-17
-

Civil Code in order to safeguard the family system, and this
created the impression that even the Governmental Commission
considered it as obsolete and in need of a statutory revision '. The
recent spread of unemployment has also given occasion for the
adequacy of the family system to be questioned, for it is argued
that if the system were operating satisfactorily the suffering
resulting from unemployment would be considerably mitigated.
I a t l y , although the fact that a strike has taken place in the
works of a company where the application of the family system
has been recognised as typical furnishes no conclusive proof of
the breakdown of the system, it cannot be denied that this is a
striking sign that it is now on its trial.
In view of its importance, some further reference must be
made to this strike. The firm concerned was the Kanegafuchi
Spinning Company, the largest concern of its kind in Japan,
employing 35,000 workers in thirty-six mills. The strike was
caused by the announcement of drastic cuts in the cost-of-living
bonuses granted to the workers during the war. The importance
of the strike was the greater in the public mind because the
Company is an outstanding example of the application of the
family system, especially in the dormitories which, in accordance
with current practice, the management provides for the young
women operatives. The Company provides facilities for education and recreation, has organised detailed measures for the
safeguarding of the health of the workers, and makes allowances
in case of illness, injury, invalidity or death according to a definite
Cf. Dr. S. MIURA : " Nihon no Kazoku Seido to Minp6 " (The
Japanese Family System and the Civil Code), an article published in
Kezzai Ronso, Nov. and Dec. 1930., pp. 18-31 and 65-79 respectively. The
writer points out the error of the popular conception, shows that the
family system was limited to the classes of Samurai and the peers, and
stresses the need of revising the law to suit changing social circumstances.
More than twenty years ago, Mr. Bunji Suzuki pointed out what he
considered to be the weaknesses of the family system : (i) The practice
of the family system demands wisdom and high moral character in the
employer, a combination of virtues which is rarely found.
(ii) The
family system may be practicable in separate and particular factories, but
it cannot be universally applied. (iii) The family system is apt to be
despotic and paternalistic ; therefore its maintenance is difficult wher~
the workers become more educated. (iv) The family system is incompntible in essence with the modern economic system of factory industry, and
so it becomes ineffective when economic crises hreak out. The writer
further points out that the system can in no way take the place of either
factory law or other social legislation and cannot replace trade unionism
A far wiser alternative would he to co-operate with sound workers' organisa.
tions instead of trying to comhnt them with the family syste~n.
(Cf. B. Suzrr~r,op. c i f , pp. 176-178.)

48

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

schedule1. It had always been thought that a strike was impossible in the mills of this Company, which has never recognized
trade unionism, and no labour dispute had previously been
recorded.
Increase of Labour Disputes
It is significant that the first recorded strike of Japanese
workers took place as the result of a clash of a Western system of
transport with a native trade. It occurred in 1883 when the rickshaw men of Tokyo rose in protest against the introduction of a
tramway system in the city. They formed a union under the
name Shakai T6 (literally " Kickshaw Men's Party ") , but the
strike was badly conducted - it was indeed little more than a
riot - and failed, resulting in the immediate collapse of the
union. Ten years elapsed before, in January 1593, another strike
broke out in the Tenman Spinning Mill at Osaka.
No statistics of labour disputes are available until the gear
1897, but it may be assumed that, apart from these two strikes,
there were none of any importance 3 . During the latter half of
the year 1897, however, there were thirty-two cases of disputes
involving 3,517 workers. Since then, statistics show that the
number of workers involved in industrial disputes increased
nearly every year, but that the number of strikes did not rise
much until the Great War when the number suddenly doubled
in about a year and continued to increase in the following years.
The decennial period 1897-1906 may be considered as the
first period of the development of industrial disputes in Japan.
During this period the number of labour disputes was comparatively few, being less than twenty cases per annum except in
1897 and 1898 when the effect of the upheaval of the war with
China still remained ; 1898 was exceptional as it was in that year
that a spectacular strike was carried out by the locomotive drivers
Cf. T h e Kanegafuchi S p i n n i n g C o m p a n y L i m i t e d - Its C o n s t i t u t i o n :
IIoru i t cares for its employees, pp. 1-102.
a Cf. K~ocaoKAI, OP. cit., pp. 319-373 ; K1sn1 MIJRASHIMA
: R 6 d o S6gi
n o Jissni C h i s h i k i (Practical Knowledge of Labour Disputes), pp. 1-11 ;
Korca~ HASEGAWA
: " Naigai ni okeru R6d6 S6gi no kindaiteki Siisei "
(Recent Tendencies of Lahour Disputes in Japan and Abroad), published
in Shakai Seisaku Jih6, Oct. 1930, pp. 3-8.
Tn 1887 a riot occurred at the Takashima Coal Mines in Kyushu as
a result of ill-treatment of the miners' and in 1888 a lock-out took place
at a tea-manufacturing mill in Yokohama, hut these incidents were of
relatively small i~nportnnce. Thev co111d not be regarded as real strikes
or lock-oi~ts.

-

--

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

--

49

of the Nippon Railway Company, numbering about 400 men,
who struck simultaneously at Uyeno (Tokyo), Utsunomiya, Sendai, Awomori, etc. Having previously arranged a secret code
among the strikers at the main stations, they communicated with
one another by telegram. The north-eastern railway system.
covering a distance of over 500 miles, was completely paralysed,
and trains on some other lines were stopped suddenly at certain
fixed hours by men who wished to show their sympathy with
the strikers. A feature of the strike was the strict discipline
maintained among the strikers, who were led by a few prominent Socialists such as Sen Katayamal. It is noteworthy that
about this time interest in both Socialism and in the movement
to form trade unions was awakened among intellectuals ", but
apart from the successfully organised railway strike, labour disputes of this period were still unorganised and of little importance. After 1900, militant labour movements ceased for some
years as a result of the application of the Public Peace Police
Act which repressed agitation in labour disputes. There were
only six strikes, involving not more than 879 men, in 1904, the
year of the Russo-Japanese War. The total number of industrial
disputes in the ten-year period was only 164, involving 29,488
workers.
During the second period (1907-1919), though there were
some fluctuations, Japan enjoyed unprecedented prosperity, and
from 1915 to 1919 especially her industries were abnormally busy
owing to the complete absence of European competition. Social
movements developed, and labour disputes were of a more organised character. This period began with strikes at the Ashio
Copper and the Besshi Silver Mines in 1907, in which the troops
finally intervened to suppress violence. In 1907 there were in all
fifty-seven strikes with 9,855 participants; the highest figures
recorded in the Meiji era. The next big strike was that on the
'I'okyo tramways (end of 1911 to beginning of 1912), when the
transport system of the city was stopped for several days during
the busiest season at the end of the year. On the whole, however.
industrial relations remained comparatively good after the exceptional year of 1907 until the abnormal situation produced by the
Great War.
Cf. SEN KATAYAMA: T h e Labour Movement i n Japan (in English),
PI). 40-42.
" The expression D6mei Hik5 (literally : " concerted cessation of
work ") then began to be used generally, but in still more common use
was the word Sutoraiki which is the .Japanese pronunciation of the English
word " strike ".
IWCSTHIAI. 1.4DOZ'H IN J A P A K

5

50

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JA.PAN

From about 1911 and 1912, when the Aleiji era passed to the
new Taislto era, a change gradually came about; it was then
that the Yuai Kai, and other early trade unions of the modern
type began to build up their organisations '. In 1912 the number of cases of labour disputes as well as the number of participants suddenly doubled. Although 1914, the first year of the Great
War, was a year of economic depression, the continuation of hoqtilities in Europe brought a period ol prosperity to Japan, which
although of short duration radically altered her industrial situation. But the sudden expansion of industrial enterprises, the
concentration of workers in manufacturing centres, and the loss
of economic equilibrium in wages and cost of living accelerated
the increase of strikes; in 1916 there were 108 strikes, 398 in
1917, 417 in 1918. Disputes arising from the demand for higher
wages rose from 71 (or 66 per cent.) in 1916 to 304 (76 per cent .)
in 1917, and 340 (82 per cent.) in 1918. The record year was 1919,
with no fewer than 497 strikes, involving 63,137 workers.
Disputes became epidemic, and in this year the historic strike at
the Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yards in Kobe took place, involving
over 15,000 workers; for the first time ca' canny was practised as
part of strike tactics. The famous social reformer 'royohiko
Kagawa was among the leaders of the strike, who were arrested
and imprisoned. The strike was significant not only for its size
but for the results it obtained; for the first time a limitation of
hours of work to eight in the day was achieved in Japan. Another result was that ca' canny methods were adopted in twentythree other disputes in the same year.
The International Labour Organisation had considerable
influence on the Japanese situation - particularly in that eventful year of 1919. The demand for an eight-hour day made by the
Yuai Kai at its annual congress of that year was influenced by the
presence of this question on the agenda of the International
Labour Conference held at Washington. At the same time the
success of the strike at the Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yards in
obtaining the eight-hour day was an object lesson to other Japanese employers and workers. The rapid spread of trade unions
was opposed by employers, who either discharged or refused to
employ members of unions. Consequently many strikes arose
Cf. below, p. 91.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

--

-

51
-

from thc workers' demands for " the freedom or recognition of
trade unions " , for " collective bargaining " , etc. ' .
The third period (1920-1930) began with an acute financial
crisis, but the development of the labour movement continued
steadily. Labour disputes began to be coilducted in a more systematic and organised
manner; the strikers showed more discipline and the strikes ceased to be mere sporadic and violent
uprisings leading to illegal acts. 'She largest strikes in Japanese
history took place in this period, and the number of labour disputes has increased year by year.
In the spring of 1920 a panic overtook Japan. Factory after
factory was closed down in the acute depression that followed the
war, and for the first time unemployment became a grave social
problem. It resulted from this situation that, although strikes
decreased in number, any strike that broke out was serious for it
was a part of organised warfare, with carefully planned tactics
and a "technique" of its own.
In the great strike at the Yawata State Iron Foundry in 1920
the strikers let out the fire of the smelting furnaces. Strikes of
no less gravity than this occurred in other important undertakings such as the Ashio Copper Mines, Sumitomo Copper
Works, Fujinagata Shipbuilding Yards in Osaka, and the Kawasaki and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Yards in Kobe.
The disastrous earthquake of 1923 was a turning point of the
labour movement in Japan. About this time Japanese trade
unions adopted a more practical policy, and violent and reckless
methods were less frequently employed. Moderation began to be
the keynote in strikes and in the workers' tactics generally This
was shown in the disputes of this time, among which the most
notable were those at the Electric Bureau of Osaka in 1924, the
Resshi Copper Mines in 1926, the Hamamatsu Musical Instrument
Factory in 1926, the Noda Shoyu Manufacturing Company in
1927. The last mentioned continued for more than seven months
(from September 1927 until April 1928); finally it was amicably
settled by the mediation of the Kyocho K a i 2 . This strike was one
As the methods used in conducting disputes were copied from
countries, the terminology employed in conducting the strikes
was still new to the workers. At a certain shipbuilding yard, the
workers' demands included the item of " recognition of the right of
Dnntai K6sh6 ", which means collective bargaining. The employer asked
n member of the committee of the strikers the meaning of the new word.
The latter, not knowing what to say, replied . " 1 will reply to-morrow
after consulting the committee "
Cf helow, p 131.
I

\;l estern

of the biggest and longest ever experienced, and the loss to the
Company was estimated as considerably exceeding a million.
while the expense to the General Federation of Labour amounted
to more than a 100,000 yen.
In 1928 there was a yet more serious strike of seamen, under
the leadership of Kunitaro IIamada, President of the Japan Seamen's Union. In all important ports and harbours the vessels
of companies which had not concluded an agreement with thc
Union on hours, wages and other conditions of work of their
seamen1 were unable to go to sea. As a result, the Japan Seamen's Union was able to sign the first minimum wage agreemelrt
recorded in Japan. Two years later there was the strike in the
mills of the Kanegafuchi Cotton Spinning Company, to which
reference has been made above in connection with the " famil)
system " .
This survey of the larger strikes of the last ten years suggests
the increasing tension of industrial relations in Japan. The
change is even more clearly shown by the statistics of labour
disputes in the last decade. Leaving aside the exceptional boom
years, 1917-1919, when disputes were especially numerous, and
the years of depression and national disaster, 1920 and 1923, it
can be said that the figures show a constant upward tendency:
the curve has risen acutely in the last few years with 571 disputes
involving 77,281 workers in 1929, and with 906 disputes involving 81,329 workers in 1930.

Year

Number of cases

Number of workers
involved

Zverage number of workers
involved per case

1 The figures until 1921 were taken by the Police Bureau of the Department of thr
Interior ; thereafter, by the Bureau of Social Affairs and reported in R6d6 Jih6 each month

' This included practically all the shipping companies except thc
Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Osaka Shosen Kaisha, Kinkai Yusen Kaisha, Mitsni
Russan Kaisha.

5'3

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Nature of Labour Disputes'
Another characleristic of industrial relations in Japan during
the last ten or twelve years has been the decrease in the number
of disputes settled by compromise. In 1919, when the total
number of disputes was very high, the number which ended in
strikes or lock-outs amounted to only 21 per cent. of the whole ;
in 1930, however, they rose to nearly 40 per cent. There has also
been an increase in the number of lock-outs : official figures show
that while in 1927 there were 20 lock-outs with 809 workers concerned, there were 28 lock-outs in 1929 involving 5,215 workers.
In 1930, the number of lock-outs rose to 90, involving as many
as 7,112 workers.

- LAIJOUR DISPUTES HNDIDIG I R

TABLE XIII.
CA'

STRIKES,

LOCI\-OUTSOR
1919-1930'

CANNY, AND OTIIERS ENDING WITH COMPROMISE,

Disputes ending in *trikes
lock-outs or ca' canny
YPRI.

1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1921
1925
19%
1927
1928
192!1

1

1

Number of cases

I

Percentage

Disputes ending with compromise

Number of cases

Percentage

28'2
246
250
270
3 3
203
285
383
393
571

--

A further feature of industrial disputes in Japan is that up
to the present the average number of workers affected in each
case has been comparatively small. The explanation is that most
strikes, lock-outs and cases of ca' canny have been confined to
a particular factory, workshop or mine. Disputes in which the
workers of a number of factories or mines act together, either in
I
Free use has been made of an article already cited, written by
Vr. li. Hasegawa, an official in the Bureau of Social Affairs, dealing with
labour disputes.

54

ISDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A R

-

--

--- --

pursuance of a common object or out of sympathy with the
workers mainly concerned, are still comparatively rare. The
'Tokyo newspaper printing operatives' strike in 1919, in which
most of the printing offices of newspapers of the city were involved, the Kobe dockers' strike of 1921, in which the dockyards of Kawasaki and three companies under the management
of the Mitsui firm joined, and the seamen's strike of 1928
already mentioned are outstanding examples of sympathetic
strikes.
Such strikes are, however, exceptional, and the highest average number of workers involved in disputes was reached with
the figure of 237 in 1921, while it was as low as 116 in 1928. Since
about 1926, petty disputes affecting fifty or fewer workers have
much increased in number; on the other hand, strikes involving
500 or more workers have hardly increased at all. 'The small
scale of disputes is, of course, attributable in some degree to the
large number of small undertakings in Japanese industry and
also to the limited membership of the trade unions involved in
these disputes. But it is also due to the fact that small-scale factories have been hit more severely than larger ones in periods
of depression, and have therefore been involved more readily in
disputes. Owing to want of resources and economic power
of resistance, they have been the first to try to reduce costs by
wage-cuts, wholesale discharge of workers or withholding of
wages.
T4BIA: \IT.

- COMP \R.ZTI\
--

--

Dispute of 19 or
less workers

I

;
I

I

1921-1929 '

-

Dispute of 50 to
499 worherr,

Dispute of 500 worker5
or more

Number
of cases

Percentage

46
56
52
55
39
60
65
6.1

l? SIZl? OF DISPUTES,

I
1

1

Percentaye

14
19
20
28
16
47
30
14
95
--

1 K. IIASBGAIIA,
op. c i t . , pp. 12-13. The figures for 1928 include four cases affecting
3,315 \\orken mil in 1929 f i ~ ecases aflecting 163 workers, continuing from the previous years

55

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Small disputes do not as a rule arouse much public attention,
but their results are often particularly deplorable. 'She small
employer may be ruined as well as the workers concerned. Big
strikes, such as that of 1921 in the Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yards,
cause grave social unrest and damage, but they are fortunately
rare. For example, during the past decade there were only eight
disputes which involved 5,000 or more workers'. 'She frequency of the smaller strikes has, therefore, most bearing on the
industrial situation of Japan.
l'here has also been a marked tendency in recent years for
industrial disputes to last longer than formerly. 111 1919, which,
as has been seen, was a freak year as regards the total number
of disputes, 488 disputes (98 per cent.) were settled in less than
ten days, while 363 disputes did not last more than three days.
In 1929, however, 202 cases (35 per cent.) lasted for more than
eleven days, and 56 for more than a month; this indicated a radical change in the situation. Figures for the whole period 19191929 are given in the following table:

-

-

3 d a y s or less

1-10 dnys
- - ---

Year
Workers
nvolved

34,057
12,938
11,365
11,407
9,701
13,396
14,835
30,580
9,369
17,969
28,897

Nnmher Workers
of cases involved

--

rln~uber ;Vorkrrs Ntuuber
3f cases involved of cases

Workers
involved

9

33
42
34
52
77
67
100

1 K. Hasscaw~, op. cit., p. 14. Reither the number of dispotca uor the numbor o
U norkers
in\otvcd correspouds to the totals for most years because almost every year there are a certain
n~unber of disputes which have been reporlcd at the outbreak but died out quietly leavin:
no trace.

The disputes involving 5,000 or more workers were as follo\vs :
1921, 2 : 1924, 1 ; 1926, 2 ; 1928, 1 ; 1929, 2.

56

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

-

To estimate the economic loss caused by industrial disputes
it is important to know their duration in man-days. The following table gives figures for the period 1924 to 1930.
TABLE SVI. - WORKING-DAYS

Year

Number of cases

LOST BY

DISPLTES,
1924-1930 '

Number
Of workers
affected

Number of days lost

1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930

!
1

Rod6 Jihc?, May 1931, p. 25

As regards the immediate causes of strikes, lock-outs and
organised ca' canny in Japan, it is generally true to say that they
are economic rather than political. At the bottom of most industrial disputes are to be found questions of wages, hours of work,
rights of association, discharge allowances, etc.
IVaqes. - Year after year the wages question accounts for a
large number of disputes. In 1919, as many as 400 disputes
(80 per cent.) arose out of the workers' demand for higher wages.
This proportion was, however, very exceptional, and the numher
of disputes caused by demands for higher wages on the part of
the workers decreased steadily after 1919 until, in 1929, it had
fallen to 91, or only 16 per cent. of all the disputes in that year.
Moreover, of the 91 cases classified roughly as disputes arising
from a demand for higher wages, there were only 44 cases in
which actual increases of pay were claimed. The rest had different causes, such as demands to restore a formal normal wagescale which had been temporarily lowered, claims for the extra
allowances in the busy season, which it is usual to make but
which the employer had discontinued, demands for a higher
piece-work rate when the amount of work offered under a new
contract had been suddenly diminished.
011 the other hand, as the economic depression deepened,
opposition to the reduction of wages became more and more a
cause of industrial disputes. Whereas i n 1919 there were only

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

57

17 cases ( 3 per cent. of all disputes) arising from this cause, in
1929 the number increased to 129 cases (22 per cent.). It is also
significant that in 1929 there were as many as 53 disputes originating from claims for payment of wages due. Statistics further
show that a certain number of disputes arise every year on the
question of the methods of wage payment.
Action on the part of the workers to maintain or even
increase rates of wages should not be interpreted as meaning that
Japanese workers have shown any signs of abandoning the traditional virtue of moderation in their material demands. Indeed,
there have been particular instances of offers on the part of the
workers to work for less wages than they had been receiving - no
doubt a survival of the feudal spirit in Japanese industry when the management of an undertaking has been in difficulties
owing to the economic depression '. In almost all cases, therefore, wages disputes arise from the pressure of hard economic
facts.
Hours of work. - In the early days of industrial development the Japanese worker was little interested in the question of
working hours; the Western conception of time in relation to
work was wholly strange to him. But by 1919 industrial evolution had begun to prepare the Japanese worker for the idea of an
eight-hour day as a world standard, an ideal which was brought
more than ever before to public notice by its inclusion in Part
XI11 of the Peace Treaties and by the discussions at the Washington Conference. The great strike of 1919 in the Kawasaki Dockyards led to the adoption of the eight-hour day, and from that
time strikes demanding a shorter working day (of ten, nine or
eight hours) broke out in various parts of Japan.
For example, in May 1922 some 400 workers employed at a Hamnmatsu dye factory, which was in financial difficulties, presented to the
management a unanimous proposal that their wages should be reduced
by 10 per cent., and shortly afterwards 300 operatives of the Tenryugawa
Lumber Mill made a similar offer In June of the same year, some
1,200 workers of the Japan Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company
(Nihon Gakki Kaisha) of Hamamatsu volunteered to work an extra hour
overtime without pay in order to assist the Company to recover from
two fires at their works, and a few months later the workers at a safe
factory of Otani in Kyoto, a paper mill in Kobe, and also at an iron
works near Nagoya voluntarily offered to accept a wage decrease of from
10 to 20 per cent. In another case the workers at a certain knitting works
in Nagoya made a proposal to accept a 10 per cent. reduction, but with a
view to forestalling the company's mnonncement of n cut of 20 per cel~t.

58

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
--- --

In the first instance, however, the idea of the eight-hour (lay
meant to Japanese workers not so much the strict limitation of
hours of work to eight in the day as eight hours as the basis of
wage calculation. Agitation for actual limitation of working
hours, moreover, diminished gradually as the effects of the
financial depression began to bear more heavily on Japanese
i n d u s t r ~ .No doubt owing to the fear of reduced earnings, there
was opposition in some cases to the institution of Sunday rest o r
weekly rest days instead of the one or two rest days a month which
had hitherto been the rule. In other cases, workers opposed reductions of hours because they would involve reductions of wages.
In February 1922, for example, the dockers of Yokohama objected
to the shortening of working hours, demanding on the contrary
that regular hours should be worked every day except on Sundays
and national holidays. In July of the same year, when the
shortening of working hours, accompanied by a reduction in
wages, was proposed at a rubber works in Kobe, a dispute
occurred. The considerations. no doubt, explain why, whereas
there were 20 disputes arising from demands for a shorter
working day in 1922, the number in 1929 was only 10, or 2 per
cent. of the total number of disputes.
Collective bargaining and the right of association. - Since
April 1921, when the mining workers at the Ashio Copper Mines
struck, claiming among other things the right of collective bargaining, this demand has constantly been put forward by the
workers. In May, the month following the Copper Mines strike,
another dispute was based on an identical claim, this time by the
electricians in Osaka. The question was also the chief cause of
forty other disputes in the same year; in 1921, indeed, the question of collective bargaining seemed to be the "focussing point "
of labour disputes.
A Japanese writer ' has pointed out that this was significant,
since it was a sign of an important new tendency of the Japanese
trade union movement. At the outset when the miners of Ashio
and the electricians of Osaka demanded the right of collective
bargaining, even their leaders did not seem to have a very clear
idea of what it implied. Hitherto in Japanese industries wage
agreements - and in point of fact practically all labour apreeErn Yasur : R5d6 TlnrlG n o Kenky11 (Study of the 1,ahour Ttfovemcnt I .
p. 56.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

5'3

ments - had generally been made individuall~,and but seldom
collectively. The demand for the right of collective bargaining
was therefore destined to bring about important changes.
In the second half of the same year, 1921, the question of
the institution of works councils or shop committees attracted
attention; it would seem that the Whitley Councils set up in
England and somewhat similar schemes tried elsewhere during
and after the Great JVar indirectly influenced the demand for
norks committees in Japan. During a strike at a big shipbuilding yard in Kobe the mediator suggested, and the workers
accepted, the institution of a works committee in connection with
their demand for the right to collective bargaining, hut the employers refused to agree. Although the proposal was not carried
out it had a remarkable effect, being followed by some twentyfive disputes on the question of works committees. Tn Osaka
alone, twelve factories, with approximately 15,000 workers,
demanded that shop committees or something similar should be
set up. The lack of a clear understanding of what shop committees really were and the scope of their action, combined with
the difference of conception between employer and workers, soon
led, however, to confusion. The results achieved were largely
disappointing to the workers, because Ihe councils subsequently
wt up were generally charged with advising on the promotion of
the interests of the undertaking as well as on welfare matters;
moreover, decisions of these councils had no binding force- only
" moral value " .
" Open recognition " of trade unionism has also occasionally
been demanded, though mainly with the object of putting an end
to the discharge of workers who are active members of trade
unions. Although the actual number of disputes caused by this
demand was only 1per cent. of all disputes in 1929, the discussion
of the question led to a general recognition of the need of a definite policy to deal with the situation; i n the end it decided the
Government to draft the Trade Union Bill.
Discharge allowances. - As yet Japanese law contains no
provisions regulating the amount of indemnity to be paid to workcrs in the event of their dismissal '. In the absence of any
As a measure to alleviate the problem of unemployment, the Bureail
of Social Affairs has proposed that firms should be recommended to set
aside certain sums to provide a fund for discharge allowances, but this
has not been embodied in legisl at'lon.

60

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N
.-

explicit requirement in law, a worker not employed for a fixed
term may be legally discharged at the convenience of the
employer, and without any compensation '.
Although the custom of Japanese employers has been to pay,
as " discharge allowances ", sums of money more or less proportionate to the length of service rendered, there has been no sort
of uniformity in the practice. In the past, as long as industry
remained on a small scale, permitting the employer to know his
own workers personally, his N i n j o (humane feelings) was a
strong factor in deciding the amount given to discharged workers.
l'he workers, too, out of Giri (sense of justice), would usually
refrain from disputing with their master over the amount paid.
But, with the development of industrialism, the situation changed,
especially after the post-war economic depression set in and large
factories had to be closed down and workers discharged in considerable numbers with but inadequate discharge allowances.
From about 1921, strikes resulting from claims for more adequate discharge allowances became common. Recently, the question has heeu the main issue every year in about 10 per cent. of
all labour disputes.
The scale of allowances demanded by workers in disputes
varies, but the way in which the demands are formulated is
largely uniform. They demand as a rule a sum of money equivalent to so many days' wages for so many months' or years'
service with the undertaking concerned. As regards the results
of these strikes, statistics show that, on the average, the workers
have obtained nearlv 50 per cent. of their demands.

-

Other causes of disputes.
Among other demands of the
workers are those for better facilities for recreation and education,
improvement of factory accommodation such as provision of
bathrooms, reduced prices for the daily necessities sold by the
works stores, management of workers' dwellings, improved
health arrangements, adequate provision for the prevention of
fire, etc.
A still more important cause of disputes is the taking of
objection to foremen or other persons in positions of supervision.
l'he law provides that, in the case of an employment contract for
an indefinite period, two weeks notice to terminate the contract must be
given by either party (Civil Code, section 627).

Such disputes, which are of psychological rather than economic
or political origin, are reported to be more common in factories
where more women than men are employed. Recently a new
development has taken place, as the workers have begun to realise
the futility of disputes merely on the ground of objections to the
persons of supervising staff. They are now occasionally demanding the right to elect thrir foremen.
Frequency of Disputes in Various Industries

The effect of fluctuating economic conditions on industrial
relationships is most visible in the Japanese industries which
expanded abnormally during the Great War and underwent a
sudden shrinkage after it. The metal industries and those manufacturing machinery had f r o ~ n1918-1922 an annual average of
49 disputes, i.e. 14 per cent. of the total for the year. No other
industry reached this number, the textile and chemical industries coming next with an annual average of 35 disputes, or
10 per cent. From 1923 to 1929, the textile industries headed
the list with an annual average of 92 disputes, or 23 per cent.,
while the industries manufacturing machinery and tools showed
an average of 78 cases per annum, or 20 per cent. of the total
number of disputes. The gradual awakening of the young
women employed in textile mills to interest in their working
conditions is held to account for the high rate of textile dispute?,
together with the acute fluctuations which this industry underwent in this seven-year period. In 1929 the manufacture of
machinery and tools, which relatively has not a large number
of workers, had 141 disputes, or 24 per cent. of the total. The
"miscellaneous industries " had 114 disputes, or 20 per cent., the
chemical industry 100 or 17 per cent., and textiles 87, or 15 per
cent.
The number of disputes in the mining industry has been
generally small. This is considered to be the result of the survival of the guild system ', and of the feudal relationship of oyabun and ko-buna. However, although strikes are rare in the
mines, such strikes as have occilrred have been serious

Cf. helon, Part IT, Chapler If[. 1) 87

' Oya-bun

mc:ms literallv " parental share " as does oyakala, and
ko-bun or " child's share " has practically the same meaninq as de-shr
Refermce has alrendv been made to the despatch of troops in conncbction with miners' $trikes nt the Ashio nnd the Rewhi m i n ~ sin 190'i

62

IAUIJSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

u
p
-

----- -

-

Recently strikes of transport workers (particularly tramway
workers) have begun to arouse public attention and anxiety
owing to their tendency to increase. The annual average of
transport strikes was 38 in the seven-year period 1923-1929, or
10 per cent. of all disputes, a small number considering the
extent to which the transport workers are organised in trade
unions1. Because of the inconvenience a tramway strike causes
to the public it usually fails disastrously, and is resented by the
community at large. 'The Tokyo tram conductors' strikes
in 1920 and 1930 arc examples of this and also the great strike
of tramway workers at Osaka in 1924'.

Influence of Trade Unions on Labour Ilispufcs
Because the essential aim of a trade union is to improve the
conditions of work of its members, it does not follow necessarily
that disputes become more frequent in proportion to the number
of workers organised in trade unions. On the contrary, Japanese
experience has been that the number of disputes tends to fall
when trade unions in any branch of industry have matured, because they begin then to maintain order and discipline among
the member3. Usually disputes occur more often when the trade
unions are either in the early formative period or are split up
into petty and rival unions which have little control over the
members. There are many instances to support this conclusion.
For example, 1924 was a year when trade unionism began
to be officially recognised, having been granted the right of
nominating the workers' delegate and advisers to attend the International Labour Conference. There was a sudden and unprecedented increase of membership of more than 100,000 within
The Labour Disputes Conciliation Act of 1926 provides that disputes
in public utility undertakings such as railways or tramways may he
brought under compulsory conciliation.
At the 1924 strike in Osaka which inxolved over 4,000 workers, the
public (including newspapers, young men's associations, local associations
of reserve soldiers, etc.) was against the strikers, and volunteers offered
to operate the tramway system. The strikers withdrew to a holy
Buddhist precinct of the Koya mountain, a distance of several hours from
the city to further their plans, but they failed completely, and finally had
to yield while the union which had called the strike was " dissolved hv
way of apology to the citizens of Osaka for having caused them incon\enience by the strike. " Cf. R6d6 Nenknn (Labour Year Book), 1925
edition, pp. 128-130.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

63

a year. 'The percentage of the disputes in which trade unions
participated in 1924 was 47 per cent., but the increase in the rate
of union participation in disputes over the previous year was
only 8 per cent., while in 1923 the percentage of the disputes in
which trade unions participated had increased by 14 per cent.
over the figure for 1922. The percentage of trade union participation in labour disputes was highest in 1926 with the figure
of 71 per cent., but that was precisely a year of chaotic conditions in the trade union world. I'hc General Federation of Labour
was split for the second time and in that year the centre body,
the Alliance of Japanese Trade Unions, was formed'. Jn the
absence of any strong discipline imposed by the central federation, the local unions were easily drawn into disputes.
The control of the local strikes by the central body began
i n July 1921 when the Tokyo Federation affiliated to the General
Federation of Labour adopted a resolution at its congress to the
effect that as far as possible in calling a strike any affiliated
unions should consult the headquarters of the Federation prcviously. In November of the same year the Osaka Federation
adopted the "Rules concerning Strikes ", with the view to controlling their organisation. This was the first time in the history
of Japanese trade unionism that a trade union laid down definite
rules in order to impose on its members strict discipline regarding labour disputes.
A remarkable instance of actual control by the central federation over the members in a dispute occurred in 1928. During
the seamen's strike in the late spring, the Japan Seamen's Union
issued orders forbidding the members to commit any reckless
or disorderly act (the strike took place only after authorisation
from headquarters). The seamen working on ferry boats or in
similar services were strictly prohibited from joining in the strike
unless it was certain that there was an alternative means of
transport by land in the locality, and that the stoppage of work
by the seamen would not cause any serious inconvenience to
(he public.
The proportion of the disputes in which trade unions have
participated has certainly been on the increase in the past seven
or eight years, but it is not as high as in some other industrial

Cf. below, pp. 102 and 11 1

61

IP~DUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

States. For example, in 1929 there were only 362 such cases,
representing 62 per cent. of all the disputes in that year.
Tactics in the Conduct of Disputes
During the last ten or fifteen years the methods used in
labour disputes have ceased to be improvised. Strikes are deliberately and systematically planned and those methods used
which are thought to be the most effective means of gaining
success. Although the tactics now in use are mostly of foreign
origin as is shown by the words used1, there are others which
have developed in Japan, and reflect the social customs, religion,
and other special circumstances of the country.
Since the system of " strike benefits " has not developed as
yet to any wide extent (although certain big federations of
workers' unions are known to possess a "disputes fund ") the
financial question becomes a serious one both for the union in
charge of the dispute and for the workers involved in it. In
order to meet this difficulty, when a dispute is prolonged, the
workers are sometimes sent out as pedlars carrying a sign
that they are on strike and selling articles of daily necessity
such as combs, toothbrushes, soap, towels, etc. This scheme
has been found to serve the double purpose of publicity and
finance.
Recently, nearly all the leading trade union federations in
this country have set up a disputes department at their headquarters. The department is under the direction of the most
able of the leaders of the federation and endeavours to control
or guide the disputes. The "Strike Regulations", when such
exist" are enforced by the disputes department or else by the
headquarters of the union in charge of the dispute. In order to
prevent their members from returning to work, the unions
usually institute in addition to picketing, a daily roll-call of the
strikers at a fixed hour and place. Each worker participating in
The original English word " strike " is widely used, as are such
words as " lock-out " and " picketing ". The vocabulary of the working
class also contains words of foreign origin, abbreviated in a peculiar
strike,
Ja~aneseway. like demo for demonstration.. .iene-suto for general
aj: for agitation, etc.
Both the Osaka Federation and the Western Federation affiliated to
the General Federation of Labour adopted Strike Regulations in 199.1.
Other unions have adopted such rules more recently.

~

--

INDUSTRIAL IWLATIONS

65

--

a strike is required to come in person and set his seal1 on the
attendance book below his own name. In extreme cases,
attempts have been made to enforce the attendance by fining
absent members '.
For any important measures to be taken in strikes the previous consent of the members is usually obtained. For instance,
it is understood that there was a referendum of the workers
before the extensive ca' canny of 1919 at the Kawasaki Shipbuilding Yards.
h usual form of demonstration (demo) in Japan is the street
procession. Such processions are organised with a previous
notice to the police and the latter may prohibit the demonstration
if carried out without notice or when disorder is feared '. However, ingenious schemes have been devised to escape police intervention in demonstrations. The resorting to Shinto shrines
ostensibly to pray for a speedy settlement of the dispute is one
of them. In 1921, when the workers at the Kawasaki Dockyards
struck, the strikers carried out a demonstration by this means
for three consecutive days, selecting purposely two shrines located
at the remotest parts of the city so as to necessitate a long procession in going from one to the other. The demonstration was
carried out undisturbed by the police, but as the workers were
ultimately defeated in this dispute, it was thought that the gods
were wrath at the profanity and disingenuous motives of the
ceremony.
The funeral procession is another form of demonstration.
An example of this occurred also during the strike of dockyard
workers in 1921 on the occasion of the burial of one of the
strikers killed in a riot. A long procession of men bearing a
I In .Japan, the use of the seal, which is affixed usually with vermilion ink, is the custom. It is required for legal documents ; a merc
signature is not sufficient.
A t a strike in Kobe in 1921 the fines were of varying amounts,
50 sen and 1 yen according to the rank of the worker, and at another
strike in Yokohama, 30 per cent. of the daily wages were to be charged.
But it is stated that these were not actually imposed because the enforcing
of a stoppage of work used to be a criminal offence according to the Public
Peace Police Act.
The singing of revolutionary songs, making unnecessary noise, using
unusual instruments such as bugles, shells, bells, etc., are prohibited.
Demonstrations to welcome the release of a worker imprisoned for some
offence in connection with a labour dispute have occasionally been dissolved
owing to the disturbance created.

66

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

hundred and fifty banners went to the burial ground ', where
speeches were deli~eredby prominent labour leaders such as
Bunji Suzuki and the men shouted three Banzai's i l l order to chcrr
the spirit of the deceased'.
When the dispute is prolonged, the morale of the workers
is apt to break down, and in order to prevent this, various amusing games, all having relation to the end in view, are deviwd.
Although some of the instances given may not he either general
or typical, this description of the tactics employed in labour
disputes illuqtrates the new spirit of the workers of Japan.

Results o/ Disputes
Reference has already been made to the decreasing number
of disputes settled by negotiations between the parties and without the declaration of a strike or lock-out. 'This tendency is to
some extent explicable by the increased power of trade union
organisations and the greater precision and moderation of the
demands put forward by the workers now as compared with
ten years ago. Having secured more complete control over their
memhers the unions are often in a position either to obtain satisfaction without engaging in a dispute or, if the decision is once
taken to declare a strike, to carry it through. Generally speaking,
the trade unions are more solidly organised financially and their
tactic9 have become at once more subtle and effective . 'She same
argument applies, though perhaps in a lesser degree, to employers' organisations. Qnother influence against settlement by
negotiation has heen the continued economic depression, for in
times of depression employers are less affected by stoppage3 resulling from labour disputes than in periods of good trade.
Table XVJI shows the decreasing proportion of cases of compromise over a period of ten years as also the rise in the number
of disputes settled in the workers' favour during this period. If
The so-called " Union funeral " or " Socialist funeral " hers beconir
popular ; one was staged at the 1)11rialof Sakae Osugi, the anarchist
leader killed in 1923.
A curious spectacular demonstration took place during a strike near
Tokyo in 1930. A worker climbed up to the top of a high chimney of the
factory where the strike was on and remained there exposed to the rail1
and cold winds, for several days till the dispute was settled. Thousands
of spectators flocked to see this so-called " chimney-man " and it is said
that this sensational demonstration sened effectivel) to hasten n setllcment i n the workers' fawour.

-

INDUSTRIAL ~ R L A
rloKs

67

-

the situation in 1929 is compared with lhat in 1919 it will he
apparent how great the change has been.
TABLE

XVII. - HESULTS

O F I A U O O R DISPCITES.

Workers'
Workers'
demands granted demands rejected

1919-1929'

9esulLs unknown

I
Total

Percentage

Yumbrr
Per,f cases centage

Yumber
Per~f casee centage

-

-

I

-

Infringement of Law during Labour Disputes

The foregoing pages have shown thal on several occasions
there has been armed intervention to restore order during industrial disputes. Such cases have been rare, but minor infringements of law during labour disputes were frequent, particularly
during the war and immediate post. war periods.
The nature of the laws in force must, of course, be taken
into account in relation to the question of offences committed
during labour disputes ', and also the degree of leniency or severity of the authorities in applying the laws. 'The legal situation
The excitable nature of the Japanese worker is another factor.
Mr. Bunji Suzuki wrote nearly twenty years ago that " many .Japanese
. They get excited as
workers are extremely emotional and rash. .
suddenly as they cool down. The fact that strikes in Japan are started
abruptly on trifling grounds and die out also very quickly is an eloquent
demonstration of such a psychology of the .Japanese worker ". They are,
he says, apt to commit desperate acts precisely because of " their disregard
of material interest when moved b y emotion " and their " high sensitive: Nihon no R6dB Mondai
ness concerning their honour ". Cf. BUNJISUZUKJ
(The Labour Problem i n Tapan), pp. 96-105 ; also .T. P. S ~ J W D F R I A:N D
Rising Japan, pp. 5-6.

68

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

in Japan is that there is no law which prohibits or penalises
labour disputes as such. On the contrary, the legality of stoppages of work by strikes or lock-outs is implicitly recognised in
the Labour Disputes Conciliation Act. Strikes, lock-outs,
ca' canny and picketing are all lawful acts of the parties concerned Moreover, there do not appear to have been any cases
in which trade unions have been sued by civil procedure for
damages caused to an employer by a labour dispute.
The infringements of the law which have occurred up to
the present have been violations of general legal provisions for
the maintenance of peace and order. Many if not most of these
offences in the past were breaches of the Public Peace Police Act.
Until 1926, when sections 17 and 30 were repealed, action either
by an employer or by workers to "induce" or " incite" others
to stop work or to refuse employment in connection with a labour
dispute constituted a crime1. Since the repeal of those sections,
freedom of action in labour disputes has been somewhat extended,
and cases of infringement of the law are less frequent.
Certain sections of the new Labour Disputes Conciliation Act
still restrict the scope of action of both employers and workers,
pending the conclusion of the legally prescribed conciliation procedure, if the dispute occurs in a public utility undertaking2.
This Act largely reproduces the terms of the repealed section 17
of the Public Peace Police Act, but it is obvious that the object
of the Labour Disputes Conciliation Act is to ensure a just and
satisfactory conclusion of the legally prescribed conciliation procedure, by preventing unnecessary disturbances from outside
while conciliation is proceeding ; the provisions of the Conciliation Act should therefore not be regarded in the same light as
the repealed provisions of the Police Act since they are not intended to restrict the freedom of the parties to a dispute.
Apart from the Labour Disputes Conciliation Act, which is
really the only Japanese law dealing specifically with labour disputes as such, there are in existing laws numerous provisions
which are enforced during labour disputes, and failure to observe
Statistics show that as long as those sections were in force, there
were on an average every year some seventeen cases of offences, involving
eighty-two persons. The number of arrests was much greater than the
actual cases of conviction. There were 1,166 arrests during the eleven years
from 1914 to 1924.
Cf. Legislative Series, 1926, Jap. 3, pp. 3-4, sections 19 and 22.
Cf. also Part 11, Chapter V, pp. 118-123, of this report.

thesc provisions leads to arrest and to imprisonment or fining of
the oifenders. For instance, intimidation (involving the threat
to injure the life, property, personal freedom or honour of others)
by the display of arms or by mass demonstration is an illegal act ';
to call upon any person at his private house without due cause
and to demand an interview with him constitutes also a crime '.
This last is an offence which is apt to recur frequently during
labour disputes as the workers desire to press their demands hy
seeing the employer even at late hours. The law also prohibits
the obstruction of a person's movements by holding him, standing in front of him or annoying him by walking close behind
him ; these provisions restrict the scope of action of pickets and
the workers are apt to violate it in their attempt to prevent the
action of strike-breakers.

' Cf. Act colicerrling the Punishment of Violent Acts ; Act No. 60,
dated 10 April 1926. Article 1.
Cf. Ordinance for the Punishment of Police Offences ; Ordinance
of the Department of the Interior, No. 16, dated 29 September 1908.

CHAP'I'EK 11
EMPLOYERS'

ORGANISATIONS

In the first par1 of this study it was shown how industrial
capitalism was set on its feet in the early years of the Meiji era
by the State itself and for the State ', and how the patronage of
the State continued until the Government was satisfied that both
industrial capitalism and management could stand alone. The
rapid increase of capital in the leading industries and the concentration of wealth in a few hands went on at the same time.
The organisations of capital thus built up constitute to-day by
far the most powerful social element in Japan, and no important
economic policy of the State is likely to be realised unless the
role played by these organisations is taken into account. Most
of the basic industries of Japan are controlled by a relatively
small number of wealthy families. and this concentration has
progressively increased "until
now not only the manufacture of
goods but the supply of and trade in raw materials, the shipping
trade and banking itself have also been absorbed by some halfa-dozen families. The following examples suggest the size and
financial importance of these great industrial companies'.

Kokkn no lame' (for tlie Stale) was the term used to encourage
industriali<ation ; it was constantly kept hefore the people as a national
ideal
The rate of concentrafion noticeablj accelerated after the wars with
China and Russia and the Great War.
The information in this section, including the amount of the
capital behind industrial groups given as examples, has been taken from
K~ocrro RAI'S .Cnikin n o Shnkni TJndo (Recent Social Movements), 1929.
pp. 723-725.

71

EMPI.Ol ERS ' ORGANISATIONS

Capital 1

Associated Companies :
Mitsui Bank
. . . . . . .
Mitsui Bussan dompany . . . .
Mitsui Mining Company . . . .
T6shin Warehouse Company . . .
Mitsui Trust Company
. . . .
Mitsui Life Insurance Company
.
W6ji Paper Manufacturing Company
Hokkai Coal Mines .
. . . .
T6y6 hlenka Company . . . . .
Nihon Steel Company . . . . .
Shibaura Ironworks
. . . . .
T6y6 Rayon Compan? . . . . .

(Yen)

. . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
Japan Artificial Manure Company
Electro-Chemical Industry . . . . .
Nettai Sangyo (Tropical Industries) .
Formosan Sugar Company . . . .
Gunze Paper Manufacturing Company
. . . .
Japan Celluloid Company
Kamaishi Mines . . . . . . . .
. . .
Kyoritsu Steamer Company
Yiibari Railways . . . . . . . .
Kant6 Hydraulic Power . . . . . .
Hokkai Hydraulic Power .
. . .
Hokkaido Sulphur . . . . . . .
.Japan Coal Mines
. . . . . . .
Kilun Coal Mines
. . . .
Kamiolta Hydraulic PO\\ er
. . . .

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

. . . . . .

Collateral Companies :

. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .

. . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .
. . . . .

. . . . .

Tne hlr~su~trsrrrCtrxii~am- (Lrawwn PARTNERSHIP)
: CAPITAL120.000.000 Ylis

Associated Conzpmties :
Mitsubishi Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mitsubishi Trading Company
. . . . . . . .
Mitsubishi Marine Fire Insurance Company
. .
hiitsubishi Warehouse Company . . . . . . .
Mitsubishi Mining Company
. . . . . . . .
Mitsubishi Trust Company . . . . . . . . .
Mitsubishi Papcr Manufacturing Company
. . .
Mitsubishi Iron Foundry
. . . . . . . . .
Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Yards
. . .
. . .
Mitsubishi Electric Machines Manufacturing Company
Mitsubishi Aeroplane Manufacturing Company
.
Collufc~rtrlCompanies :
Japan Raw Silk Cornpan)
. . . . . . . . .
Meiji Life Insurance Company . . . . . . .
Meiji Fire Tnsurance Company
. . . . . . .
1

5.000.000
2.000.000
10.000.000

'rhr lignres a l e lor Ikc 1928 and show the amounts of nominal capital

72

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IR JAPAN
Capital
(Yen)

Tokyo Marine Fire Insurance Company
. .
Kyod6 Shipping Company . . . . . . . .
T6y6 Weaving Company. . . . . . . . .
Kyushu Coal Mining and Steamship Company
. . . . .
Ashiberi Coal Mining Railways
North Saghalien Mining Company
. . . .
Tung Shan Agricultural Company . . . .
T6a K6gyo Company . . . . . . . . . .
North Saghalien Petroleum Company . . .
Shantung Mining Company
. . . . . .
Taigen Mining Company . . . . . . . .
Meiji Sugar Manufacturing Company . . .
Kirin Beer Company . . . . . . . . .
T6y6 Iron Foundry . . . . . . . . . .
Japan Battery Company .
. . . . . .
Asahi Glass Manufacturing company .
Sh6k6 Glass Manufacturing Company . . . .
. . . . . .
Saghalien Lumber Company
Wakamatsu Harbour Company . . . . . .

30.000. 000
600. 000
1.500. 000
5.000. 000
5.000. 000
10.000. 000
10.000. 000
20.000. 000
10.000. 000
5.000. 000
2.000. 000
48.000. 000
10.800. 000
40.000. 000
3.500. 000
12.510.000
3.000. 000
510.000
3.660. 000

Associated Companies :
Sumitomo Bank . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sumitomo L i b Insurance Company
. . . .
Sumitomo Warehouse Company . . . . . .
Sumitomo Electric Wire Manufacturing Company
Sumitomo Copper Works
. . . . . . . .
Sumitomo Fertiliser Manufacturing Company .
. . . . . . . . .
Sumitomo Steel Works
Sumitomo Trust Company . . . . . . . .
Sumitomo Besshi Copper Mines . . . . . .
Sumitomo Building Company . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
Sumitomo Saka Coal Mines
Sumitomo Kyushu Coal Mines
. . . . . .

.
.

.

.

.
.

.

.
.
.
.
.

Collateral Contpanies :

Fujikura Electric Wire Company . .
Osaka North Harbour Company . . .
Fusii Marine Insurance Company . .
.lapan.American Sheet Glass Company
Wakayama Warehouse and Bank . .
Tomishima Company . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .
. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

5.000. 000
35.000. 000
5.000. 000
3.000. 000
500.000
1.000.000

The development of employers' organisations dealing chiefly
with problems of industrial relations has. however. been much
less rapid . There has been a growth of organisations of landowners in order to combat the activity of tenant farmers in agriculture. and. aa will be seen below. there are a certain number
of "free " and other associations which perform functions in
connection with industrial relations ; but on the whole Japanese
employers' organisations are mainly economic organisations .

E M P L O Y E ~ S ' ORGANISATIONS

73

Crajt Guilds and the Early Formation of Legal association,^
Guilds of Japanese merchants, bankers and master craftsmen in various industries existed as far back as six centuries ago
under the Ashikaga Shogunate (1338-1573) and their organisations, known as Nnkanza, Za, etc., at times wielded great power'
as creditors of the dain-tyos as well as of the common people; they
monopolised various trades and prospered throughout the feudal
regime until the downfall of the Tokugawa Shogunate some
seventy years ago. These guilds, however, were small and primitive ; as the basis of economy was agriculture rather than commerce or industry, merchants and master craftsmen could not
develop their powers even if the patronage of the feudal lords
favoured the activity of their guilds.
The movement to organise in a more modern form began
towards 1880, and the foundation for industrial organisations was
laid during the second and third decades of the Meiji era (i.e.
1887-1906), which may be regarded roughly as the period when
capitalism took root in Japanese soil, It was in 1878 that the
first Chamber of Commerce was set up, and in 1884 that the
Diigyo Kumini, which is a trade association of the lesser mclrchants and industrialists, was officially recognised by the issue
of important Government regulations *.
The need of regulation and control began to make itself
keenly felt as commerce and industry expanded gradually under
the progressive policy of the Meiji Government. Lack of discipline in the new undertakings, and more particularly the absence
of co-ordination among them, resulted in careless manufacture,
reckless competition, an inferior quality of products and wasteful methods. The Government's action in 1884 was designed
to
check these evils by encouraging the formation of trade associations, and experience proved that the mutual co-operation of merchants and small industrialists was stimulated by this means ; as
a result harmful rivalry was mitigated, thus preventing the reckI According to some authorities the guild known as Za already existed
in the days of the H6j6's (1205-1302), cf. Y. TAKEKOSHI
: Nihon Keizai Shi
(Economic History of Japan), Vol. 1, p. 637.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICV~.TUREAKD COMMERCE
: Notification NO. 4 :
Regulations concerning Tea Producers' Associations (Chagyo Kumiai
Kisoku) , and ivotification NO. 37 : Sfanding Rules concwntng Trode
Associations (Diipyo Kumini T~insoku).

74

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

less manufacture of inferior goods and promoting the general
interest.
A number of important Acts were promulgated in the years
following the 1884 regulations; these dealt with the manufacture
of sake', with production of raw silk, with cattle raising, etc.
'l'his legislation culminated in the enactment of the Important
Products Trade Associations Act (Jiiy6 Bussan DBgyo Kumiai
H i i ) in 1900. Its aims were to encourage the formation of guilds
of the lesser producers or manufacturers of any important product and to legalise and control their organisations while giving
them some privileges or legal protection. In the same year the
Chamber of Commerce -4ct and the Co-operative Societies Act
were promulgated. The noticeable point about all these laws is
that they are the expression of a well-defined policy of the State
to favour the organisation of industrial and commercial employers, a policy which according to some Japanese critics offers
a singular contrast with the attitude taken up by the Japanese
Government towards the organisation of workers1. There are
a large number of such Japanese associations created by specific
laws ; they are described in Japan as " legal associations ".
This policy consistently pursued by the Government undoubtedly served its purpose in that the various trade associations
and chambers of commerce which were brought into being by
law have not been sterile or useless, but, in spite of the lack of
spontaneity2 in their formation, have continued not only to exist
but to thrive under the protection of law.
Since the promuIpation of the Important Products Trade
Association Act in 1900, the number of trade associations has
stcadily increased. Under this Act, all persons in the trades specified by the authorities are compelled to join the trade associations, except those who have been exempted specially by the
competent Minister, and the list of important products has been
enlarged each time the i c t has been amended4.
The lesser industrialists and commercial employers constitute

Cf. Saikirr r l o Shakni TJndo p 726
The cotton spinners' federations and other numerous manufncturers'
organisations which were set up.
The obligation to join becomes effectibe for all when two-thirds of
the persons engaged in the same trade within the same city or count\
express their desire to form an association.
At present the list only includes important export products
It
comprises over 50 articles including prarticallv everv important Japanese

the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the membership being
on a territorial basis1 and including all trade and commercial
undertakings of secondary importance within a certain area.
Formerly they were Chambers of Commerce only, but industry
was added by an amendment to the law in 1928, and the qualification for membership and eligibility for election was widened.
The Chambers in the six largest cities of Japan have always been
consulted 1)) the Government wlien nominating the employers'
delegate and his advisers to the International Labour Conference '.
A t the end of 1929 there were eighty-nine Chambers of Commerce
and Industry, twelve local feclrrations and a National Federation
of the Chambers in Japau.
The State has conferred upon the Trade Associations and the
Chambers of Commerce and Industry special privileges in public
law, expressly recognising that the ohjects of these organisations
are in harmony with public interest. But the disadvantage entailed
is that on account of the legal restrictions on corporate bodies in
public law, the associations with legal personality necessarily
lack the freedom which is essential for an employers' as so cia ti or^
in its action under economic or industrial exigencies ',
'There are other. associations of various trades, all legall?
created and possessing legal personality, such as SakC Manufarturers' Associations, Forestry Associations, Marine Products Associations, export^ Manufacturers' 4ssociations, Exporters' Asso-

export. Au idea of the rate of progscss of the Trade Associations of
Important Products may he gained from the follo\\ing figures :

Cf. HPsrlmi s t n f i s t i q u e de I'Bmpirr drr Jtrpon. 15111 )ear, p. 36.
Wor~nallyt h e citt ( s h i ) is the terrilorinl nnit of a Chamber of Commerce and Tndustry. Tinder special circnmstances a town or a combination of cities, towns and villaprs mnv f o r m a u n i t for setting up a
Chamber Cf. t h e Chamber of Commerce and I n d u s t r ~ Act, section 3
T h i s snggests t h a t the Government considers the Chambers of
Commerce and Tndustry as " the industrial organisation4 " most qualified
to select t h e employers' delccntc i n Tapnn.
For further details cf. I \ n nwrrounr LMWR O F ~ I C.I Freedom of
Association, Vol. V, Studips and Rrportu, Series 4 (Social Conditionr'i.
No. 32, pp 424428 Genrvn, 1930

'7 6

--

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N
.
-

ciations, and numerous others. Their functions are also exclusively economic.
Lastly, mention should be made of another group of legal
associations, known as the Standing Rules Associations (Junsoku
DGgyo Kamini) . The difference between these and the associations named above is in legal status. A standing rules association
musl receive the permission of the Prefectural Governor for its
formation, but having no legal personality it is free from many
legal limitations. Whcther for agriculture, commerce or industry, a standing rules association musl for its formation obtain
the consent of three-fourths of the persons of the same trade
within the same prefecture, but the affiliation of members is
merely voluntary. The intention of the Government in issuing
the Standing Rules for the associations was simply to legalise
the guilds, and the organisations formed in conformity with the
Standing Rules have so far carried out economic functions as was
originally intended, but they have not acquired much authority
as employers' associations in dealing with questions of relationship to the workers.
Free .,Zssocintions

A third and important group consists of associations which
have been freely organised by the heads of industrial, commercial
or other undertakings without legal compulsion of any sort. Some
of these organisations, such as the federations of cotton spinners.
sugar and paper manufacturers, etc., date from the 'eighties.
While the " legal associations" enjoy certain privileges in
virtue of the special legislation which brought them into being,
they are subject to rigid administrative supervision by the authorities. Frequently the lack of spontaneity in their origin is found
to be a cause of inherent weakness. -1" free association " on the
contrary is not under any special legal protection, but as a voluntary and spontaneous organisation is able to exercise social or
economic functions which are apt to be of greater utility than
those of many a "legal association ". It also has the advantage
of organisation on a national scale.
The free associations are with or without a legal personality;
since some of them have preferred to acquire it, while others
have not. The associations of the first category have acquired
it in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code as " associations for public benefit". As corporations in private law

EMPLOYERS. ORGANISATIO~S

77

they enjoy private rights and are also liable to obligations within
the scope of their objects as laid down in their statutes. They
may own property in their own name and may become party to
a law suit, and they are liable for damages done to others by the
directors or their representatives in the performance of their
duties. They are subject to administrative supervision in various
other ways. Among the free associations possessing legal personality the more representative are : the Electric Association
(Denki Kyokai), Japan Industrial Club, Federation of Paper
Manufacturers, Japan Steel Manufacturers' Association, Japan Fire
insurance Association, Association of Life Insurance Companies,
Japan Silk Producers' Association, Osaka Business Men's Association, etc.
The free associations which have preferred not to acquire
legal personality cannot legally acquire rights in private law,
but they are no less rigidly bound by their respective statutes than
are the associations with a legal personality. The more representative of the associations of this category are : the Japan Cotton
Spinners' Association, Japan Wool Industry Association, Federation of Coal-Mine Owners, Federation of Bleaching Powder Manufacturers, Federation of Sugar Manufacturers, Osaka Industrial
Society, Japan Economic Federation (Nihon Keizai Renmei
Kai) , etc. '
Kon-wa Kai or " Friendly Talk Societies "
The foundation of the first free associations was, however, an
example that was not immediately followed, and it was not until
the advance of trade unionism, the introduction and e~dorcement of the first labour laws, and later the creation of the International Labour Organisation, that the movement for employers'
organisations to deal primarily with industrial relations began to
gain force. The passing of the Universal Suffrage Act, followed
h? a series of internal and external economic difficulties, also
pave impetus to the movement.
The associations which then began to be formed were generally called Kon-wa Kai, or " Friendly Talk Societies ". Perhaps
the first of these organisations was the KBzan Kon-wa Kai (Mineowners' Friendly Talk Society), which was started in 1896.

' Cf. Freedom of Association, Vol. V , pp. 429-430. For further details
see Yos~roMORITA,
OP. cit., pp. 142-168.

78

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J.%PAN

Since 1916, w l ~ e nthe Factory Act was first applied, similar organisations of factory owners have been organised under such namm
as K6jb Kyokni (Factory 4s~ociations),KGgyo Kni (Industrid
4ssociations), Iiiijfi Ko11-wn Kni (Factory Owners' Friendly Talk
Society), etc. 'These associations exist in cities or towns and
even the largest of them, so far as factories are concerned, does
not extend beyond a prefecture Some have been organised s p o ~ t laneously, but a large number owe their origin to the suggestion
of the Government authorities; the office of the association is located
as a rule at the Police Bureau or Factory Inspection Section of
the prefecture or the municipality, as the case may be. Thus, while
these associations are legally " free associations" in the sense that
they have not been created by any special law, and in fact appear
lo enjoy considerable freedom of action, they possess practicall)
all the features or characteristics of a body corporate, lacking
only legal personality. 'l'heir comparative weakness as compared with other free associations is that their field is limited to
n city or at most to a prefecture, while most of the recent " free
associations " are national in scope. 'Their objects are : study in
common of the Factory Act and other labour laws, relief and
protection of unemployed workers ; stoppage of all competition
to secure operatives ; settlement of disputes arising out of questions of management and the taking of joint action concerning
workers' welfare, etc.
Under the guidance of the authoritics, these organisations of
factory or mine owners and managers have spread in almost all
the industrial areas of Japan ', and they appear to play a useful
part as media for the expression of opinion of the smaller employers, as well as instruments for the effective enforcement of
labour laws and the realisation of the industrial policies of the
State.
Concerfed Idion nmong Employers
The inconveniences resulting from the lack of co-ordination
and unity among employers have been felt more and more keenly
Cf. I~YOCHOk4r
lionpij KG-K6gyo Kon-wa Kai GairG (Outline of
Friendly Talk Societies in Tapanese Factories and Mines) An investimlion carried out during 1923-1924 showed that there were 140 societies of
this kind spread over 30 prefectures (out of 46) and in Hokkaido, comprising 29,178 individual members, 93 rompanies, 366 factories or mines and
69 societiw

in recent years, but the movement for concerted action on a
rlational scale did not gain impetus until the pressure of questions
of labour legislation began to be felt. It was not until November 1926 that the employers in Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka met at the
Osaka Chamber of Commerce and organised the Jitsugyo Kondnn
Kai (Industrialists' Friendly Talk Society), an organisation " the
object of which is to undertake various studies and investigations
in Japanese industries, by federating on a national basis the
existing industrial organisations and inviting eventually intcrested companies or individuals to join ". 'The motive for convening thc first meeting was to protest against the model " Rules of
Employment" imposed by the Government on factory owners ',
the complaint being that the model rules imposed on the employers by the Government went farther than the law required
and were excessively severe. The mecting was called under the
auspices of the Osaka Industrial Society, the Osaka Chamber of
Commerce and the " Friendly Talk Society " of the Osaka preferture, and fifty delegates representing sixteen of the most representative industrial organisations of employers attended. The
achievement of the meeting was not so much the "explanation "
it obtained from the Director of the Bureau of Social Affairs as
the formation of the nucleus of a future national federation of
employers.
Another instance of concerted action of employers occurred
in 1925 at the time of the printers' strike, twelve large printing
companies being concerned. It was in Ihe latter part of November 1925 that a dispute arose between the Nisshin Printing Company and the Kb-yii Club, a union of the left wing belonging to
the Hyogi Kai" A number of strikes had previously been won in
succession by the Hyogi Kai unions and, as a result, when the
Kb-yii Club presented its demands for a minimum wage scale,
increased pay for night work, etc., the printing company felt that
unless the matter were dealt with by concerted action among all
the establishments in the trade it would have serious repercussions
on other printing works. Scarcely more than a week after the
demands came from the union, a complete entcnte was reached

'The ouners of factories where fifty or more persons are ~ ~ o r m a l l y
employed are obliged under an Imperial Ordinance to make Works Regulalions and submit them to the Prefectural Governor for approval. Cf. Legislatitle Series, 1926, .Tap. 1, Imperial Ordinance No 153, dated 5 June 1926,
section 27 quater.
' Cf. I ~ l o w ,pp. 102 a n d 109

80

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

by the twelve companies concerned to act together and to afford
each other assistance in the event of a dispute. 'They agreed,
among other things, to maintain a uniform wage scale ; that no
company should seek to draw custom from other companies ;
the custom gained by one company as the result of a dispute in
the office of another should be restored when the dispute was
ended ; all competition to secure labour should cease ; the workers discharged in a dispute should be blacklisted and excluded
from employment by any company belonging to the entente1;
no company should accept a compromise or submit the dispute
to arbitration without the consent of at least two-thirds of the
others. Withdrawal from or new adhesions to the agreement,
amendment of the agreement, and other important matiers were
also subject to the consent of two-thirds of the members.
Moreover, sums of 10,000 yen in the case of the five largest companies and of 2,000 yen in the case of the smaller companies had
to be deposited as guarantee, liable to be confiscated in the event
of violation of the agreement.
A still more recent and striking case of employers' solidarity
was in the seamen's dispute of May 1928. The parties to the dispute were the Japan Shipowners' Association and the Japan Seamen's Union The shipowners had already been organised nationally, while the union included the bulk of the maritime workers of Japan. A dispute so systematically carried out as this was
something unprecedented in Japan, and the experience demonstrated to employers the advantages of organisation2.
-

-

This attitude of the printing companies is in sharp contradiction
with the attitude of employers under the paternalistic system, and ma)
even be a revulsion from it. Many Tapanese employers still pay wages to
their workers during a strike, and the discharge allowance is usually paid
even when discharge arises out of a labour dispute. A large number of
strikes are brought to an end every year with the offer of a gift from the
employer to the workers of Kin Ip-Pii (packet of money) containing a
handsome sum.
The following is a list of the leading industrial organisations of
employers :
(1) Organisations including all industries. - National Federation of
Industrial Organisations (Zenkoku Sangyo Dantai Rengokai) *, Japan Economic Federation (Nihon Keizai Renmeikai) ; Trade Associations of Important Products (Jay6 Bussan D6gyo Kumiai).
(2) Commerce and industry. - Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(Sh6 K6 Kaigisho) ; Federation of Industrial Societies (Jitsugyo Kumiai
Heng6 Kai).
(3) Industry. - Japan Industrial Club (Nihon K6gyo Club) * ; Osaka
Industrial Society (Osaka K6gyo Kai) * ; Federation of Printing Companies
(Insatsugyo Renmei - in Tokyo only) * ; K6shin Kai * ; Friendly Talk
s
Societies fKon-wa Kai) * of factory owners in v a r i o ~ ~prefectures.

h national organisdion of Japanese employers was finally
formed on 21 April 1931, when the representatives of forty-two
industrial organisations met in Tokyo in order to oppose the
Trade Union Bill. The new organisation, which is national in
character and the most important federation of employers' associations ever formed in Japan, is called Zenkoku Sangyo Dantai
Rer~gbkai (National Federation of Industrial Organisations) and
has its headquarters in Tokyo. Employers' associations in Japan
proper are divided among five " district federations " of
(1) Tokyo, Yokohama and vicinity ; (2) Kyoto, Osaka and vicinity ; (3) Eastern Japan to the north of Tokyo ; (4) the Kyushu
district; (5) the Hokkaido district, and through them they are
affiliated to the national organisation. According to its statutes,
the aims of the Federation are to study and discuss important
industrial and economic problems which are of common concern
to the industrial organisations throughout the country with a view
to concerted decision and action '.
The following is a brief account of the more important among
other organisations of employers of Japan :
The Japan Industrial Club (Nihon Kiigyo Club) was organised
in 1917 as an association with legal personality (Kdeki H6jin) " in
order to strengthen the relations between industrialists and to promote
industry " ; its headquarters are in Tokyo. The membership of this
(4) Mining. - Mine Owners' Friendly Talk Societies (Kozan Kon-wn
Xai) ; Federation of Coal-Mine Owners (Sekitan KBgy6 RengB Kai) *.
(5) Textile trades. - Japan Cotton Spinners' Association (Dai Nihon
Roseki Renao Kai) * : J a ~ a n e s eCotton S ~ i n n e r s ' Association in China
(Zaika Niho; ~ 6 s e k ~
i 6 ~ ~ B; ~Japan
~ aW
i ) ~ Industry
I
Association (Nihon
Ydm6 K6av6 Kai).
(6) E'lectric trades. - Electric Association (Denki Ky6kai).
(7) Transport, shipping, engineering. - .Tapan Shipowners' Association
(Nihon Senshu Kyokai) * ; Railway Owners' Association (Tetsudo Doslai
Kai) ; Federation of Contractors in Building and Civil Engineering Trades
(Doboku Kenehiku Ukeoigvo Sha Reng6 Kai) *.
(8) Shipbuilding. - Shipbuilders' Friendly Talk Society (Zosen Korrw a Kai) ; Shipbuilders' Association (ZBsen Ky6kai).
(9) Agriculture. -- Imperial Agricultural Society (Teikoku N6 Kai) ;
.Japan Landowners' Association (Nihon Jinushi Kumiai) ; Central Association of Silk Trade Associations (Sanshi D6gy6 Kumini Chud Kni) ; .Tapan
Silk Trade Association (nai Nihon Sanshi Kai) *.
The asterisks (*) indicate organisations which concern themselves
directly with labour questions.
At the inauguration of the Federation a board of forty-six directors,
including the most representative employers of Japan, was elected. As
President of the Federation, Baron Seinosuke G6 (President of the .Japanese
Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry), and as Advisers, thr
late Baron T. DAN and Mr. Krurvt4, of the Mitsui and Mitsuhishi firm5
respectively, were appointed.

EYDCSTRIAI. I.ARO1TR 1Y JAPAN

7

82

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
-.

organisation consists of individuals, as well as companies and banks.
The latter numbered 1,010 in 1929 ' and the total of their nominal
capital exceeded 8,100,000,000 yen, which represents 47 per cent. of
the entire capital of companies and banks in Japan '. The " Club "
developed under the presidency of the late Baron Takuma Dan of the
\Iitsui firm, and has on its board of directors a score of influential
men in the industrial life of the country. Since its establishment it
has shown a deep concern with labour legislation and has made
representations to the Government at critical moments for or
against the revision of the laws, formulating its opinion from the
standpoint of industrialists. It has a permanent committee for the
study of labour problems, comprising some forty members who are
rnostly managing directors or presidents of leading companies in such
industries as mining, shipping, shipbuilding, electric or hydraulic
power, printing, manufacture of paper, cement, textile goods, etc.
The Japan Industrial Club " may be considered the central power
representing the interests of capital and of industrialists in regard
to labour problems" '.
The Nihon Kogyo Club has always taken a prominent part in
opposing the Trade Union Bill. In the spring of 1930 a conference was
held under the Club's auspices for the purpose of organising opposition
to the Bill on the ground that it unfairly favoured the workers, violated
freedom of contract, relieved the workers of liability for damage caused
by labour disputes, and further that it lacked provisions for regulating
such disputes. Moreover, the employers' organisations argued that
legal recognition of the trade unions would only hamper the industrial
development of the country and would thus really injure the working
class.
Again, it was at this Club that the intensive campaign against the
Bill brought together representatives of forty-two industrial organisations in April 1931 and led to the formation of the National Federation of Industrial Organisations.
The Japan Cotton Spinners' Association (Dai Nihon Boseki Rengb
Kai) is a general federation of companies in silk throwing, cotton
spinning and weaving industries throughout Japan, organised with the
object of promoting good relations between members and of safeguarding and extending their common interests. Those who are
engaged in the selling or buying of raw cotton, cotton yarn, etc., may
also be admitted as " associate members ". The membership comprised fifty-nine companies at the end of 1929 4 , operating some
6,359,600 spindles and employing 166,700 operatives '. The total
paid up capital of the member companies exceeds 350,000,000 yen,
and the nominal capital of 512,362,000 yen represents 89 per cent. of
the total capital of all textile companies in Japan '. The headquarters
are in Osaka.
Cf. KGgyo Nenkan (Industrial Year Book), 1930 editio~l,p. 1060.
Cf. Yosl~~o
MORITA, op. cit., p. 48.
* Cf. Saikin no Shakai Undo, p. 734.
' Monthly Report of the Japan Cotton Spinners' Association, Jan. 1930.
a From 1913 to 1930 the percentage of increase of spindles in lapan
was 183.91 (Report of the Director of the International Labour Office,
1931, First Part, p. 25).
a

These companies employ at normal times over 180,000 operatives.
The diminution in the operating force is due to husiness depression.
' Cf. YOSHIOMORITA, 01).cit., p. 43.

Historically as well as at present, the Japan Cotton Spinners'
llssociation is an outstanding body of ernployers (it was set up in
1882), and uulike most other trades associations it is unassisted by and
entirely independent of the Government. The organisation has been
>cry active in endeavouring to promote the common interests of the
members in connection with such questions as that of the Indian tariff,
the transport cost of Indian cotton, hoilrs of work - especially
night work of women - Chinese competition, etc. When the First
Session of the International Labour Conference was held in 1919 to
deal with the question of hours q f work, night work of women and
children, etc., which were of vital concern to this Association, it suc~ e e d e din securing the nomination of Mr. Sanji Muto, then Managing
Direcior of the Kanegafuchi Spinning (hmpany, as the Japanese
employers' delegate. Being the organisation employing the largest
number of female operatives at night, the question of the suppression
of night work of women was of particular concern to this Association
and it issued a series of statenients explaining the position of Japanese
spinners. Although an econornic organisation, the Association has 31ways actively opposed any proposed social legislation which was believed
to be adverse to industrial interests. The position it took up as regards
the Factory Act before its enactment in 1911, and its attitude towards
ltie proposed Trade Union Bill, may be considered as characteristic.
Forrrierly the shipowners of Japan were loosely organised as Nihon
Smshu D6mei Kai (Federation of Japanese Shipowners), but this
federation was reorganised into a corporate body under the name of
the Japan Shipowners' Association (Nihon Senshu Kyokai) in July 1922,
with headquarters in Kobe. It may be noted that this reorganisatiolr
took place within two years of the holding of the Second (Maritime)
Session of the International Labour Conference at Genoa in 1920, and
it may be assumed that the decision of the Japanese shipowners to
organise this Association was taken partly as a result of the influence of
the International Labour Organisation. Over 150 shipping companies,
representing nearly 1,000 bottoms and 3,000,000 tons, are at present
incorporated as members of this Association. The Nippon Yuse~,
Baisha (" N.Y.K. "), the Osaka Shosen Kaisha (" O.S.K. "), and
practically all other well-known shipping companies of Japan are among
its members, so that it is indisputably the most representative national
organisation of Japanese shipowners. At the outset the primary object
of this Association was purely " economic ", being, as is stated in its
constitution, " to promote shipping interests by close co-operation
among the members ". Circurnstances in subsequent years, however,
have compelled a gradual change in its character, and it now concerns
itself also with questions of industrial relations in the shipping
industry. Since the creation of the Joint Maritime Board in Japan
this Association has been the sole organisation representing shipowners
on the hoard.
Six local coal-mine owners' associations ' which between them
cover practically all the important coal-fields of Japan are affiliated to
the Federation of Coal-Mine Owners (Sekitan K6gyo Reng6 Kai). The
Federation was first orgamised in 1921 and its function was in fact that
The six local bodies affiliated to the Federation are the coal-mine
owners' associations of (1) the Chikuho district (including the four
provinces of Chikuzen, Chikugo, Buzen and Bungo), (2) Hokkaido,
13) Saga prefecture, (4) TGban (Hidachi and Jwaki provinces), (5) tJ1)e
a n d (6) Kasuya districts.

84

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IK JAPAN

of a cartel for regulating the production OF coal by restricting output
and charging fees for any extra production beyond the agreed maximum
limit. The object of the Federation as stated in its constitution is
" to promote and co-ordinate the progress of the coal-mining industry
and to further good relations among the members ". It was this organisation, however, which played the role of the employers' association
in mining. and acted on their behalf, when the question of revision of
the Mining Act and of the Regulations concerning the employment and
accident cornpensation of miners was widely discussed in Japan shortly
after the Federation came into being.
The question of suppression of night work as well as underground
work of women and children was of vital concern to the mine owners.
The Bureau of Social Affairs had not failed to take this into account
when revising the Mining Act and the Regulations, as it had appointed
on a commission of enquiry not only the officials connected with the
mining inspectorate but also some representatives of this Federation.
It was on the basis of the findings of the commission of enquiry that
the Act was revised so as to prohibit the night work and underground
employment of women and young persons.
Quite apart from this Federation, there is the Society of Kin-yb Kai
which has as members the responsible men dealing with labour questions in the leading mining establishments or companies in Japan, such
as the mines belonging to the Mitsui's, Furukawa's, Mitsubishi's, Kaijima's, Okura's, and others. It is a body for study and consultation on
labour legislation and policies; its meetings are held weekly on Fridays,
hence the name Kin-y6 Kai (or Friday Society).

Osaka Industrial Society (Osaka K6gyo K a i ) . - The fact that
Japan is industrially " bicentric " has some bearing on the country's
social and economic problems. One centre is Tokyo and the other
Osaka. In a number of ways these two cities vie one with the other.
The Japan Industrial Club stands out as the organisation which
most completely represents the employers' and industrialists' interests
in Japan, but the fact that it has its headquarters in Tokyo has caused
the Osaka element to be somewhat inadequately represented upon it.
The Osaka Industrial Society has come to the front in recent years as
an active employers' association with Osaka as its centre. The Society
1s a body corporate composed of the representatives of practically all
leading companies and industrial establi.hments. In 1927 the Society
appointed a standing committee for the study of labour problems, and
this committee includes men who hold responsible positions in various
companies and who take a serious interest in labour questions. As the
result of its investigations the Society has published from time to time
opinions on current labour or economic problems. especially in regard
to labour legislation where the employers' interests are at stake.
The K6shin Kai (or Industrial Friendship Society) was the outcome of an effort among the employers in northern parts of Kyushu to
eliminate the ruinous waste among factories in their competition to
secure labour - a problem which assumed particularly serious aspects
towards 1917 when, in abnormal war-time prosperity, new factories
were being rapidly built and manned '. At first there were only six
Another typical organisation of employers seeking to eliminate
competition to secure labour for factories was the Federation of Filatures
(Seishi DBrnei) started in 1902 at Okaya, an important centre of the silk

companies, but within a few years the membership so increased by the
affiliation of scores of other companies that a t one time there were as
many a s sixty-seven companies or factories belonging t o t h e Society.
Though, strictly speaking, this is only a local orgarlisatiorl for the
Kyushu district, t h e Society may be regarded i n t h e light of its activities as the most typical employers' association negotiating with workers' trade unions.

industry i l l the prefecture of hagano. l h e Federation underlooh to
handle en bloc all formalities connected ~ i t hthe application for permission to recruit operatives and to transport them from their homes to the
factories or vice versa on behalf of all affiliated companies. and then to
" register " the operatives for the particular companies, the understanding
being that once a worker was registered in one company, no other
company belonging to the federation should take him at the time of the
annual renewal of the employment contract. The advantage to the
companies of the system was so obvious that it at once attracted members
aud the FederCition expanded enorn~ously till it consisted, in 1924,
of 268 factories, producing 2,500,000 knn of raw silk in total, balued at
312,500,000 yen. More than ,I third of the raw silk exported from Japnrr
\\as the product of the comp~niesbelollging to the Federation. However,
the s j s t e n ~ of registration, nhich restricted the workers' freedom of
(ontract as well as that of the ernployers', was stopped by the ,rnthorities.
Moreover, there were numerous disputes arising from double contracts
resulting from the artificial restriction. The Feder,~tiot~was rlirsol\rtl
under the ir~ctrc~ctions
of the prrfecturnl a ~ ~ t h o r i t i eofs Uagano in 192(j

TRADE UNIO3IS1

Origins and Development
Moder~itrade unionism did not come i r ~ t oexistence in Japau
until shortly before the Great War. Craft guilds, some of which
still survive, were the only form of craft association known in
Japan up to and during the first forty years of the Meiji era.
When industrialisation first began to spread in the early period
of Aleiji small unions were formed, hut most of them professed
to aim at mutual aid, "development of knowledge and character", social intercourse among the members, and the like. They
were also insignificant in size, beirlg limited to a factory, workshop or m i ~ i e . But even since the war, the progress of Japanest.
trade unionism has been comparatively slow.
The reasons For this slow growth of trade unionism in Japan
have been made clear in previous sections of this report. The
country is still primarily agricultural, and the need for combination is not fclt in the handicrafts and small-scale home industries which still persist and where relations between employer
and worker are personal and intimate. The traditional " family
system" is not yet completely broken up either in form or sentiment, and class antagoriisni has not developed i n Japan, Moreover, the law restricting strike action has also had a certain
adverse influence on the growth of trade unionism. Another
important cause lies in the special conditions of the Japanese
textile industry. This is Japan's principal industry, and it was
the first to develop on modern lines and to he organised under
the factory system with large numhers of workers employed in
mechanical processes. The greater number of these workers are
young women and girls, and the general disposition of young
women to regard industrial employment as temporary - to ter-

nlinate at marriage - is intensified with these Japanese " textile
girls", for they come from agricultural districts and take up
factory work for four or five years at most, with the sole object
of earning a marriage dowry ; that accomplished, they return
to the country. The result has been that the workers in Japan's
most important industry remain "unorganisable" in a trade
union sense.
Nevertheless, there have been periods when the Japanese
trade union movement seemed to be destined to develop rapidly
- for example, during the boom period of the Great War, and
after 1919 as the influence of the International Labour Organisation spread in the country. But in recent years the unions have
been divided into opposing camps by political ideas, and though
their membership has increased their influence on the industrial
situation has not developed proportionately.
Tlw Older Guilds
Some of the old guilds were powerful and were well able lo
safeguard the interests of their members, maintain their technical
standards, uphold the dignity of their craftsmanship, and protect
them in their relations with their masters and third persons.
'I'he Yedo ' wood sawyers, for example, in the feudal period and
for some time after it, had a powerful guild which included
master-sawyers, journeymen and apprentices. Every journejman had to serve first as an apprentice. Wages were regulated
acoording to the price of rice, a 1ioku (4.96 bushels) of which
was used as the unit of evaluation. Members of the guild could
acquire an exclusive right to work in the lumber yard of an
employer by payment of a small percentage of the wages of each
member. A n even more interesting guild, that of the miners" has
been described in detail by Sen Katayama" This guild was extensive and thoroughgoing in its organisation. It was on a communal basis and included miners in all kinds of mines and
covered the whole of Japan. after a miner had worked for three
years the guild issued to him a membership card or scroll, and
this membership entitled him to seek work in any mine in the
country. The old custom still holds good at the present day, as
do also other practices cited by Mr. Katayama. Wherever the

' The

old name for the cit) \\hich is no\\ Tokyo.
The guild is called Tornoko in Japanese.
S . KATAYAMA: T h e Labour M o t w r n ~ n lin Japan. Chicago, 1916.

88

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

miner goes he is treated as a comrade and a guest by the working
miners. He may work, if there is work for him, at any mine,
or he may remain in the hope of securing work. If he prefers
to try his luck at other places, he receives a sufficient allowance
from his fellow-miners to reach the next mine. When age obliges
the miner to give up his work, or when he is crippled in some
accident, he is authorised by the guild to collect from all the
miners throughout the country. Each mine is an independent
and self-governing unit of the one great guild. The miner thus
authorised in one mine will be permitted by all other mines to
collect benefits (which to-day are from one to two thousand yen)
according to his standing.
During the feudal period the underground workings were
everywhere regarded as the miners' own territory and were under
their jurisdiction ; only miners were admitted to them. The
miners' wages were higher than those of any other workers, and
a Japanese idiom, Kanayama Shotai (luxurious living), was used
to describe their conditions. The) had very cordial relations
among themselves, addressing each other as " brothers ". The
single men lived in community.
Stonemasons, blacksmiths, carpenters, and other crafts also
had their own guilds, but most of them gradually disappeared
when industry was modernisetl.
Bnrly Trade Uniorls : T h e First Perio(1
(1880-1894) '
'l'he influence of Western ideas 011 Japanese society and on
the development of industrial relations has been described in
previous chapters. It was largely under this influence that the.
earliest attempts at trade union organisation in Japan were made.
The unions formed during this period, however, were shortlived.
It has already been mentioned that the earliest recorded
trade union was that organised by the rickshaw-men for the purpose of carrying on the strike of 1883 ; it did not, however, survive
---I KATSUMARO
A~.Iv~T
. sNihon
~
Radii U n d o Uattatsu S h i (Histor) of
the Development of the Labour Mo\ement in Iapan) ; S u s u ~ u KOGA:
S a i k i n N i h o n n o Red6 Undii (Recent Labour Movement in Japan) ; TATSITJrRo M A C H I .I I Nihon
~
Shakai Hendii S h i k a n (History of Social Chanqes
in Tapan) ; etc. For brief accounts written in English, see S. H A R A D. ~
Labour Conditions i n Japan, pp. 181-221 ; I. A Y U S A W
. ~Industrial Conrlrtions and Labour Legislation i n Jnpnn. pp 84-93 : etc

TRADE UNIOKISM

89

its leader's imprisonment on a criminal charge. In the following year, 1884, a foreman employed in the Shiiyeisha Printing
Company of Tokyo organised a union of printers with the warm
support of the employer, Teiichi Sakumal, a progressive man
and a great friend to the Japanese trade union movement in its
early days. This organisation lasted barely two months owing
to suspicion and misunders~andingamong the members. Five
years later, in 1889, another attempt was made to organise the
workers of the same printing company ; at first successful, this
union was disbanded owing to outside opposition. In 1887 there
was an abortive effort to form a union by some ironworkers in
'I'okyo, but it died out owing to lack of interest among the
men themselves. In 1889 a more serious attempt was made by
the ironworkers, and a uniorl called D6naei ShinkB Gurtzi was
founded, which included the ironworkers in a shipbuilding yard
in Ishikawajima, Tokyo, in Army and Navy arsenals, railway
htlreau~,etc. The objects of this union were conciliation in disputes
which might occur between the employers and workers, and the
eventual establishment of a factory as a producers' co-operative
society. For a time the organisation was popular and prospered,
but a rumour that funds had been embezzled led to tlissolution,
the funds of the union being shared out among the members.
Another union, the first union of shoemakers, was formed in 1892
under the name of hrihon Rbd5 Kyokai (the Japan Labour ASSOciation), but this also was shortlived.
Rarly Trarlc Unions . T h e Sccond Period
(18.95-1900)

A notable event of ihe openirlg of this period was the transfer
to Tokyo of a workers' society formed about 1890 by a group of
Japanese i n San Francisco. The society included the pioneers
of the labour movement, such as Tsunetaro Jo, Fusataro Takano,
Hannosuke Sawada, etc. The name of the society, Shokko Giyii
Kai, which means literally " Society of Workers to Fight lor
Justice", well illustrates the spirit of its founders. The society
was formally organised in Japan in April 1897, when a pamphlet
was circulated in a large number of factories in Tokyo and its vicinity, written by men who had first-hand knowledge of the labour
problem in the United States and had studied both the theory

90

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

and tactics of the American movement. The form of union it advocated was that of the American Federation of Labour. This movement enlisted almost at once the enthusiastic support of such
people as Sen Katayama (the most prominent Japanese Communist living to-day), the late Saburo Shimada (a progressive politician), 'Teiichi Sakuma, of the Shiiyeisha Printing Company, etc.,
and it resulted finally in the founding in July of the same year
of an influential body known as Radii Kurniai Kisei Kai or the
Society for the Formation of Trade Unions. 'The activities of
this Society, which added to its membership such men as Isoo
Abe, Chishi Murai, etc., led to the formation of various unions,
notable examples being those formed in the period between 1897
and 1899 by the iron workers, printers and locomotive engineers.
In 1898 a strike of locomotive engineers was carried out with
remarkable discipline, and the engineers were successful, largely
owing to the support and advice given by the Society. The
Society was giving moral and material aid at the same time to a
number of existing unions. 'The unions of file makers, lithographers, ship's carpenters, doll-makers, etc., in Tokyo continued
their existence under the aegis of the Society for the Formation
of Trade Unions. In December 1897, the society published the
first number of its monthly organ, the R6d6 Sekai or "Workers'
World ", which was the first working-class journal ever issued
in Japan. Sen Katayama was the editor in chief.
In 1898 it became known that the Government was drafting
a Factory Rill, and the power of the organisation was put to a
crucial test. Upon close examination the draft was found to
contain a number of provisions which were not considered satisfactory, and the Society tried to secure amendments for the better
protection of the factory workers. The proposed factory Iegislation was, however, not enacted, and the energies of the Society,
in common with those of other workers' organisations, were
turned to opposing the law called Chiarz Keisatsu Ha (Public
Peace Police Act), which contained provisions disadvantageous
to trade unions. This Act was promulgated in 1900, in spite of
the strong opposition of the workers, and proved fatal hoth to
the Society and the unions formed under its auspices '.

'The Society for the Forrlt;ltioli of Trade Unions had over 5,700 members in 1899, but within a year the organisation died out. The Ironworkers' IJnion, which hnrl over forty hranrhes with more than

TRADE UNIONISM

91

Early Trade Onions : T h e Third I'eriod

(1900-1912)
From the promulgatiou of the Police Act till the founding
in 1912 of the Yuai Kai there was no open trade union activity.
Japanese writers 011 labour questions refer to this decade as Chinsen K i (period of submersion). It was a period of apparent
quiescence, broken only by the riots of 1907. The uprising of
miners at the Ashio Copper Miue in F e b r u a r ~which
,
has already
been mentioned briefly, was the first of these riots. The repeated
demands of the miners for higher wages and better treatment
remaining unsatisfied, a mob consisting of over 1,200 miners had
recourse to violence. 'They cut electric wires, smashed furniture,
threw bombs and destroyed the offices, factory premises and
residences attached to the mine, and occupied the warehouses.
The local police force was overcome by the rioters, and in the
end troops had to be dispalched to restore order. During the
same rnonth several hundred workers at a shipbuilding yard in
Nagasaki also threatened violence, as did over a thousand miners
at a coal mine in Hokkaido in April. Both these outbreaks, however, were suppressed before matters had gone very far. Two
months later, however, in June, another serious riot occurred at
the Besshi Copper Mine ; houses were burned down and a number
of the police were either killed or injured. Again violence was
only suppressed by the dispatch of troops.
Of trade union action during this period, however, there is
only one example, the attempt of a certain Matsusuke Minami to
organise miners. He succeeded in Hokkaido, but the riot put
an end to his efforts to form a branch of the union at Ashio
in 1907.

Rise of Modern Tradc Unions ('1.912-1.91.9
The history of Japanese trade unionism entered upon a new
epoch in 1912 when Bunji Suzuki founded the Y u a i Kai (literally,
" Friendly-love Society " ) at the Unitarian Church in Tokyo. The
members at the start numbered only fifteen and included a milkman, three street watermen, three mechanics, two electricians,
two tatnmil makers and a painter, in addition to Suzuki himself,
5,400 members in 1900, a n d scores of others which had sprung up about
the same time, shared the same fate.
Tatami is the mat used to cover the floor of all Tapanese rooms.

92

IRDUSTRIAL LABOUR IB JAPAX

who was then a young university graduate ; he had worked for
a short while as a journalist, and had only recently been appointed
secretary of the Unitarian Church. Kone realised in the beginning that this little organisation of working men was destined to
play in a short time the leading part in the trade union movement
of the country.
At the outset the society was nothing but an institution for
workers' education. Its aims were stated in three lines only, as
follows :
" We aim to prornote friendship and mutual aid.
We aim to follow common ideals and to develop knowledge.
character and skill.
" We aim to improtc our status by our common strength and
sound methods. "
"

A very moderate policy was adopted deliberately by the Yiiai
Kai at the outset, in view of the failures of the militant unions in
the previous period. It endeavoured to secure the support of i n fluential men and to gain public confidence by enlisting among
its advisers well-known scholars' and elected to its council eminent authorities on social and labour problems" The prestige ol'
the union, which witllin a year had enrolled 1,300 members, was
suddenly enhanced when the Yiiai Kai intervened in a strike of
phonograph makers at Kawasaki in 1913 and settled the dispute
in favour of the strikers. This attracted public attention, being
the first experience of a workers' union conducting and settling
a dispute. Two years later, in 1914, the Yiiai Kai succeeded again
in settling a dispute at the Tokyo Muslin Spinning Company,
with signal advantage for the strikers. Thereafter the membership of the union increased rapidly ; in 1915, it was 10,000 and
double that number in 1917. In a short time the Yiiai Kai wt
up miners', seamen's and women's departments in addition to
the legal service department, which was a special feature of the
organisation. Branches of the union were established in rapid
succession all over the country, and the membership soon spread
even to Korea and Manchuria.
A t this stage of development another important union was
formed in 1916 among printers, called the Shin-yii Kai, (literally,
"Faithful Friends Society"). Its origin can be traced back to
For example, Professor K u ~ n a ~Kuwadn,
o
of the Tokyo Imperial TJniversity.
Such as Professors J. Takano, K . Horiye and S. Uchipasaki.

the printers' union formed in IS99 and reorganised in 1907 under
the name of 0 - Y i i Kai, (literally, " European Friends' Society ") .
This peculiar name signified that the membership then consisted
of typographers for European letters, although the union admitted later all printers without distinction. From the beginning,
the Yiini Kni and the Shin-yii Kai have represented two distinctly
opposite tendencies, the former standing for a moderate and
"realistic " policy, while the latter has formed the nucleus of the
left wing, advocating more militant methods. The stimulus to
Japanese foreign trade, which was the result of the Great War,
encouraged the growth of these young trade unions. But at the
same time the inevitable loss of economic equilibrium was bound
to cause social unrest. Wages rose high, but the wage-increase did
not always keep pace with the rise of prices of commodities, and
towards the end of the war, about the time the Russian Empire
collapsed, Japanese workers were seething with unrest. The socalled " rice-riots ", which spread like an epidemic, were symptomatic of the social psychology of this period,
The impetus given to the advance of trade unionism in Japan
by the economic situation was greatly increased by the founding
of the International Labour Organisation in 1919. The knowledge
that provision was made for the representation of the workers at
the Conference of the Organisation by delegates chosen in agreement with the most representative trade unions, was felt by increasingly wide circles among Japanese workers as a direct challenge to organise. The sharp rise in the number of unions formed
hefore and after the Washington Conference is shown below.
Year

Number of unlons
formed

Year

Number of unions
formed

Period of Consolidation (1920-1.924)
When the First Session of the International Labour Conference was called at Washington, the trade union leaders of Japan
assumed that the workers' delegate to the Conference would be
chosen from among the orpanised workers in agreement with

94

I N D U S T R I A L LABOUR II\ J A P A N

the most representative of the workers' organisations '. The
Government, however, proceeded to select the workers' delegate by a method of " multiple elections " in which the organised workers formed only part of the voters. The adoption of
this method resulted in the appointment as delegate of a noirunionist, Mr. Uhei hlasumoto, who was the chief engineer of ii
big shipbuilding yard. 'Phis situation was much resented by
the trade unions ; but the Conference, in view of the official
statement made on behalf of the Japanese Government that there
were only 30,000 workers organised in trade unions out of a
working population of nearly 4,000,000, or hardly 1 per cent. of
the total number of workers, and that under these circumstances
the Government could not consult only the organised workers,
approved the credentials of the Japanese workers' delegate'.
The result of the Government's action in regard to the appoinlment of the Japanese workers' delegate at Washington was to
bring about a temporary union of the labour organisations. They
regarded the step taken by the Government as hostile to trade
unionism and on 1 May of the following year, 1920, trade unions
of all shades of opinion united in the first May Day demonstration
held in Japan. This demonstration was the occasion for the
formation of a loose federation called the R6d6 K u m i a i D6mei Kai
(literally, " League of Labour Unions " ) , and comprising the
most important unions led either by the Yiiai Kai or the Shin-yii
Kai. The federation was, however, short-lived. The views of
the leaders of the Yiiai Kai on the need for centralisation were not
shared by other sections and, as no compromise could be reached.
the Yiiai Kai withdrew in 1921 from the league. Shortly before
the withdrawal from the Damei Kai, the Yiiai Kai adopted a new
programme and the name Nihon Radii S6diimei (General Federation of Japanese Labour). The organisation is usually
referred to by the single word Siid6mei, which means " General
Federation ".
In spite of the failure of the attempt to unite all the unions in
the Dijmei Kai, the next five years were characterised by a series

' Article 389, paragraph 3, of the Peace Treaty provides : " The
Members undertake to nominate non-Government delegates and advisers
chosen in agreement with the industrial organisations, if such organisations exist, which are the most representative of employers or workpeople,
a s the case may he, in their respective countries. "
' Cf. Proceedings of the International Labour Conference, First Session,
1919, Il'ashington, D . C . , Ennlish Edition, pp 62-53.

T R A D E UiYlONISW

95

--

of amalgamations of new unions ; this movement had even begun
in 1919 on a less extensive scale when the unions in thc western
part of Japan were merged with branches of the Yiiai Kai, and
affiliated as the Kansai Rbdb Kumiai Reng6 Kai (Western Federation of Trade Unions). In 1920, a number of miners' unions
were united with the miners' department of the Yiiai Kai and
lormed the Zen-Nihon Kbfu S6rengiikai (All-Japan Miners'
Federation), and in 1921 the organisations of workers employed
in the military arsenals, State iron works and a few other Government undertakings effected a fusion and formed a powerful union
called the Knngyo RbdO SBdiimei (Federation of Workers in State
UAdertakings). A few months later, an important union of maritime workers came into being when twenty-two out of forty-eight
existing small unions of seamen, stewards, trimmers, stokers, etc.,
amalgamated and joined the former Seamen's Department of the
S6dBmei which had just separated from that body. The Nihon
Kaiin Kumiai (Japan Seamen's Union), which came into existence as the result of this amalgamation, and which absorbed
another large seamen's union, the Kniyii Tiiitsu Kyokni (Maritime Unity Society), in 1926, made great progress under the
leadership of Itaro Narasaki and is now a very strong union.
Agricultural tenancy disputes (Kosaku S6gi) led in 1921 t o
the formation of the Nihon N b m i n Kumiai (Japan Farmers'
Union), the leader of which was Motojiro Sugiyama, a Christian
Socialist. The union mainly owed its growth, however, to Toyohiko Kagawa, the social reformer. Although, the farmers'
movement is now split up into many factions, the Japan Farmers'
Union was a union of considerable importance and played a
conspicuous part during the four or five years following its
organisation.
Another group of organisations, the machinists' and toolmakers' unions, amalgamated in 1922 in the Kikai RBdb Rengiikai (Federation of Mechanics' Unions), and the industrial
unrest which characterised this year led in September to an
attempt to find a basis for common action by unions of all shades
of opinion. For this purpose a meeting was called in Osaka on
the initiative of the SBdbmei, the Federation of Mechanics' Unions
and the D6mei Kai. Fifty-nine unions sent representatives to the
meeting, but the effort at unification failed. During this period,
however, trade unions continued to add to their membership,
and various amalgamations of unions in kindred trades took

96

1NDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN J A P A h

place. It was also in 1922 that the KantB RbdG Kumiai Reng6kui
(Eastern Federation of Trade Unions), including numerous
unions of varied trades, was established. 'This Eastern Federation
became affiliated to the SCjdBmei, following the example of the
hansni Rijdii Kumiai Reng6kai (Western Federation of Trade
Unions). Since the formation of the Eastern Federation, which
has been led for man] years by Iiomakichi hlatsuoka, the S6d6rrtr.i
has been in a strong position both in Eastern and Western Japan.
Early in 1923, the Zenkoku InsatsukG Kzuniai Rcng6kai (National
Federation of Printers' Unions) was formed by the amalgamation
of a large number of small unions, including the former Shin-ye
Kai, and later in the same year, the ironworkers, dyers, electrical
engineers and mechanics of the Osaka region combined their
small ~ ~ n i o nand
s founded the Nilzon RTidd Kumini Heng6kni
(Federation of Trade Unions of Japan).
During this period when there was a movement throughout
the country in favour of the federation of small unions, the question of the method of appointing the workers' delegate to the
International Labour Conference played a considerable part in
drawing attention to the need for consolidation and expansion of
trade unionism in Japan. For some years following the first
International Labour Conference in Washington, the Japanese
Government continued to maintain the attitude it took up in 1919,
i. P . that a trade union which could be considered really "representative " of the workers was non-existent in Japan. The practical result was that the Japanese workers' delegate was never
chosen from nor approved by the Japanese trade unions, and the
credentials of the delegates were challenged at successive Sessions
of the International Labour Conference, the question raised on
each occasion being whether the Japanese Government had
appointed the workers' delegate in the manner required by the
Peace Treaty. As a result of these yearly protests the International
Labour Conference, at its Fifth Session in 1923, after examining
the credentials of the Japaneve workers' delegate, recommended
that in future the Government should appoint the delegate in such
a way as would ensure "general satisfaction " '. The J a p a n e ~ e
Government thereupon decided that the workers' delegate should
thenceforward be selected solely on a trade union basis. Only the
I

p. 92.

Proceedings of the lrrlernational Labour Conference, Geneva, 19@,

TRADE UNIONIS~N

97

workers organised in trade unions were to be eligible to take part
in the election of the workers' delegate ; each thousand members
of a union could claim one vote. This decision clearly suggested
to the workers that they should organise to secure the right to
take part in choosing the workers' delegate to the International
Labour Conference and his advisers '. An active campaign began
all over the country either to increase the membership of unions
or to reorganise the old unions on a definitely trade union basis
to permit them to qualify for participation in the vote. Statistics
show that in 1923 the total membership of trade unions in Japan
was 125,000 - a maximum reached after forty years' arduous
struggle. Within a year or two this membership more than
doubled, reaching approximately 254,000 at the end of 1925.
A typical example of the rapid formation of a big federation
was the coming into existence of Kaigun Rbd6 Kumiai Renmei
(Federation of Naval Arsenal Workers' Unions) in March 1924.
The unions which joined this federation included 43,000 members, chiefly in the naval ports of Yokosuka, Kure, Hiro, Maizuru and Sasebo ; it is still one of the most important right
wing organisations.
In 1924, 1925 and again in 1930, Bunji Suzuki, President of
the SGdBmei was nominated by the Government as workers'
delegate to the International Labour Conference, 1924 being the
first year that the organised Japanese workers were represented
by a labour leader of their own choice. Ever since then the
system of election which the Government adopted in 1924 has been
followed. Although the Government reserves the right to nominate as the workers' delegate any one of the three candidates who
have received the highest number of votes - the appointment
being finally made having regard to the nature of the Conference
Agenda - in practice the candidate receiving the highest number
of votes has always been appointed.
P(v-iod of Political lnflucnces (1.925-1.9.31)
During the years following 1926 Japanese trade unions have
been more pre-occupied with politics than with the betterment
of conditions of work. This may be attributed to two causes : the
IWTERNAIIO~~AI.
LAROUR(31I-TCF . Industrial Conditions and Laborrr
Legislation in Jnpnn, Studies and R e p r t s , Series R . No. 16, p. 93.

III)L'ITRIAI,

1.IBOUR IN J A P A N

98

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
--

.-

--

introduction of manhood suffrage and the spread of Communism. The leaders have concentrated on the organisation of
political parties, obtaining Parliamentary representation, and
combating the disruptive influence of Communist propaganda.
'This influence is said to have been considerable. Even the
membership of the General Federation of Japanese Labour
i S~ddrnei)fell appreciably, and many Japanese unions wwe
split into hostile groups. In the political field, the various
attempts made during this period to form a single Labour Party,
in view of the first General Election held under the new Manhood Suffrage Act, were unsuccessful. Instead, several " Proletarian Parties" were formed, backed by rival groups of trade
unions.
An attempt has, however, been made recently to put an end
to internecine strife between the various groups of trade unions
by the formation in June 1931 of the Japan Labour Club
(Nihon R6dB Kurabu)', a loose federation of the unions of moderate tendency and this " club " was reorganised after a year, in
September 1932, into the Japanese Trade Union Congress (Nihon
R6dd Kumiai Kaigi) on a more solid basis than hitherto'. It is
impossible to say at present whether this attempt will be permanently successful, but there is no doubt that the future of Japanese
trade unionism depends largely on the possibility of maintaining
and developing this organisation.

Cf. below, p. 103.

Cf. Industrial and Labour Information, Vol. XLIV, No. 9, p. 284-

'MADE VNIONISM (continued)

Trndencies and Structure of
Japanese Trade Unions
Previous chapters have shown the part played by ideas in
the development of workers' organisations in Japan, and the
tendency to express divergencies of opinion by the formation of
separate unions and federations of unions. Though the prospects of Japanese trade unionism have been altered now by the
formation of the Japan Labour Club, individual organisations
whether belonging to it or not may still be roughly classified
into three groups which, in accordance with the terms current
i n Japan to indicate their doctrines and methods, will be
described in this chapter as Right Wing, Centre, and Left Wing
imions. A brief account will first be given of the origin and
development of the existing groups, as well as of the formation
of the Japan Labour Club, after which their composition will
be examined in more detail
Although, as was seen in the last chapter, there has been
some parallel development of Right and Left Wing unions from
the beginning of the period of modern trade unionism in Japan,
the most representative Centre and Left Wing organisations have
been formed as a result of a series of secessions from the S6d6mei
(General Federation of Japanese Labour), and it will therefore
be convenient to deal with the developments that have taken
place in relation to the changes in the SiidGmei.
The process began in 1919, when the Sijd6mei (then, and
until 1921, still known as the Yiiai Kni), came under the
influence of a number of university men and abandoned its
former conciliatory policy for a policy of a more militant
character. At a congress held in 1919, it was decided to group

100

IX1;DtiSTHIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

the affiliated unions o n a craft il~stcaclof a geographical basis,
and a programme was adopted in which political demands figure
side by side with principles which had recently received international sanction in the Prcamble and Article 427 of the Treaty
of Versailles '.
While this transformati011 of the SGdGmei into a militant
trade union federation organised on more modern lines brought
new life and great accession of strength to the Federation, it also
reinforced the possibilities of disruption. On the one hand, the
intellectual elements did not assimilate entirely with the older
elements in the Federation, and on the other the newer members were impatient with the slowness of legal methods. The
intellectual leaders were strong enough to decide the Federation
to withdraw from the DBmei K a i 2 , when it became evident that.
continued co-operation with extremist organisations such as the
Shin-yii-Kai was only possible by the sacrifice of the Federation's
principles ; but they could not withstand the later pressure of
the revolutionary elements and by 1922 they had all been
compelled to resign except Bunji Suzuki, who remained Honorary
President of the Federation. Some of the intellectual leaders
returned to the Federation after the swing to the right which took
place in 1923, but most of them finally seceded and founded thc
Centre group of unions.
It was probably about 1922 that the SGd8rnc.i reached its
most leftward position" and it was in that year that the last
- --

' Thr prozramme contninrd the following twenty items ' (1) thc
principle that labour is not a mere commodity or article of commerce :
(2'1 freedom of association ; (3) aholition of child labour ; (4) estahliehment of the minimum wage system ; (5) equal payment for equal
labour of men and women : (6) weekly rest ; (7) eight-hour day and
forty-eight-hour week ; (8) abolition of night work ; (9) appointment
of women inspectors ; (10) institution of social insurance ; (11) promulgation of arbitration law to settle labour disputes ; (12) prevention of
unemployment ; (13) equal treatment of foreign and national workers ;
(14) public management and improvement of workers' houses ; (15) establishment of accident compensation ; (16) improvement of home work :
(17) aholition of contract labour ; (18'1 establishment of universal suffrage ; (19) revision of the Public Peace Police Act ; (20) democratisation
of the system of education.
Cf. above, p. 94.
At the annual congress of 1922, the SBd6mei decided to abandon the
demand for universal suffrage in favour of direct action, and the following
programme was adopted : (1) promotion of economic welfare and education of members by powerful organisation and a system of mutual aid :
(2) unrelenting and effective struggle against the oppression and perserution of the capitalist class : (3) recognition that the interwtq of the work

TRADE UNIONISM

101

abortive attempt was made to form a national confiederation
including the SGdGmei, the Federation of Mechanics' Unions, and
the remnants of the D6mei Kai. After the earthquake of 1923,
however, both the SBdGmei and the Federation of Mechanics'
Unions adopted a policy known as H6kB Tenkan or "change of
direction ", which involved the decision to work for social legislation and to co-operate with the International Labour Organisation. The workers were beginning to realise that theoretical
radicalism had not brought them any real gains in labour
disputes, and there was a serious shrinkage of trade union membership resulting from dissension between the unions. To the
influence exercised by the adoption of manhood suffrage and
the official recognition of trade unions as the organisations to
be consulted in the choice of the workers' delegate to the International Labour Conference two other influences were added.
One was the adoption by the Soviet Government of a new economic policy which was regarded as an open admission of the
impossibility of a literal application of Communist ideals, and
the other was the political success of British workers demonstrated by the formation of a Labour Government.
At the annual congress of the Siidiimei in February 1924,
HBkG Tenkan was adopted in a formal resolution by a majority
vote. It was a momentous decision, and the Siid6mei has stood
by it ever since, holding to social reform by constitutional means
and to loyal co-operation with the International Labour Organisation. The following month the Federation of Mechanics'
Unions took an identical decision, sacrificing that pas[ of its
membership which dissented, for it broke with the Syndicalistic
hodies which had exerted a contrary inflnence within the
Federation.
As regards the Siiddmei, the result of the swing to the right
was continued discontent among the minority groups, leading
in 1925 to secessions on a large scale. The trouble began in the
Eastern Federation in September 1924. Five unions seceded
from the Eastern Federation, and although for a time they formed
a small federation Kantii Chih6 Hyogi Kai (Eastern Local Council) directly affiliated to the headquarters of the STidfimci, their
ing class and of the capitalist class are incompatible, #111dcleterrnination
to work for the complete emancipation of t h e working class and establishment by trade 11nion action of n new society hnsrd on freedom a r i d
equnlit~.

102

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR II\ JAPAN

leaders were accused of forming part of the Communist group
and of plotting to undermine the Sbd6mei. The latter decided
to dissolve the Council, and the unions federated in the Council
forthwith organised the Kakushin D6mei (Reform Alliance) to
which the Communist unions rallied ; in May 1925 the Niltort
R6d6 Kurnini Hyogi Kai (Council of Japanese Trade Unions) was
formed as an independent national organisation with about
thirty local unions and a total membership of 10,778. This
defection considerably reduced the membership of the SGdtjmci,
and after the split only 19,460 members remained faithful to it.
Thence until the end of 1926 there were two hostile groups
i i ~the trade movement, the S6d6mei and Nyogi Kai, but early
in the following year a Central group, R6d6 Kurnicri S6reng6
(Confederation of Trade Unions), came into being by a fusion
of unions (many of them from the eastern part of Japan) belonging to the Federation of Mechanics' Unions and the remnants of
the old D6nzei Iiai (chiefly from Osaka and Kobe) who had
formed a federation of their own. The membership of the
Si3rengG1 was not large at first, onl? some 2,290 in the eastern
and 1,360 in the western section, but it won the support of some
eminent Socialist leaders, and it was greatly strengthened at the
end of 1926 when another Centre union was organised after
withdrawing from the Sdddmei. This new union took the name.
of Nihort R6d6 Kumiai D6mei (Alliance of Japanesc 'I'ratic
Unions) : its formation put the Centre movement on a more permanent basis. The numerical strength of the SBd6rnei and of the
Kumiai Dijmei in December 1926 was given by the Bureau of
Social Affairs as respectively 22,000 and 28,000 members '.
It was only to be expected that the Stjrengd and the K u ~ n i a i
Ddrnei would join forces. This came about in January 1927
when they formed a federation w l ~ i c h however,
,
was so loose in
its organisation that its importance as a federation was very small.
But the Centre group pained further advantages from another
split in the S6dtjmei in the autumn of 1929. A group dissenting
from the main body of the Western Federation of the S6diimei
formed nilother union of the Centre group called the R6db Kumiai
Zen koh.71 D6mci i Y ational Trade Union 4lliance) , thus adding

' Figures
lrndo,

of the nureall of Social Affairs. quoted i n S a i k i n n o S h a f i q i
231.
Cf. KYOCHOK ~ . T S a i k i n N o S h n k a i Tindo. p. 252

TRADE UNIONISM

103

considerably to the strength of the Centre group. These changes
were followed by a combination of the Kurniai Domei, the ZercIcoku Dijmei and other unions of the Centre, and the result of this
combination ', which took place formally on I June 1930, was
the formation of a national organisation, the Zenkoku R6dTi
humiai DGmei, claiming an aggregate membership of 48,229'.
T l ~ i snew organisation was in reality a rival to the Right as well
as the Left Wing unions, though its principal object was stated
to be the union of all trade and labour parties.
More recently, however, the slow progress made in increasing
the membership of the trade unions, and the failure of the political parties to secure more than a very few seats in Parliament ",
has led to further and more successful attempts to achieve a
measure of unity. The first move was made in the spring of 1931
by the Centre organisations, the object being to form a national
trade union centre. The proposal was well received by the maritime workers' organisations, but did not succeed owing to the
abstention of other Right Wing unions4. But when, a few
months later, the Japan Seamen's Union took the initiative, the
support of the leading trade union organisations both of the
Ccntre and the Right Wing was gradually obtained. The S6diimei
at first objected to the proposal on the ground that some organisations likely to be included in Ihe proposed national federation
were lacking in discipline and not wholly free from Communist
elements. This objection, however, was withdrawn after negotiations among the leaders which culminated in the establishment,
at a general meeting held in Kobe on 25 June 1931, of the Japan
Labour Club (Nihon Riidii Krzrrrbrr)~and this was reorganised,
as already mentioned, in September 1932, into the Japanese Trade
Union Congress (Nihon Riidii Kumirri Knigi) on a more permanent basis than hitherto.
The constitution of the Congress repudiates extremist principles and methods and supports the International Labour Organisation ; the promotion of labour legislation (introduction of a
It should he l~otedthat the S o r ~ n g odid not join the new organisation.

This was the figure reoorted at the second congress of the Alliance in
Uovember 1931 (RGd6 Jih6, Nov. 1931, p. 27).
Rarely 8 per cent. of the industrial workers of Tapan are organised ;
the ' I proletarian " political parties won 8 seats a t the 1926 election, but at
present they hold only 5 seats out of 466.
' Cf. I n d . and Lab. I n f o r m n l i o n , Vol. YXXVIII, p. 13
' [hid . Vol. YXYTY. p 12, T'ol YT,TV. Yo 9, p 284

104

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N JAPAX

Trade Union Bill, regulation of hours of work, establishment of
minimum wages, legal recognition of collective agreements,
unemployment measures, etc.) is one of the foremost tasks of the
Congress. The new organisation includes eleven trade union
federations with an aggregate membership of 280,000, or about
80 per cent of all trade union members in Japan. Therefore
it would appear that the Congress, if it is consolidated as a definite
and permanent federation, will assume importance as " the most
representative organisation of workers " in Japan '.
There are, however, still many signs of conflict among
member organisations and a considerable effort will be required
to place the new organisation upon a sound basis ; and for this
reason it is felt to be expedient to examine the various organisations, as IS done in the following pages, classifying them, for
the time being, according to the political tendency they have
manifested hitherto.
Right W i n g U n i o n s 2

Of the 354,312 workers (7.5 per cent. of the total number of
workers) organised at the end of 1930 in 712 trade unions-of
all shades of opinion, well over three-quarters were claimed by
the Right Wing. Five of the Right Wing unions stand out

' The organisations represented at the first meeting in T11ne 1931 and
which have continued to co-operate with the Club are the following :
General Federation of Japanese Labour (Nihon Rdd6 Sdddmei), Federation
of Workers in State Undertakings (Kangyo Rddd Sdddmei), Federation of
Yaval Arsenal Workers' Unions (Kaigun R6dG Kumiai Rrimei) , Japan
Seamen's Union (Nihon Kaiin Kumiai), Mercantile Marine Officers' Association (Kaiin Kyokai), National Alliance of Trade Unions (Zenkoku RGd6
Kumiai Damei), Confederation of Japanese Trade Unions (Nihon Rdd6
Kumiai Sdrengd) , Tapanese Federation of Trade Unions (Nihon R6dd
SGrenmei, formerly the union of workers in Osaka arsenal, Kyoto Electric
Company, etc., known as J u n Kdjd Kai), Union of Employees of the Tokyo
I<lectric Light Company (Tdden Jugyoin Kumiai), Tokyo Gas Workers'
Union (Tokyo Gasnkd Knmiai) and the Federation of Japanese Dockyard
Workers' Unions (Nihon Zosen RBdd Renmei). (Cf. Ind. and Lab.
lnformntion, Vol. XXYIX, p. 298.)
' For this part of the report, more especially in respect of the general
situation of the Right and Left Wing unions, the Kyocho Kai publication,
Saikin no Shakai Undo, is the chief source of information.
As compared with the figures at the end of 1929, this shows an
increase of eighty-two unions and of 0.7 per cent. in the proportion of
organised workers to all workers. There is an increase of over 23,000 in
the number of organised workers in spite of the decrease of about 160,000
in the total number of workers during the year. (Report of Bureau of
Social Affairs in 1931, quoted in Industrial and Labour Information,
Vol. XXXVTT, Uo 12. 22 Tune 1931. pp 463-45d l

TRADE UNIONISM

105

prominently and used to be known as the " Big Five " ' These
bodies have supported the Social Democratic Party and achieved
a certain degree of unity; in particular they have been accustomed
to collaborate closely when the workers' delegate to the International Labour Conference is chosen. The visit to Japan of
Mr. Thomas, the late Director of the International Labour Office
at the end of 1928, helped to cement the unity of the " Big Five ".
A demonstration of welcome was planned by this group in November at a joint meeting at Kobe, at which the RBdB Rippc?
Sokushin Zinkai (Committee for the Promotion of Labour Legislation) was set up . This Committee held its first meeting at Kobe
on the day of Mr. Thomas's arrival, and at a second meeting held
ten days later at Tokyo it was decided to form a federation of the
five unions, although, in deference to a doubt whether the
Federation of Naval Arsenal Workers would be able to obtain
the naval authorities' approval of a public declaration of unity,
the name of the Committee was provisionally retained to describe
the proposed comprehensive federation. The Committee was
formally dissolved in April 1932, its continuance being regarded
as no longer necessary in view of the formation of the Japan
Labour Club.
The following notes give a brief description ol the present
organisation of the chief Right Wing unions :
Nihon Rodti SGdGmei (General Federation of Japanese Labour). As now organised, the SGdGmei includes both craft and industrial
unions and their local federations; its central offices are at Tokyo.
The Federation has departments concerned with disputes, research,
organisation of new unions, social questions, women's education, international relations, legal service, technical questions and publication.
Jt holds annual congresses where all matters of importance are discussed. The executive organ of the Federation is its Central Committee,
elected each year at the annual congress, consisting of the President
of the General Federation, General Secretary, Treasurer and about a
dozen other members. Workers' unions with a hundred or more
members accepting the principles and programme of the General Federation may be admitted on condition that they pay the fees and
-

--

General Federation of Japanese Labour, Tapan Seamen's Union,
Mercantile Marine Officers' Association, Federation of Workers in State
Undertakings, and Federation of Naval Arsenal Workers' Unions.
The programme of the General Federation of Japanese Labour now
comprises the following eight items : (1) eight-hour day and fortgeight-hour week for workers j n general, and six-hour day and thirty-sixhour week for mining workers engaged in underground work ; (2) equal
pay for equal work ; (3) establishment of minimum wage ; (4) abolition
of the system of temporary employment ; (5) abolition of night work ;
(6) repeal of the Public Peace Police Act and the Public Peace Preservation
Act ; (7) May Day as the national holiday : (8) nation-wide economic
I

co-operal inn.

106

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN J A P A N

agree to bear the incidental expenditure decided on by the annual
congress or the Central Committee. They must pledge themselves not
to make any financial claim against the Federation in the event of
11 ilhdrawal or expulsion. Unions affiliated to the General Federation
I I I , I ~form a local federation with the approval of the Central Comu~ittee,if tl~circombined membership is at least 500. Local federations
may combine and form a Domei Kai (literally " alliance ").
The Sodomei is divided at present into the Eastern (Kanto) and
tho Wcstern (Kansai) Federations. The Eastern Federation consists of
the two local federations of Tokyo and of the Kanagawa prefecture
(\\ hic.11 iucludes Yohoharna) and about nine other small unions. The
Westcrn Federation includes the local federations of Osaka, Arnagasaki.
Chugohu, Kyushii and Nada and half-a-dozen small unions in Kyoto,
Nagoya, as well, all affiliated to the Western Federation. The total
membership of the General Federatioil of Japanese Labour as reported
to the 1931 annual congress was 44,219, of who111 35,844 were men
and 8,375 women '. It was reported at !he same congress that the
membership was increasing rapidly on account of a campaign started
by t t ~ c(:entral Committee to raise Ihr membership to 100,000 before
thc end of 1932.
Nihon Kaiin Kumiai (Japan Seamen's Union). - This Union was
founded in \Iav 1921, combining twenty-two seamen's unions with the
Seamen's Department of the Yl'iai Kai ; the initial membership was
50.000. It was the Maritime Session of the International Labour Conference held at Genoa in 1920 which stimulated the many small unions
to form a powcrful mtional organisation. The fact that the Conference
adopted smeral iml~ortant Draft Conventions, T\ecommendations and
Resolutions directly aflec ting thc interests of searnen. l~roughthomf.
to them the urgent need of uniting their forces. The union includes
~ ,
oilers. cooks, stewards
among its member5 seamen, D I ~ I I stoke~s,
and other w o r k e ~ sof various descr.il)tions emp1o)ed on Japanese vessel<;
it admits an) " seaman who has the legal Seamen's Handbook (Sen-in
Techo) or other certificate corresponding to it, delivered by the authorities ". By the merging of the IZaiy6 Toitsu Kyolcai (Maritime Unity
Sol-iety) with this union in 1926, the addition of the Dai Nihon Senplrlcu Shichiu D6sl1i Kni (Japan Ship Stewards' Union) in 1927 and
t h An~algamation
~
of the Ytishi Doyl'i Kai (Union of Stewards on the
N. Y. K. Liners)=in 1920. the .Japan Seamen's Union has become practically the " One Big Union " of Japnncse seamen. for it includes over
90 per cent. of all seamen ? The headquarters of the union are in
Kobe, with branches in almost all important ports and towns.
As in the case of most other Japanese unions, the aims of the
organisation are stated to be " to maintain or improve conditions of
labour, to estahli4 secnritv of liveli1,oocl. to cnhnnce political and

In addition, there are some h u ~ ~ d r e dofs irldi\idrlal members and a
few unions - unaffiliated as yet to any loral federation - affiliated directly
to the headquarters of the Sodomei iR6rl6 Jih6, Nov 1931, p. 24)
There was another small ~ ~ n i ocalled
n
the " C.K. Kenkyu Cl~lb",
consisting of ships' stewards. which was amaIg,~mated with the .Japan
Seamen's Union at the same time as the Yiishi D6rl'i Kni.
The rapid growth of this Union may be ascrihed in meat meawre to
the effort5 of its forinder, the late Mr Itaro Narasalti

TRADE UMOKISM

107

social status of the m e n h e r s and to promote their common welfare " '.
The Statutes enumerate the objects of the union under nine heads, viz
e1up1o)nient exchanges for searnen ; maintenance of seamen's lodging
houses ; publication of the organs of the union ; mutual aid ; consumer's co-operative \oc.ieLy for the n ~ e n i b e r s; walching and e n f o r c i ~ ~ g
the application of collective agreements ; matters relating to labour
disputes ; promotion of labour legislation ; other necessary matters.
Few Japanese unions are SO solidly organised or as well financed as the
Seamen's Union. Thc employment exchanges maintained in collaboratio11 with the shipowners under the Joint Maritime Board (Kaiji
K v o d o K a i ) , as well as the Seamen's Homes maintained by the union,
are excellent
The organ of the union, the ICaiiiz (Seamen), is a
substantial j o u r ~ ~ apublished
l,
monthly.
This union is very alive to the importance of international acti\ilies. Mr. Yonekubo ', a prominent leader, endeavoured in 1929 to
organise periodical meetings of Asiatic labour representatikes to the
International Labour Conference, and Mr. Kunitaro Harrrada 3, the
present President of the union, took the first step of any Japanese
workers' union to affiliate with a n international trade union secretariat bq deciding in 1929 that the Japan Seamen's Union should be
linked to the International Transport W o r k e ~ s 'Federation. The membership of the Japan Scamcn's Union is clo.;c upon 92,000 4.

Kaigun Rod6 l i u m i a i Rrnmei (Federation of Naval Arsenal
Workers' Unions). - I n IIarch 192-1 this federation amalgamated the
Unions of Naval Arsenal Workers belorrging to Lhe arsenals of Yokosulia, k u r e . liiro, hfaizuru a n d Sasebo ; the initial membership was
43,000. In addition, two unions of the towns of Tokushima a n d Hiratsuka later joined the federation. The headquarters are at the naval
port of Kure ; the present Presidiwi i.; Vr. Shipeiclri Mivasaki 5 ; the
membership is about 47,000.
K a n g y Rod6 S d o m e i (Federation of Workers in State Ilndertakings). - This organisation was founded in \larch 1921 by federaling unions of workers employed at sebcrat military arsenals. the State
iron foundry at Yawata, Government monopoly bureaux, etc. The
membership of Lhe Federation is 16,000 ; its headquarters are at Osaka.
lZc,lk Kyokai (Mercantile Marine office^ s ' Association). - This
union was established in March 1907 with headquarters in Kobe. Its
nierrrbcrs are officer.; possessing the " certificate of competency "

' This phrase has heeu iuserted alnlost uniforn~lyby Japanese unions
since the Government adopted the policy in 1924 of allowing only the
>\orkers' unions expressing this aim in their statutes to participate in
the election of the workers' delegate to the International Lahour
Conference.
Mr. Mitsusuke Yonekubo was the lapaneae workers' delegate at the
Eleventh Session of the International Lahour Conference in 1928.
" Mr. Kunitaro Hamada was the Tapanese seamen's delegate at the
Thirteenth Session of the International Labour Conference in 1929.
This figure is based on the number of votes recognised by the Government for the union to cast in the election of the \\orkers' delegate to attend
the International Labour Conference of 1932 (R6cl6 .Tih6, Tan. 1932, p. 211
W r . Shigeichi M i y c l ~ ~ t l iwas
i
adviser to the Japanese workers' delegate
a t the Twelfth Session of the International Laho~lrConfer~ncein 1929

108

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

(Kaigi menj6) and its importance lies in the fact that it is practically
t,he only organisation of mercantile marine officers, including the bulk
of them among its membership ; it collaborates closely with the Japan
Seamen's Union '. The managing director of the association is
Mr. Jisaku Kanao ; the membership is 12,000.
Other Hiyht 1.Viizg unioi~s.- Among the remaining unions of the
Kight Wing, perhaps the most important is the Bus6 R6d6 Renmei, a
federation established in May 1925 by two trade unions in the shipbuilding yards at Yokohama and Uraga. The origin of the first of these, the
K6shin Kai (literally " Workers' Fidelity Society "), may be traced
back to a union of the worhers in the Yokohama shipbuilding yard
which had been formed in 1921 with the help of the S6d6rnei. Its
object then was to protest against the wholesale discharge of workers
carried out to meet armament reduction. In 1924 it sprang into life
again with 4,000 new nienibers after a decline resulting from a series
o f unsuccessful strikes The T!raga m i o n was originally a branch of
the Yiiai Kai.
The lesser Right Wing unions may be enumerated : Ashio D6zan
K6shokuju Kumiai S6reng6 Kai, a federation of copper mine workers
which links up seven srnall unions of mine workers, all within the
Ashio district ; the membership is about 3,500. R6d6 Kumiai Kyod6
h-enkuyu Kni (literally " Society for the Common Study of Trade
Unions " ) , established at the State ironfoundry at Yawata in June 1920;
approximate membership 6,700. There are also small unions of tramway workers in Osaka and Tokyo, gas worhers in Tokyo, dockers in
Yokohama, dyers of Yuzen in Osaka, etc., but owing to dissensions and
the withdrawal of the 1,eft Wine elements, thrir membership is
insignificant.

Left Wing Unions2
Unions 01 various shatlcs of opinion are here classed u n d e r
t h e heading o f Left W i n g unions, b u t strictly speaking they c a n
scarcely be regarded as a homogeneous group, except i n so far as
they all hold radical views. Some unions are exponents of orthodox Marxism, others have anarchist leanings; they represent
m a n y varieties of C o m m u n i s m a n d Syndicalism. For convenience, they m a y perhaps best be roughly divided i n t o t w o
groups - Syndicalist a n d Communist '.
The representative Syndicalist body is undoubtedly Z e n k o k u
Riidii Kumiai J i y i i RengGkni (literally. " National Free Federation
of Trade TTnions ' 9 . The power of this federation has been on
Mr. Y6jiro Tsuzuki and Mr. .Tun-ichi Suzuki, uho attended the
Eighth and Thirteenth Sessions respectively of the International Labour
Conference as advisers to the Japanese seamen's delegate, were officials of
this association.
The membership of the l~nionswhich are professedly Communist
cannot be ascertained owing to the fact that snch unions are not lenallv
permitf ed to exist.
Cf. Saikin no Shakai I'nrlo, pp 258 et seq.

the wane ever since the earthquake of 1923, which for most Japanese trade unions marked the turning point towards parliarnentarism. \\ hile other unions were regaining their influence by
expansion into the political field, the J i y G Rcrzgdkai stuck to the
old tactics of direct action with the denial of parliamentary political action - and this had thc effect of constant diminution of
its membership. A movement to check the diminishing membership was the Kokushoku Seinen Hcnmei, which may be translated "nlack Youth League", launched in 1926, but this expedient was unsuccessful. A section of the union, fearing a total
collapse, advocated a change of tactics to meet the changing
social situation, but the proposal was the cause of internal disputes
and this group has lost so much influence in the Japanese labour
movement as to become almost negligible.
The principal unions' in the Communist group are those
which were federated under the Hyogi Kai until the Government
compelled it to dissolve in 1928.
After the dissolution of the H y o g i Kai, one group of its
component unions hcld stubbornly to the principles of the federation ; a second altered its tactics, taking the view that the
advanced radicalism of the Hyogi Kai was unsuitable for Japanese
society as it is to-day; a third group of unions broke up completely. An organising committeehet up by the first of these
groups sought to reunite the Communist unions by industries,
with a view to a single national federation, but, owing to the
necessity for carrying on its work secretly, little is known of its
activities ; the intervention of the authorities before the meeting
which it was proposed to hold in Tokyo in July 1928 with the
object of forming an Eastern Local Council frustrated its purposes.
The principal federations of the T,rfi Wing i~nionsare briefly
described below :
Zenkokn Riidij Knmini JiyE Rengijkai (National Free Federation of
Trade Unions). - This federation was formed in May 1926 with an
office in Tokyo : it is a decentralised federation, with only a small
" liaison committee " {Renmkn Iin) of four people, to take the nlace
of the usual President and union officials. 4 large majoritv of the
-I The Nihon K6tsu SGrenmei (literally, " Tapanese Confederation of
Transit Workers "), the Nihon H6kiu Seikatsusha Kumiai Hyogi Kai (literally, '' .Japanese Council of Salaried Workers' Unions ").
a Zenkokn Tanitsu RGdG Kumioi S?renqii
Sokushin Kant6 ChihG
Iiyogikai J u n b i Kai (Organising Committee of an Eastern Local Council for
Promotion of il Sinzlp Yationnl Conft~derilliotto f Trade TJnionq).

unions affiliated to the federation are unions of printers ; there are
also several small unions of textile workers, rrlechanics and day
labourers, and a union of Korean coolies in Tokyo in the federation.
Geographically, the affiliated unions are scattered all over the important
cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, lokohama, Okayama. etc., with
even a small union in the island of Hokkaido, but numerically the
federation is of little importance, the total membership being estimated at about 2.260.
Nihon Rddd Kumiai Sd-Hyogi Kai (General Council of Japanese
Trade Unions). - Hardly any detailed information regarding this body
is available, though its existence is well-known. The present body is
a survibal of the old IIyogi Kai, maintained by the organising committee mentioned abo\e. Its members are scattered over the industrial
and rnining centres of Japan proper, including the island of Hokkaido,
but owing to the reduced menhership and severe suppression by the
authorities, the scope of their action is strictly limited.
Latterly, the Hyogi Iiai had been definitely associated with the
Third International, and hat1 actively followed a policy of revolutionary syndicalism. hevertheless, it had tended to give more atlention
to practical trade unionism, and to leave political action to the Ron6
Td, the political Communist Party. When the Hyogi Kai was ordered
to dissolve in April 1928, on the ground that a large majority of its
members belonged to the political body, the total membership of the
Hyogi Kai was estimated at about 23,000. A movement to revive this
body was started in December 1930 at the congress of the Rono To
and it spread among the unions of wood and metal workers of Osaha,
metal workers of Tokyo, dockers of Yokohama, etc. The carnpaign
culminated with the inauguration of the Nihon Rddd Kumiai Sd-Hyogi
Kai (General Council of Japanese Trade Unions) in Tokyo on
10 April 1931, at a meeting which was attended by some seventy deleBates representing about thirty unions of the extreme Left Wing in
rokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Yokohama, Hokkaido, etc. The membership of
the Sd-Hyogi Kai cannot be ascertained, but it was estimated to have
about 10,000 members. The most important anlong the items of the
agenda adopted by the congress when the Sd-Hyogi Kai was organised
were : opposition to the International Lahour Organisation, consolidation of the Left Wing unions and corllmon action with the peasants '.
Despite the diminished membership and the limitations placed on
its activities, the Sd-Hyogi Kai may he regarded as the mainstay of the
1,cft Wing unions in Japan.

Centre Group
The unions of the Centre group have not gained as much
strength and prestige as was generally expected. At first they
had a large amount of moral support from intellectuals, but they
have not succeeded in attracting sufficient membership to become
the dominant force in the Japanese t,rade union movement. The
failure of the Nihon Shichiu Dbmei (Japan Stewards League)
R6d6 .lih6, April 1931, p. 18.

--

TRADE UNIONISM

---

-.
-

112

-- -

strike i n May 1927 arid the defeat of Mr. ASOO, leader of the
Alliance of Japanese Trade Unions, at the 1928 a n d 1930 parliamentary elections, may have been contributory causes.
The Centre group has not been consistent i n its attitude
towards the International Labour Organisation. The chief unions
of the group are not fundamentally hostile ; they participated in
the election of the workers' delegate of Japan to the Tenth and
Thirteenth Sessions of the International Labour Conference,
although they abstained o n other occasions. 'The principal reason
for this abstention, however, was said to he the dissatisfaction of
the majority of the unions with the present method of eelection
of the workers' delegate' I n any case, it is interesting to note
that since the formation of the Japan Labour Club, including all
important unions of the Centre group, not only have they fully
participated i n the selection of the workers' delegate to attend the
Internationai Labour Conference of 1932, but all t h e advisers to
the delegate have been chosen from a m o n g t h e leaders of the
Centre group. Below is a brief description of the principal trade
union federations of this group :
Zrnkolcu R6d6 Kumiai D6mei (National Alliance of Trade Unions).
- 'l'hk body, whirh was first established in December 1926 under the

name of Xihon R6d6 Kumiai D6lnei (Alliance of Japanese Trade
IJnions), adopted the present name in 1930 when several unions were
amalgamated with it. The principles professed by the alliance differ
but little from those of the Right Wing unions '. Generally speaking,
the structure of this and other trade union federations of the Centre
group has a close resemblance to that of the SBdBmei, the executive
and deliberative bodies, and rules of procedure, being similar and
operating in much the same way. There are seventy-one unions
belonging to nine federations in the alliance ; the total membership
reported at the second congress of the alliance in November 1931 was
48.229 including 7.436 women members.
Nihon RBd6 Kumiai SBreng6 (Confederation of Japanese Trade
I?nions). - This confederation was founded in January 1926 in
Tokyo with Mr. Kozaburo Sakamoto as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee. There are about twenty unions affiliated ; these are
distributed between three local federations of Tokyo, Osaka and Kohe.
The total membership is 13,000.
Besides these two principal federations there is one of ceramic
workers in Nagoya, with a membership of some 2.000, and one of cooks
in Kobe. with approximately 3,500 members.

' The Government took the view that the unions of the Centre group
abstained from voting partly because they foresaw that their candidates
wonld have no chance of election (cf. RBd6 JihB, Aug. 1929. 1). 15).
See ahove, p. 100, for thr principles of the SiirlGrnr~i.

In addition to these u~lionsof industrial or maritime workers.
there are in this country some 4,200 unions of farm-tenants and agricultural labourers with an aggregate membership (at the end of 1930)
of about 300,000. As many as 95 per cent. of these unions, however,
are only local organisations extending not beyond a few villages or
towns. Only two unions are organised or] a national basis and active
in protecting the rights of farm-tenants, and helping to relieve them
from extreme hardship caused by the fall in price of cocoons, rice and
other agricullural products. heavy taxes, debts, etc. Oue is tlie
National Farmers' Union (Zenkoku Nomin Kumiai) regarded as of the
Left Wing tendency with approximately 50,000 members and the other
is the Japan Farmers' Union (Nihon Nomin Kumiai), of the Rigtit
lying, with ahout 30.000 menlbers.
Japanese Trade Unions ar~clPolitical Action

In recent years Japanese trade unions have shown increasing
iuterest in the political aspect of labour questions. This does
not mean that they have not concerned themselves with such
matters as normally come within the sphere of trade union
activities. But the tendency to seek the solution of fundamental
questions through political action, besides being in accordance
with trade union development in other countries, has been reinforced by the inevitable preoccupation of the unions, as far as
purely trade union matters are concerned, with questions of
organisation and membership. The former Director of Factory
Inspection in the Bureau of Social Affairs, Mr. Yoshisakal, has
described the Japanese trade union movement as still being " a
movement towards the organisation of labour" rather than one
founded on the organisation of labour. Until organisation is more
complete many questions cannot be raised with any hope of
success ; with little more than 8 per cent. of workers organised
the Japanese unions are not prepared to take u p questions which
can be easily handled in countries where 60 or 70 per cent. of
the workers are organised. The lack of unity also hampers trade
union activities in Japan ; even on national questions of general
interest to labour, such as an unemployment policy and the enactment of a trade union law, counsels are divided, and on the
international side there is a sharp division of opinion regarding
the attitude to be taken towards the International Labour

SHUNZOYOSHISAKA
: Introduction to Zenkoku RGd6 Dantai no Genjii
(Actual Conditions of Labour Organisation in Japan), p. 3 : published by
Chugai Shakai Tsushin Shn.

In these circumstances, much interest has centred on the
Labour or " Proletarian " (Musan Seitii) Parties. The introduction
of manhood suffrage in 1926, which increased the electorate from
3,000,000 to approximately 12,000,000, led both to a considerable
increase in the numbers and membership of trade unions and to
more intensive political activity '.
The initiative to form a national political party was taken
b? Nihon Nijmin Kumiai (Japan Farmers' Union), and this
purpose united all Japanese organised labour for several months,
although before the party was actually constituted the S6diimri
withdrew as the result of disagreement with the Left Wing. The
new party was founded at a meeting held at a Y.M.C.A. hall in
'I'okyo on 1 December 1925, and was called NTirnin Riidii 7'6 (the
Farmer-Labour Party). Two hours after the meeting, however,
t l l c . executive members of the party were summoned to the Metropolitan Police Board, and served with a writ by the Home
Minister ordering the immediate dissolution of the party '.
The action of the Government caused bitter disappointment
and a storm of protest and agitation, and efforts were made to rrform the party. The reorganisation took place in Osaka on
5 Varch 1926, the name being altered to R6d6 Niimin T6 or Labour-Farmer Party. In order to escape the fate of the FarmerLabour Party, the constitution and programme were modified to
avoid the appearance of a Communist basis and to show the intention to adopt legal methods.
Meanwhile the Sljdiimei decided to found Shakai Mir~shuT6
(Social Democratic Party) on the model of similar parties in
Europe This party was constituted on 5 December 1926 at
Tokyo. but the decision to form it led to a secession from the
S6d6mei and a rival party, Nihon RGn5 TTi (Japan Labour-Farmcr
Party) was set up a few days later.
In the same year, 1926, still another party had been formed,
!Won N6min Tii, described as " a farmers' party for farmers ".
Before 1925, t n o attempts had been made to found proletarian
political parties. One was formed i n May 1901 under the name of Social
Democratic Party (Shakai Minshu TG),but it was suppressed immediately :
the other, organised in February 1906, was suppressed also after it existed
for a year. Both were Socialjst parties, the organisers being Professor Abe,
Mr. Sen Katayama, Mr. Sakai and others.
a Under the provisions of section 8, clause 2, of the Public Peaw
Police Act, the Home Minister is empowered to prohibit any association
if such action i s necessary to preserve puhlic order and s a f ~ t v

1 14

1AI)US'I'RIALLABOUR

I N JAPAN

These four parties ', so closely resembling each other in
name, were divided both on questions of doctrine and method and
by personal animosities. However, the kaleidoscopic changes,
with which the reader is already familiar in the case of the trade
unions soon transformed the political scene. 'The intervention of the authorities again caused the reorganised Labour-Farmer Party to be dissolved in 1928, and it was replaced by "the
Organising Committee of the Workers' and Peasants' League for
Political Freedoom" with an extreme Communist programme.
The assassination of Mr. Senji Yamamoto, one of the leaders ', and
the arrest of othcr prominent members, decided the Committee lo
declare that it would in future act in conformity with the law.
'This compromise alienated some of the members, but it made
possible in Y ovember 1929 the resuscitation of the Labour-Farmer
Party with the support of the unions federated in the Kyogi Kni.
Meanwhile, in July 1928, some members of the dissolved
Labour-Farmer Party had formed a small legal party called
Musan Taishu Tb (Proletarian Masses' Party); and in December
this part) amalgamated with the Japan Labour-Farmer Part?
Nihon RijnO To), the Japan Farmers' Party (Nihon N6rniiz Tb)
and four local parties to form the Nihon Taishu T6 (Japan Masses'
Party) 'This new organisation was a Centre party, but it was
soon weakened by secession both to the Right and Left. A split
in the SGdGrnei, however, led to the formation by dissidents from
the Social Democratic Party of the Zenkoku Minshu Tii (National
People's Party), and in June 1930 this group joined with the
Japan Masses' Party to form the Z~nkolcn Taishu Tii (National
Masses' Party).
During the first year of its existence the Zenkoku Taishu T o
devoted all its energy to trying to unite all the proletarian parties
and, for a while, the effort seemed to bear fruit. However, by
the end of 1931, the Shalcai Minshu To gradually turned away
from it, adopting finally in December 1931, at the Annual
Congress of the party, a revised platform which was strongly
nationalist "
( a ) Labour-Farmer Party r R6d6 N6min T6) : left.
(h) lapan Labour-Farmer Party (Nihon R6n6 TO) : centre.
(c) Social Demorratic Party (Shakai Minshu T 6 ) : righf
( d ) .Japan Farmers' Party (Nihon N6min Td) : right.

* A memher of Parliament heIonging to the former Labour-Farmer
Party.
R6d6 Jihd, Inn. 19.32, p. 20

115

T R A D E UNIONISM

Only some millor elements of the other party, the resuscitated
R5nG 7'6, rallied to the Zenkolzu Taishu T 5 which, upon adding
the new members c-hanged its title at its congress in July 1931 to
Zcrzkoku R Z n Z Tnislzu T 5 (National Labour-Farmer Masses'
Party) '. But this was amalgamated during 1932 with the Social
Democratic Party, adopting the new name of Shnkai Taishii T6
(Socialist Masses Party), while still another party, tending towards fascism, called Kokkn Shnkai T 6 (State Socialist Party)
came into being. 'Thus at the rnd of 1932 there were the following three national parties of Japanese workers :
Labour-Farmer Party (Riind T 6 ) : Left Wing.
Socialist Masses Party (Slzakai Taishfi T 6 ) : Centre.
State Socialist Party (Kokkn Shokoi T 6 ) : Right Wing.
Tradc Union Statistics
Official statistics of Japanese trade unions are published twice
yearly in the Labour Gazette (RiidTi lihii) of the Bureau of Social
Affairs. The latest figures available ' show that the total number
of Japanese trade unions at the end of June 1931 was 768, wit,h
an aggregate total membership of 370,123 (including 10,852
women). 4s compared with the preceding year (30 June 1930),
there was an increase of 118 in the number of unions and 27,744
in the number of members.
The numerical strength of Japanese trade unions has been
increasing steadily in recent years with but slight exceptional
fluctuations. The setback that took place at the end of 1923 was
the result of the great earthquake ; the explanation of the decrease
in numbers both of unions and of their membership at the end
of 1928 is that, after the arrest of the Communist leaders and the
dissolution of some of their organisations. the unions of the Left
Wing to a great evtent disappear~d'.
The following table shows the annual increase i n .Japanese
trade unions and their membership :

' R6dB

Jih6, July 1931, p. 23.
R6d5 Jih6, Ort. 1931, pp. 16-16.
The causes of the sudden increase in
me~,tioned.

' Cf.

1924 have

already been

116

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N JAPAN

ThRI,I.:

XVIII. - A N R U A L GHOWrH

Number of unions

Year

1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1

O F TRADE UhIOIYS,

1920-1931'

Membership

Uncertain

273
300
389
432
,469

103,412
137,381
125,551
228,278
254,262
284,739
309,493
308,900
330,985
342,379
370,123

FiguI.~'. for 30 June 1830. Other fi~urc'sare for 31 Dvcemb~r(xach yew.

'She membership is concentrated in the chief urban or industrial centres ; in the smaller urban or local prefectures the membership is small, only some half-dozen unions out of forty-six (in
Fu and Ken) having more than 10,000 members, while save In
a dozen or so the local membership is under 1,000.
The next table shows the number of unions classified by
main groups of industries.
TABLE XIX.

- I R D U S T R I A L CLASSIFICATION OF

Kind of i n d u ~ t r y

Number of unlonfi

Transport
Machine and tool
Textile
Chemical
Gas and electricity
Mining
Food and drink
Building and civil engineering
Communication
Miscellaneous trades
Others
Total

101
91

45
77
15
19
25
38
3
120
234
768

T R A D E ITNIONS,

Membership

162,771
92,053
14,640
14,861
9,290
6,794
4,988
7,330
2,046
17,929
37,421
370,123

2

1930 '

Women members

1,370
3,322
4,819
959
Ill

148
58
18
I

883
1,163

10,8Fj2

R6db Jih6, Oct. 1931, p. 15.
2 Ibid., p. 16. It has already been pointed out that the reason lor the large trade union
membership in the transport industry is mainly due to the high proportion of seamen who
are organised ; it has also been stated earlier in the report why the number of organised
w0rk~I.sin the textile industry is almost negligible.
1

Cf. KYOCHO KAI, op. cit., p. 256, figures supplemented by the
statistics reported in the RGdG JihG, the last number consulted for this
purpose being that of October 1931.

TRADE UNIONISM

117

Finally, as regards the structure of Japanese trade unions,
the following table shows that the majority of the unions are
industrial and not craft unions; the membership of the former
type of unions is more than ten times that of the latter.

Craft unions
Industrial unions
Mixed unions
Total

TInions

Members

150
372
246
.-768

23,738
309,314
37,071
-370,123

CHAP'TEH V

1NI)USTRIAL CONCILIATIOX

'I lw preceding chapters have dealt n i th labour disputes in
inclustq in the narrow sense of the term, but the spread of disputes in Japan has by no means been confined to industry, for
the question of agricultural tenancy has been growing acute for
many years. About 1920, disputes in agricultural districts in
regard to tenancy conditions assunietl suc11 serious dimensions
that the Government appointed a special comn~issionto investigate the tenancy s!stem.
i s the re3ult of a careful enquiry made
by this Commission inlo the nature of the hostrkrz S G l i (or agricult~lraltenanc? disputes). it R i l l was presented by the Government to the Diet in 1924. The Bill was passed hy both Houses
wilhout much opposition, and the Trnancy Disputes Conciliation Act came into force on 1 Dec>emhcr 1924. This was thc
first national legislatio~lfor t l r ~settlemrnt of disputes through
conciliation boards '.
As the enactment of this law w a c a matter of urgent necessity, the effect. of its enforcement were watched with intense
interest h! all the people roncerned. The cxperiencr gained and
the measure of success achieved by the legal conciliation of agricidtural tenancy disputes were untlouhledly a direct inducement
towards legislative action of a similar nature in thc industrial
sphere. For it was realised that the disastrous consequences of
the numerous strikw and lock-outs mentioned in precwling pages
mipht have been avoided had thcre been adequatr means for
their early settlemrnt
Cf. " A Ye\\ Rlethod of Tenancy Disputes idjnstment in .Tapan ", in
Interlrnlionnl Labour R ~ i ~ i e w
March
,
1925, pp. 341-388.

INDUSTRIAL CO~CILIATIOR

119

'She initiative i n tlie m a t t e r w a s t a k e n b y t h e B u r e a u of
Social Affairs of t h e D e p a r t m e n t of t h e I n t e r i o r . A l t h o u g h t h e r e
w e r e press r e p o r t s t h a t tlle B u r e a u h a d drafted a Bill o n t h e
m a t t e r a s f a r b a c k a s i n J u n e 1923, before t h e e x p e r i m e n t of t h e
T e n a n c y Conciliation Act, t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of t h e Bill i n t o t h e
Diet w a s delayed b y t h e p r e l i m i n a r y e x a m i n a t i o u a n d revisiorl
by t h e Legislative B u r e a u of t h e C a b i n e t a n d o t h e r o r g a n s of t h e
Governnient. H o w e v e r , t h e Bill w a s passed by b o t h Houses o f
t h e Diet i n t h e s p r i n g of 1926, a n d t h e L a b o u r Disputes Conciliation Act w a s p r o m u l g a t e d o n 9 April 1926 ' a n d c a m e i n t o operat i o n o n 1 J u l y of t h e s a m e y e a r ' . T h e f o l l o w i n g i s a s u m m a r y
of the main provisions of t h e Art3.
Fidtl of opl)licntio~r.- S e c t i o ~1~of the Act runs as follows:
" If a labour dispute occurs in any of the urzdertakings specified by
t h ~id, the administrative authority may set up a conciliation board in
accordance with the request of any of the parties concerned. This may
also he done if the administrative authority deems it necessary, even if
no rrqllest has been made by the parties concerned .
. If a labour
dispute occurs in an undertaking other than those specified in the Act,
the administrative authority may set up a conciliation hotirtl at the
r e q n r ~ tof hot11 the parties concerned. "

Thc Act slwcifies in Lhc first instance all important public utility
w o r h ~and State undertakings, including railways, trams, transport by
ship for the general public, postal, telegraphic and telephone services ;
supply of gas, electricity and water ; other industries either directly
connected with the above industries or affecting t h e daily life of the
public in general ; manufacture or repair of munitions and w a r s h i p
under the direct management of the Army or the Navv 4 . The submission of a dispute to a conciliation board is practically compulsory
for the utility worhs and State undertakings enumerated in the Act, the
administrative authoritv being empowered to compel its submission
not only at " the request of any one of the parties concerned ". but
also if the administrative authority itself deems it necessary. This
pro\ ides a procedure which amounts to compulsory conciliation in the
event of a labour dispute in worhs of vital public interest o r in the Statc
i n d n ~ t r i a services.
l
-

' Cf.

Legislnlitw Series, 1926, Id]) 3 (A) (Act NO 57 of 1926
? Ibid.
(C) (Imperial Ordinance No. 197 of 1926).
Cf Y. K I T A I I ~ ..\ lliirlii S 6 g i Chotei M6 Ron (Essay on the Labour
Dispntes Conciliation Act). The author, as an official in the Bureau of
Social Affairs, had to do with the drafting of the law Cf. also "The
Ufv Tapariese Conciliation Act ", in International Labour Review.
Fo1) 1927, pp 263-271
These are enumerated i n section 1, items (i)-(iv) and (vi) of t h ~
filst paragraph. Item (v) lays down that the Act applies also to othrr
urrdertakin,~~
directly affecting the daily life of the puhlic, nhich shall
he specified h y Tnlperial Ordinancr.

120

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IR J 4 P A N

--

In other industrial undertakings the submissior~of a dispute to
conciliation board is optional ; the law begins to operate only when
the case is submitted at the request of both the parties to the dispute.
There is thus a clear distinction between disputes in services judged to
affect public interest and those in industry generally.
There is no definition of a " labour dispute " in the Act, but the
Bureau of Social Affairs ' has agreed with authoritative exponents of
the Act that a labour dispute " is a collective dispute concerning conditions of work between workers and their own employer or employers".
From this it results (a) that a labour dispute, in order to fall within the
meaning of the Act, need not go so far as a strike or lock-out; ( b ) the
Act applies only to collective disputes (this isalso clear from the constitution of the conciliation boards, which, according to the Act, must
consist of three representatives of the workers, three of the employers,
and three neutral members); ( c j the only disputes covered by the Act
are disputes concerning conditions of work such as hours, wages,
factory accommodation, etc.; (d) the dispute must be a dispute between workers and their own employers, thus excluding the sympathetic strike ; ( e ) the Act is applicable to a dispute between a farmer
and the labourers employed by him concerning wages or other coritlitions, but tenancy disputes are covered by the Tenancy Displites
Conciliation Act.
:I

Conciliatiorr boards. - A conciliation board is appointed by llie
administrative authority for each di.;pute in which conciliation is
required by the law or may he requested under the Act. Once the
administrative authority has confirmed the appointment of the nine '
persons selected to form a hoard in conformity with the Act, no person
who has been appointed may refuse to serve " without reasonable
cause " (section 3 ) . A definite method of selection of the members is
laid down in the Act. When the administrative authority proposes to
set u p a conciliation board to deal with a labour dispute, it must notify
the parties concerned (section 2 ) . Upon receipt of this notice, the
parties to the dispute must report to the authority within three days
the names of the members of the board whom they have chosen and,
ripon drmand of the adrninistrative authority, the names of the three
impartial persons selected by the original six members. Jn either case
failure to select and report in a given number of days empowers the
administrative auhority to appoint the members and those chosen by
the administrative authority are then deemed to be the members duly
selected by the rcpresc.ptatives of the parties to the dispute. Any
vacancy on the board is filled by applying, mutatis mutandis, the abovementioned procedure (section 5 ) .
As soon as all the members are duly appointed, the board must
he immediately convened by the administrative authority and the work
must be begun at once (section 6 ) . The board has a chairman and his
deputy (dairi) who amounts in fact to a vice-chairman of the Board.
In order to ensure the impartiality of these officers, it is required that
they should be elected by the impartial members from among their
number. Five members make u p the quorum of the board, but these
five must include two of the members representing one party, two
representing the other party, and either thn rhairman himself or his
Cf. R6dG Jill6 (Labour Garette), luly 1926, p. 2.
The representatives of employers and workers chosen by the parties
to the dispute select the three impartial persons who complete the Board

tleputy. Decisions are taken by a simple majority vote ; if votes
should be equally divided, the chairman has the casting vote. T l ~ e
sittings of the board are secret ; but Government officials connected
wilh the conciliation service may be allowed to attend the sitting with
[he consent of the board (sections 10-12).
According to section 8 of the Act, a conciliation board is empowered to undertake the investigations and enquiries necessary for the
solution of a labour dispute and to bring about a settlement. In order
[hat this function may be carried out satisfactorily and the settlemerit
effected with fairness, a board must be thoroughly informed of the
facts of the case. The work of a board can in fact be impartial and
tlflective only if it has access to all relevant information. A board is
therefore vested, by the provisions of section 13, with the necessary
power '' to demand either the attrndance for the purpose of explanation
of the parties concerned or iheir representatives. or of other interested
persons or referees, or the d m i s s i o n of expla~latorydocuments, in
so far as this is ncccssarv for conciliation ". The competence of a
hoard goes even further, as it has the power of inspection. " The
hoard ", according to section 14. " may cause the members of the
hoard to enter the workplace or other places connected with the dis1)ute. watch the work or thc operation of the equipment, or question
the persons concerned in so far as this is necessary for conciliation ".
'The only limitation to these powers of a board is set in respect of places
where military necessity requires secrecy. The powers of a board are
safeguarded by penal provisions. Those who obstruct the exercise of
these powers art. liable to a fine not exceeding 200 yen. The same
1)enalty applies to any member of a board who divulges secret inforrrlation obtained in the course of tht. c-onciliation procedure (sections 15,
20, 2 1 ) .
St is incurrhent upon a board lo cornplete its work within fifteen
(lays after being set up. This period of conciliation can be extended
only with the unanimous ap1)roval of the members of a board representing the two partics to the disputc (section 9 ) . A board is required
to submit a report of its proceedings lo the administrative authorit)
when the conciliation procedure is terminated. Should it fail to settle
a given dispute, the report submitted to the administrative authority
rrlust show a draft proposal for [he conciliation of the dispute which
was voted upou by the board as well as rhe opinion of the dissenting
minority on the matter (section 1 6 ) .
Sn this connection, there is a very in~portanlprovision which must
not he overloolied. Section 17 of the Act requires that, upon receipt
of the report of a tonciliation hoard. the adrr~inistrative authority
" shall publish the gist of the rcport ".
with the proviso that such
oublication niay be withhcld onlg if the dispute has been settled, and
if all the memhers chosen hy one of the parties concerned have previously expressed their disapproval of the publication, i.e. if, after a
through examination and attempt at conciliation by a board a dispute
remains unsettled, the public. as well as the authorities. will he
informed of the claims of the parties and where the difficulty lies.
This provision has special importance in view of the optional
nature of the decisions, for the findings of a conciliation board are not
binding on the parties to the dispute. who may accept or reject them ;
the findings arc in fa( t reror~rrnendationsand not awards. The publication of the main points of a hoard's report, showing the plan of
conciliation propoqed by that hody after fifteen davs' careful cxamin:~tion, an~ountcin effect to an appeal to puhlic opinion.
Section 1 9 of thcl Act c ontairrc the rwtrictions which nlav he

122

INDUSTRIAL L A B O U R IN JAPAN

applied as soon as the administrative authority has notified the parties
that a conciliation board is to be set up in the case of a dispute in any
public utility undertaking or an establishment manufacturing munitions
under the management of the Army or the Navy. From the monie~it
the notification is sent until the conclusion of the conciliation procedure, no one other than the employers and workers directly concerned in the dispute, and the officers of the employers' or workers'
organisatio~isto which they belong, may instigate or incite either the
ernployers or the workers concerned in the dispute to declare either a
lock-out or a strike. The acts explicitly prohibited are : " to instigate
or incite either the employers or the workers concerned in the dispute ",
in order "(i) to cause the employer to close down the workplace, stop
the work, terminate the employment of workers, or refuse a request
for the continuation of labour, in connection with the dispute; (ii) to
cause a body of worl,ers to stop work, impede the progress of work,
ter~~linate
their employment or refuse a request for their continuation
in employment, in connection with the labour dispute ". Those who
coritra\enc any of these provisions are liable to either a fine not
exceeding 200 !en or irr~priconrnentr~otexceeding three months (sections 19, 2 2 ) .
'l'he imporlance for J a p a ~ iof t h e evperiment i n regard to the
problems of industrial relations represented by the passage of
t h e Labour Disputes Conciliation Act was greatly enhanced by
l l ~ rrepeal, as from the date o n w h i c h t h e Conciliation Act came
illto force, of those parts of the Public Peace Police Act w h i c h
had been alleged to constitute obstacles to t h e exercise of t h e
right t o strike '.
Tt w a s recognised that t o ensure t h e success of a n y statutory
procedure of conciliation, whether it he compulsory o r otherwise, t h e parties t o t h e dispute m u s t be put on a n equal footing.
They m u s t be allowed to weigh t h e advantages of m u t u a l concession o r compromise and voluntarily t o accept a n impartial
h a n d l i n g of t h e case by the conciliation board i n preference to
continuing the conflict. T h e Government, i n drafting thc Conciliation Rill, recognised that if a n y existing law hindered t h e
free action of either party, it would be prejudicial to t h e satisfactory operation of the Conciliation Act. Accordingly, the amendment of t h e Puhlic Peace Police Act was a necessary concomitant
to the enactment of the Conciliation Act. While t h e right to
Bitter cornplairlts about this Act, and more particularly against sectiol~s17 and 30, had been publicly made on the ground that these provisions
fctlered the workers when a dispute occurred. The Government decided
that any cause of serious complaints in the existing legislation must 1)t.
completely removed, and submitted to the Diet at its 1925 winter session
a Bill to amend the Police Act, together with the Conciliation Bill, the
two being presented simultaneo~lslyas inseparable parts of a single crlactment.

INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION

123

strike is not explicitly recognised in an) of the legislation at
present in force in Japan, the Prime Minister made the significant statement in the course of the discussion i n Parliament of
the Conciliatiori Bill that "the attempt of Ihe worhcss to carry
through their claims by ~ncansof strikes is not a matter to be
suppressed" '. Clearly, t h c ~ i ,it was in this spirit that this measure o f reform was taken.
Itlntir~istraticc~rnaclrirtrry. - In May 1'326, two months befor(. the Conciliation Act came into force, an Imperial Ordinance'
was promulgated cmpoweririg the Bureau of Social -Affairs to
deal with matters dating to cwnciliation in labour disputes.
Consequently, as a h s t step, the former Labour Section of the
Bureau was divided into two new Sections, one of which is now
in charge of conriliation \ it is known as the Labour Servicc
Section ( H G - n m - h o ) " and has in it a rtumhcr of " conciliation
officers" (ChBtei Kanl and " a s s i s t a ~ ~conciliation
t
officers"
(Chiitei-kan-ho). Similar officers wcw appointed also in Hokkaiclo and in prac-lically all urban and local prefectures. 111 order
to give a preparator~ training to thr conciliation officers, the
Bureau of Social \[fairs organised a six-day training course
officers, rhiefs of
in 1926 which col~ciliationofficers, assista~~t
the Labour Service, etr., from all
prefecbtarcs of Japan and
Hokkaido were obliged to attend. Thereafter. cwnferences of
these officers havr been convened from time to time by the
Bureau in order to render the officials more efficient and to ensure
uniformity in the administration of the law. The Bureau of
Social Affairs is cornpeir~~t
to t l r : ~ lwit11 thc mattcr. of con cilia ti or^
of lahoar disputes '.
t h ( 1

Rc,sults o/ t h applic.nlion
~
of t h e I ( * / . - Up to the present the
direct results of the application of the Labour Disputes Concilintion Ict havr hcen disappointing, for only in two cases has thr

Minutes of thr .ltrpo~cc~.sc~
llolise of R ~ ~ ~ ) r c ~ . s e ~ t l nFiftv-firs1
lir~es,
Swsio~~,
No. 1 4 . 1'. 365.
T~t~perial
0rdi11i1111.e
So. 101, t l : ~ l ~11
d Ma\- 1926.
" [bid.
This Sec.Iion deals also u i t h relations with the I n t e r ~ ~ a t i o ~Labow
~al
Organisatior~.
Tmportm~tinformotio~rrt3lating to Lhe subject - legislative, administrative and other - and monthly statistics of labour d i ~ p ~ ~are
t e spublished
in the Lnhol~rGnzettc, [RGrlG .Tih6'1 issued by the Burea11 of Social Affairs.

conciliation procedure been formally applied '.
This fact has
given rise to much criticism, and at a Conference of Local Conciliation Officers held in the Bureau of Social Affairs during
October 1930 the question of the amendment of the Conciliation
Act was the most important item on the agenda. A series of
important suggestions was made by the Conference, and, largely
in conformity with those suggestions, the Government drafted an
amending Bill which was submitted to the Diet at its session early
in 1931. The Bill was severely criticised by trade unionists as
crippling the activities of labour unions in case of disputes, while
the employers were no less dissatisfied with the proposed amendment on account of certain progressive features of the Bill" As
the Diet closed before the discussion on the Bill was terminated,
the original 4ct remains unamended and only hring rarely
applied.
-

--

The first case i n which ,I request n a s mdde f o ~,I cor~ciliationbo,~rtl
to be set u p as provided i n t h e Act was a strike involving about a h ~ ~ n d r e d
workers at a copper works i n Osaka i n April-May 1930. The workers mrrr
members of the S6d6rnei, and the dispute arose from t h e employers'
decision to extend the daily working hours and to adopt one additional
holiday per week d u r i n g a business depression. Thr workers contended
t h a t the change would rause a substantial decrease in weekly earnings,
and demanded i n addition the establishment of a n eight-hour tlnj, recognition of the right of collective bargaining, rmmerliate revision of the
works regulations, etc. After the strike had laded ahout a month. the
parties agreed to make a formal joint request to t h e authorities for
the appointment of a conciliation hoard
The chief of t h e Police
Roarrl of the Prefecture was arnonp the t h r r r neutral members and
acted as the Chairman of the Board, and after n week t h e dispute was
amicably settled. The other case happened at50 i n Osaka at a n enamel
factory i n lanuary-March 1931
Procrrlr~re similar to the nhove was
The dispute was
followed at the joint request of the parties concerned
settled with the agreement that ninety-nine workers m i g h t he discharged,
h u t that the Cornpanu should then rant them ilischargc allowances
according to t h e rnles of the Cornpan,
Moreover. the Company gmntrrl
a Kin 11)-Pa containing 2,500 yen to co\er the expenses of the workrrs
d u r i n g the strike ; also t h e Company agreed t o pav half t h e " basic
wages " (according to t h e Health Insurance Act) to all workers until the
factory re-opens. (RGd6 JihG, Tune 1930, pp. 22-24 ; March 1931, pp. 21-23 ',
a The more
important provisions of the Rill are the followinz '
11) The anthorities are empowered to compel the application of the
conciliation procedure elen i n private undertakings with or without the
request of the parties concerned when the dispute is deemed to inillre
t h e indnstry or the puhlic velfnrr of the district affectrd. (2) Tf a dispnte
occurs i n a public utility works and if the parties concerned intend to
resort to a lock-out or strike, they mncf rrqnrst the qetting u p of a conciliat strike ;
tion board within three days h r f o r ~resort in^ lo s l ~ c hl o c k - o ~ ~or
contravention of this provision is liable to punishment w i t h a fine.
(3) Even i n case of a dispute i n private undrrtakinps, if it falls under
( I ) mentioned nhove, persons not i~ctnally ronnected with the dispute
mnst not instimte or incite thosr so connected with t h r ohject of cansing
I

Nevertheless, although the Act has not been formally applied,
a large number of disputes are said to have been settled by conciliation or mediation "in harmony with the spirit of the law ",
and its indirect influence has been considerable.
Statistics show that, while earlier disputes were more often
settled by direct negotiations between the parties concerned tha!~
b j the mediation of a third party, recent disputes are tending to
b(. settled by mediation to an increasing extent. Table XXI
shows this increase both in the case of disputes leading to a strike
or lock-out and in all labour disputes ; it is worth remarking
that in tht. graver disputes conciliation methods have been
signally successful, and that in the period from 1922 to 1930 t h ~
settlements secured by mediation practically trebled.
Before the enactment of thc Conciliation 4ct there were oS
course cases of conciliatio~ior mediation brought about either by
the Government or municipal officials or by private individuals,
but after the Conciliation Act was promulgated, a gradual change
in the spirit of the people regarding conciliation in disputes has
become evident. At first many trade unions were suspicious of
conciliation, even if they did not actually oppose recourse to it.
It was felt that the Conciliation Act aimed at regulating or controlling disputes and their equitable settlement could not he
expected from the conciliation procedure laid down in the Act.
Moreover, there was an idea that to ask for conciliation exposed
the party which first applied for the procedure to be put in motion
to the risk that it might be looked upon as already defeated.
Recalling this stage, it is interesting to see that of late morc
requests for conciliation come from the workers than from thc
employers. For instance, during 1930, there were ninety reqursis
for conciliation from the workers as against fifty-six from the
employers. There were also eighty-six cases of joint requests from
the employers and the workers for conciliation'. Mediation
offered voluntarily before any request is made by the parties concerned is on the increase. The attitude of Government officials,
as of police officers, has also undergone a change ; in the past they

thc enlplojer lo close tlonn the w o r h p l x e (lock-out), or workers to resorl
to strikes, llntil after the conclusion of t h e conciliation procedure :
contravention of this provision is linhle to punishment with detention or
a fine. (4) A maximum period of ten dajs has heen fixed for t h e complrtion of investigations necessarv for conciliation (Cf R6d6 .7ihG, Feh 1931
F 4.)
R6d6 Jihii, Tan 1932, p 25

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N JAPAN

hesitated to intervene in disputes for fear that their action might
be interpreted as unnecessary interference, but since the Conciliation Act came into force they have begun to assume a more positive attitude, recognising that concdialion in labour disputes is
i~fterall a part of the State's proper functions. This accounts for
lhe fact that the proportion of cases of conciliation brought about
under the initiative of the conciliation officers has steadil~
increased as compared with the number of cases of concilation
requested by either one or other, or bolh, of the parties in dispute.
According to the observation of the Bureau of Social Affairs,
while the parties in dispute do not often openly ask for mediation
or conciliation, they are glad to find mediators; some two-thirds
of these are conciliation officers or other Government or municipal officials, the remaining third being either private individuals
or orpanisations.
TABLE

XXI. - CASES

OF DIRECT 134RGAINING AND MEI)IATIO\

FOR THE SETTLEME1T 01: 1 , A R O I ~ I DISPTiTES,
~
D i ~ p u t rw~h i c h had led to ntrikr.
lock-out, etc.

.\I1 labour d i s p n l s

Year

Direct
bargaioinq

I1

Nn. "/,,
-

I B'22
I v2:l
I924
I V25
i 926
1927
I928
1929
I930
-

I81
0
203
292
1%
821
I
521

i

,
i

fii
ti0
li!l
I!
I
5s
S
53

i1

till
#!I
I !
!lO
203

2I
3 :
,

il/
I:!)
2
3 :
--

,

LO
:I1
H
I9

i

ill

I

lo
I:!
- - ~

1922-1930

J'rdintion

5.

'/,,

1

lntal

--

-

5 0
2iO
:33:i
293

193
:if43
397
576
9Oti
-

-

In l!l2$, two disputes ended before a settlement wai ~cachedand flve disputes remained
unsettled ; in 1929, live disputes ended helore settlement and sir rcmained unsettled. These
case9 account lor the discrepancies of Ihr total liptrr.. ( H d d r i .lihG, H a y 1931, pp. 18-26.)
1

M'orks (:ommiLLr2es'

It is unnecessary to explain the part that may be played by
works committees in industrial relations, or their value as conciliation machinery for the adjustment for day-to-day relations between employer and workers. In Japan, works committees have
been slowly gaining recognition for some years past.

' I n preparing this section of the report Saikin no Shakai Undo, published by the Kyocho K a i . pp. 521-530,has heen used as the chief source
o f inforrnntio~~.

INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION

-

-

-

127
- -

-

'J'hough the majority of the existing works committees date
lrom only about ten years ago, it is on record that in 1900, after
a strike, a committee to enable the employer and workers to
discuss conditions of work and welfare was set up in a porcelain
factory in the Island of Awaji. 'I'his committee is still in existence
to-day, and in 1924 it amended the rules under which it had been
conducted for twenty-four years, providing that the workers'
representatives should be elected by the workers instead of being
appointed by the management as heretofore.
Further committees were set up in 1908, 1915, 1916, etc., in
different parts of Japan (Tokyo, Fukui prefecture, Hokkaido, etc. 1,
but the system did not become popular until after the Great War.
In 1919 the Bureau of Social iffairs made a draft of a Works Committees Bill and circulated it among interested people both in thr
Government and in private concerns. 'l'he Rill rreated a favourable impression generally, and in the following year the Factory
Owners' Friendly 'Salk Society of Tokyo submilted a similar plan
to the factory owners, recommending tllem to consider thc~crcation of works committees in their undertakings. Ry far the most
important step in this dirertion, however, was taken in 1919 by
the State Railways under the presidency of Mr. 'l'okonami ; as a
result. workq committees among the workers in thcl employ of
the Japanese State Railways began to function in May 1920. Ai!
impetus was thus given to the idea of works committees, and, in
view of the awakening of general interest in the matter, the
Kvocho Kail drafted another Works Committee Bill and submitted it to the Department of the Interior and of Agriculture and
Commerce for their consideration. The Osaka Industrial Society
also followed suit and circulated a draft of its own.
But after 1921 the interest in works committees declined
rapidly, a phenomenon for which various causes have been assigned : neither the employers nor the workers could devote much
attention to constructive schemes during the depression then
prevailing, the workers were engrossed by the more urgent
question of securing discharge allowances, a sense of disillusionment had spread after exaggerated hopes had been entertained in
the scheme for works committees, and the suspicion had arisen
among the workers that the works committees were promoted
the ~mploycrsi n order to hirlder the dcvclopment of trade

128

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

unionism. The result was that the total number of works committees fell from forty-two in 1921 to three in 1927.
The progress of the idea of trade union legislation, however,
reacted favourably on the development of works committees.
When the first Trade Union Bill was submitted to the Diet in 1925
the employers began to reconsider their attitude, and in their
study of the relationship between works committees and trade
unions their interest in such committees was revived. The
" Model Works Regulations ", drawn up by the Bureau of Social
Affairs, provided for the setting up of works committees. After
the Hiik6 Tenkan (change of direction) the Right Wing unions
also adopted an attitude favourable to works committees. They
began to endeavour seriously to secure the right of collective
bargaining through works committees, and this policy was intensified after December 1928, when the General Federation of
Labour succeeded in setting up a works committee a t the Tokyo
Steel Manufacturing Company.
Lastly, in 1929, an Industrial Committees Bill, which was a
slightly modified version of the draft previously circulated by the
Kyocho Kai in 1921, was presented by a private Member to Parliament, with the support of the Seiyu Kai Party. It failed
however, to commend itself either to employers or workers. The
employers opposed the Bill on the ground, chiefly, that while
the spontaneous organisation of works committees might be useful, a legal obligation to create them would be liable to cause
trouble ; the workers argued that a works committee scheme
which was not based on trade unionism would not only be useless but would be liable to impede the progress of trade unionism.
An investigation carried out by the Kyocho Kai at the
beginning of 1929 gives the number of works committees in Japan
as 112, of which 53 were in State or municipal and 59 in private
undertakings. The total number of workers covered by these works
committees was estimated at about 320,000. The committees were
distributed over twenty-nine prefectures and classified as follows .
Number of
works commltters

K i n d of nndertekinp%

I'rivate enterprises :
Mining industry . . . . .
Textile industry . . . . .
Chemical industry . . . .
Machine and tool industry .
Food and drink . . . . .
Miscellaneous . . . . . .
State or municipal enterprises
Total .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

INDUSTRIAL

CORCILIAI'IO~

129

Of the 112 works committees investigated, 69 (representing
liearly 62 per cent.) were committees consisting solely of the
workers, while 43 (representing 38 per cent.) were joint comInittees of representatives of employers and worhers '. In the caye
o f committees consisting solely of the workers' members, the
usual practice is to includc represe~~tatives
or thc management
in an advisory capacity. Invariably, all these committees are on11
qt-fvisorybodies in essence, Ihc tliffercnce being that some of them
m a j niakc spontaneous suggestions to Lhe management, whilc
others express their views as a rule only on questions pus on the
agcritla of t l ~ vmeetings '.
0111)i l l a few exceptio~lalcases are thc lrade unions recognised ill the constitution of works commitlces3. A 5 a rule the
workers' representatives are chosen quite independently of the
trade unions, a fart whicbh has rcirrforced the view that works
rommittees may be sct 111) as" wrrtical " organisations of the representatives of employers and workers in order to restrain indirectly
I l ~ cgrowth of the " horizontal" organisation of trade unions.
Nevertheless, thc SXiirnri and the former Jun k'bjb Kni,rww
knowr~by thr name of Nihort Iliicl6 STirenrnci (Japanese Federation of Tradc Unions), have consistently followed a policy of
securing better conditions of work through works committees,
while the unions of the Left Wing arp inclined to utilisr them as
a means of promoting the class war.
The Kniji KyodT, Kni ( o r Joint Mnritirnc
Board)

A notable pie(-e of per~nane~lt
co~~ciliatior~
machinery i s thc.
11ationa1Joint Maritime Board (Kniji KyocZTi Kni) composed of
representatives of Lhc Japan Shipowners' Association on Ll~e
vmp1oyer.s' side, and of the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association
arid thr la pa^^ Seamen's Union on the seamen's side. 4s will hr
swn from the following brief account of its constitution anti
functions, this body is of great value to the shipping industry ; in
addition to its general duties, i t has rendered to the industry the
I 0 1 the C ~ t l -1l11ee
\
I o ~ n ~ ~ u t t eIn
e s Ptiite or n ~ l ~ n ~ c i prrudrrhkings,
ol
lillytwo consi5t of \+orhers only 1 1 1 private undertakings, the joint c o n
rnittee is the r r~lr
It is only ill tmo OI thrrt, except~otlal( < ~ \ cth,rl
s
Ihe rccomnlendatiorl~
01 the works committee have a certairl b i n d ~ n geffect.
' Works ror~unittersha\irig trade union rcprescrrldtives hale 11ee11sel
I I 1))
~
the S6riGrne~a1 a steel works and at
rlrclric rna~hirlc.f x l o r t in
'Fok\o, :rnd 1 ) ~the .l[ctt R6j6 Kni at Inn rr~,rclrir~e
shops also in 'I'ohvo

130

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
--

-

signal service of settling the 1928 strike by the adoption of
minimum wage rates and of preventing a strike in January 1931
by securing agreement for a reduction of wages.
'The setting up of the Board was determined by the need for
machinery for the application of the International Labour Convention ', adopted at Genoa in 1920J, for establishing facilities for
finding employment for seamen. For some time the Japanese
Government, which ratified thc Convention in 1923, had allowed
an unofficial body called the Scamen's Relief Association, subventioned by the State, to carry on the work of free employment
exchanges for seamen in lieu of the State. But this practice gave
rise to serious complaints from the seamen's unions, so that
finally the Government issued an order in September 1926 requiring the three organisations of shipowners and seamen mew
tioned above to set up a joint body to carry on, inter alia, the
employment exchanges provided for in the above-mentioned Convention. The Joint Maritime Roard was formally inaugurated
towards the end of 1926.
Accordir~gto the Constitutiou of the Joint Maritime Board,
it was set up " i l l order to promote the healthy development of
Japanese merchant shipping", and it is responsible for : (a) the
management of the seamen's employment agencies ; ( b ) the consideration of all matters relating to seamen's conditions of
employment and work; (c) prevention of and conciliation in disputes between shipowners and seamen ; ( d ) the management of
the seamen's club and seamen's homes; ( e ) any other duties connected with the work of promotion of the healthy development
of merchant shipping '.
-The provisions of the Convention require that public employment
offices for finding employment for seamen shall be organised and maintained without charge by representative associations of shipowners and
seamen under the control of a central authority, or, in the absence of such
joint action, by the State itself (cf. Article 4 of the Draft Convention)
a Second Session of the International Labour Conference.
Articles 11 and 1 2 of the Constitution contain provisions of special
importance from the point of view of conciliation .
" Article 11 - If the meetine is unable to decide on any proposal
submitted to it, it lrlnv decide to refer the disputed question to an umpire.
to be agreed upon bv both sides, for decision
" Article 12 - All disputes between the parties represented on the
Board or between shipowners affiliated to the shipowners' organisation and
seamen's organisations, or between shipowners and seamen affiliated to
the seamen's organisations, must be submitted to the Roard for settlement.
Shipowners are prohibited from declaring a lock-out, or seamen's organisations from declarinc a strike until a decision has been taken by the
I

The headquarters of the Board are at Kobe ; local or branch
offices are established in the most important ports. Half the
expenses of the organisation are met by the State, and half by
equal contributions by the shipowners' and seamens' associations.
'The Board consists of six representatives from each side; the
Chairman is chosen alternately from each side and is empowered
to convene the Board once a month or more frequently if
necessary.
The Kyocho Kai or " Harrrtonisatiorz
Society " '
Finally, reference must be made to the Kyocho Kai, which is
the only private organisation of national importance constituted
for the purpose of promoting conciliation between the employers
and workers. 'The Society has played a role of considerable
importance since its foundation in 1919 for the improvement of
industrial relations in Japan.
In consequence of grave unrest i l l the world of labour after
the Armistice, a Government Commission, known later as the
Commission on Social Services, was appointed in December 1918
to find ways and means of dealing with the antagonism between
employers and workers. It is to a report of this Commission,
recommending that a non-official organisation should be set up
to investigate and find a solution for the existing tension of industrial relations, that the origin of the Kyocho Kai may be traced.
On 22 December 1919 the Kyocho Kai was officially incorporated
with a total fund of six million yen, consisting of voluntary donations and a Government subsidy.
The revised programme of the Society covers six points :
( a ) To enquire into every measure relating to social reform, in
conjunction with other institutions, either public or private, and to p ~ ~ h l i s h
the results thereof.
( b ) To reply to questions relating to social reform submitted by the
Government, or to make suggestions for social reforms to the Governmei~t
or other institutions, either p ~ ~ b l ior
c private.

Board or until it has failed to settle the matter in dispute ; it is also laid
down that no acts of sabotage or acts calc~ilatedto affect the shipowners'
interests adversely shall be committed while the matter nnrler dispute is
hefore the Board. "
' The information contained in this section is based chiefly on The
Kyocho Kai - a Handbook on its History, Management and Activities and
Saikin no Shakai Undo, pp. 991-999, both pnhlished by the Kyocho Kni
itself.

l o organise schools, classes, lectures and l i b r d e s .
I'o take practical measures for the promo ti or^ of workera' education i ~ t l r l t h e ~ r welfare.
(0)
To assist in arl)itratio~~
a ~ ~ concili,~tion
tl
in iudustrial disputes.
(f) Any other acthity than the ahobe mentioned approled hy the
Generdl Council.
(c)
((1)

'lhe offices of the hyocho lrai are situated in Shiba Park,
'Tokyo, and are divided into live seclio~ls: General Affairs, Labour
Affairs, Rural Affairs, Kesearch, Education. In 1921 a branclr
office of t11~kyoc.110Kai was establishetl in the City of Osaka in
view of its importance to Japanese industry.
linnlcdialely after the Sou~~tlatiorr
of' the hyuclto Kai a conrprehci~sivestudy of labour anti industrial legislation in Europc
and America was undertaken, while at the same time various
enquiries into the conditions of industries and the situation of the
working class in Japan were also made. 'I'he I-esults of these
investigations have been used as data Sor for~nulatingvarious
measures for social reform. By the establishment and administration of certain social works, Kyoc-lto Kni has also sought l o
give guidance to social workers in Japan. 'The early programme
of work inclutlrd the csta I)lish~nentant1 management of a Natios n temporary measure
nal Ccntml Offiw of I,;tl)ou~l \ c , h a ~ ~ g cils
during the time whrrr thcre wits 110 pl.oper department in the
Government dealing w it11 the question o f ulrcmployment ; after
the Bureau of Social kff'airs was created, tlrc Employmcrrt Offiw
was transfrrretl to iI . 4 c ;I l read) rcc.ordct1, I hc. Society s~lhrnitted
to the Goverrrme~~t
in 1921 a Hill dealing with the ctompulsor)
rstahlishment of joint work5 committees i n fartorics and mines
where not less t h a ~a hundred worLcrs are en~ployed; model rules
for works committees were also prepared hy the Society and
appended to tlrc Rill. 'Thr Bill was not accepted by the Governr~llesh;lw been adopted in many factories
m c ~ ~~t I, I It11e ~~rotlel
and mii~eswhich have works c-ommitters.
igain, it was largely as the result of the agitation of the
Kyocho Kai for an independent and separate Ministry to deal with
labour questions that the Rureau of Social Affairs was 1-reated in
the Department of the Tnterior as thc central Government
authority for labour administration. The K?locho Kai had no
small influence in promoting the revision of the old Factory Act,
after the creation of the new Bureau of Social Affairs ; it has also
continued to make useful suggestions to the Government, representative employers' organisations, and to workers' Icaders re-

garding new proposals for labour legislatio~~,
such as the Trade
Union Bill.
I'he K y o c l w h n i has further distinguishecl itself as a research
orga~lisatiorihaving a competent staff and equipped with t t t e
uecessary means. 'l'he cost-of-living statistics compiled in 19%3 by
lhe hyoclto I\ai formed one o f the most valuable contributions
made to thfa study of the labour problem in Japan, and was the
first important investigation of its kind carried out on a national
scale 1s an illustration of the educational work carried out b~
Ihe Kyoc-110Kui, i l may hc mentioned tlial i l l 1920 i t established
a school for the special training of men a ~ r dwomen ill the knowledge of social polit ivs.
'I'11(1 h'.yoc*hoKtri does not profew lo atlwlpl to intervrne in
m y ir~tlustr-ialdispute, but should o11e or both of the parties to a
tlispute request the Kyocho Kni to mediate, it does not hesitate to
respouci, and it has a remarkable record of successful mediation.
'I'he success of thr Kyoc-ho Kai ha. 1)errr greatly due to tlw
cordial relations nntl fri~itfrilcollaboratior~i t has maintained with
Ilrr Government ii~ilhorities concerned with social or labour
questions, rrpresenlntivr rmployrrs ant1 leadrrs of the working
class mo\ernent.

PAlirl'I11

LABOUR LEGISLATLON AND ADMINISTRATION

CHAP'TEK I

LAHOUR LEGISLATION

Labour Legislation before 191.9
'The labour legislation of Japan is of comparatively recent
origin. So long as the feudal outlook dominated national economic life, and industrial relations were regulated in accordance
with the paternalistic conception of an earlier age, the need for
legal regulation of conditions of labour was not understood. Tt
was not until the methods of Western industrialism were firmly
established in Japan that it began to be realised that the traditional institutions did not meet all the needs of a modern industrial
economy, and that the State had a duty to the ever-increasing
numbers of wage-earning factory workers handling power-driven
machinery with its attendant risks.
Yet even now the range of Japanese labour legislation is
restricted in comparison with that of European countries with
longer industrial experience. It is for the most part protective
legislation; the main clauses of the Factory Act (the fundament,al
labour law of Japan) cover only women and children. There is at
present only one law in force ' which regulates the working hours
of men and women alike. In spite of repeated attempts at legislation, Japan has as yet no trade union law. It is only within the
The first law limiting the working hours .of men and women canw
into effect in 1930. It applies only to underground work in mines, the
holm bring limited to ten per d i ~ \

136

I N D U S T R l A L LABOUR Ih J A P A N

past few years that laws have been enacted in which the 111terests ot
lhe employer and workcr are dealt with as rtvpiring equal consideration. In short, although reccwt legislation has a markedly
progressive tendency, it is still iir an early- stage of dcvelopmerrt.
Legal provisions dealill:,. with matters of special concern to
i~rtiustrialworkers or with some aspects of conditions of cmploameill came into existence little mow than Iwtmt) gears after 111c
close of the feudal period. The provisio~~s
i l r the old Civil Cotlr
of 1890 relating to employment, contracts of work and i~pprentitseship (sections 260-2741. and those i n tlrr I I P W Civil Code of 1896
relatill:: lo the duration of prescriptior~as it applie.; to wages, p e ferential rights on wages, and employment contracl (sections
74, 306, 309, 311, 324, G23-G:31~iircl cwimplcs of early legal provisions of the Meiji Governirlent rclati~rxto condiliorrs of employment Again the Code of Civil Procetl~~re
of 1890 I wcliorr fils,
vlause 6 ) , provided that the wages of workers anti c~mplo;\.ec+
cannot be seized i l l distrairrt. h i t all these provisions rclatc to
the rights of property, obligations, etc.; lahour does not as yet
t-orrstitute a special subject of legislatiorr '.
'The Commerc.ia1 Code promulgated in I8!Hi is Ihc firct step
irr the dirwtior~of special legislatio~rsafcg~rartli~rl,r
the interests of
certain classes of workers. In this Code are provisions relating
to commercial cn~ployecs' irntl c*ommercial agents 3, hut it is the
provisions applying to seamen * which are most significant. Jn
1910 the Fishing Act was promulpted. providing in its s e c t i o ~ ~
40 that conditions of employment as -ell as accitlent comperrsalion for workers in thc fishing indiistry might he rcal~latedl y
Imperial Ordinance, h ~ there
~ t has heen no further lepislation on
these lines. C h r o ~ r o l o g i c a.l ~the Mining Act ' of 1905, which
introduced protective 1cc.islatio11for Japanese miners, preceded
the Fishing 4ct, h~rtit did not come into effect as far as the protective provisionq are roncerned iintil more than ten years later.
h e i n ~1)rollc.ht into force hy an Ordinance iswed in 1916. This
--

-

' In

-

1898 the Sulwrior C:ounc,il of . 4 g r i c u l t 1 1 ~C. O I X L I I I ~
,111d
~CC
lduslry
5ubrnitted :I d o r r i m ~ n t urging upon the Gobernment the necessity of
enacting " it compreh~nsivelaw to regulate the relation hetween employer
;tnd employed ". This document alludes to " the srranlble for workerq "
.tnd to their sufferings " under the exploitaiion " of t h e employers
T h a p t e r G (qections 29-351
Chapter 7 (sections 36-411
T h a p t e r 2 isertions 558-5891, nook V of the Commercii~lCode.
' I n the first ten years after t h r Restor:rtioll of 1868 the Governnwul
hotlght u p and workrd the mine?.

-

--

--

.

LABOUR LEGISLATIOh

137

0r.dinance authorisrd the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce
to fix the minimum agr for miners, the maximum hours for
womer~and young persons, and laid down regulations as to the
kind of work uporr which they might be employed. Chapter 5
(seclions 75-80) ol the Mining Act made the mine owner responsible to the Mining Inspection Bureaux for the conditions of
1abor1r in his mines, required that wages be paid at least once a
morrlh in currency and obliged the mine owner to give relief to
;I sick or injured miner or to his surviving family at his death,
i f the sicktiess, injury or death occurred in the course of the perI'ormar~ccof his worL, the amounts of relirf or c.omprnsaliorr to he
granted to he fixed by Ordinancr.
'I'he first important Japanese law for the protection of workc\rs was the Factory Act of 1911. 'This enactment contained
only twenty-five scctions - supplemented by forty-two sections
in the Ordinance for the Atlministralion of lhe Act and thirty-one
in thv 1)ctailrd Kep~latior~s
- but simple as it was in its content,
Ihis Irgidation had required thirty years of persistent effort on
thc part of the Govcr~~mcmt.In the course of this period the
c-ompctcnt Minister had c-haugcvl twenty-thrce times, and the.
chief o f thr Bureau of Jrrd~rslryv ~ h ohael directly to do with Ihc
preparation of the Bill had changed fiflecn t imes. Before the trxt
was fillally atloptrtl, Lhc. original Ic\l Iracl 1 0 he rwivvl and resuhn~iltetlto the a~rthoriticso\cv 120 timrs.
111 comparison with the passap of similar Irgislation in
E I U ~ ~
countries,
X ~
thr c-itx-urnstal~cesunder whic.11 the Factory
Act of 1911 was enacted were peculiar. 'I'hr drallir~gof thr Art
was hrgun long 1)rforc the puhlir had fully awakel~cdto the Flagrant rvils which ulotlern fadory life involves and while if was
still comparatively i g n o r a ~ ~ofi its physical and moral c,ffrcts on
womrlr and childrerr. Up to the time when the A c t wiis promulgated, the necessitj for it had been rccogniscd, not by thc
peoplc, but by the Govcrnmcwt and the intellectual classes.
Neitlw thr workers nor the employers intervened to any extent,
owing to thr fact that at this period neither were organised, nor
did thcy then lakr mue-h intrrwl in labour legislation. 'rherr
was also a lack of intcrrst in thc proposed Act among politicians,
who never made it a qurstion of party politirs. 7'hr wholc initiative came from the Governmrn t , a? in w m r otl~cri r~slatrcesof
similar Icgiqlation.

138

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

The main opposition to the passage of the Act came from
those w h o considered the legislation premature. For example,
a delay of many years was caused by the provision prohibiting
night work ; this measure was regarded with grave concern, because night work was widely practised in textile mills, the basic
industry of the country. The prohibition of night work was therefore agreed on only after important modifications had been
made, and its enforcement was delayed until fifteen years after
the rest of the Act had come into operation.
The main features of the Factory Act of 1911 were as
follows ' :
(a) T l ~ cAct applied to factories regularly ernployi~~g
[ifteen or
more persons or to those engaged in dangerous or unhealthy work.
( b ) The limitation of hours of work, prohibition of night work,
provisions regarding safety, health, holidays and rest periods applied
only to women and young workers.
(c) The minimum age for admission to enlployn~entwas fixed at
twelve years ; light work was allowed for boys above ten years of age
(d) Provision was made for maternity protection.
(e) The Act also made provision for factory inspection, employer's
liability in cases of injury sustained by a worker, and penalties for
infringements of the law.

For many years the scope of the application of the Act was
the subject of much controversy. In the early stages of preparation, it was proposed to apply the law only to factories
employing fifty or more persons. During the time the Bill was
under discussion this provision was changed to "thirty o r more
persons" and the final text adopted covered factories employing
fifteen or more persons besides those engaged in dangerous or
unhygienic work. As a result of these changes the number of
factories covered when the Act came into force was 18,931,
employing 1,118,077 workers '.
The next step after the enactment of the Factory Act was
to extend its protective provisions to women and young persons
employed in mines
This was done in 1916, the year i n which
the Factory Act of 1911 was put into force, by the Regulations
for the employment and relief of miners (Kiiju Riiyeki Fujo

"

Rulletin of the Internntional Labour Officr (Bade), 1911. Vol. VT,
267
a Details of the Art reqarding hours of work, minimum age, night
work, etc., are given in subsequent chapters.
The Mining Act of 1905 had foreseen such an extension, but in the
absence of parallel legislation applying to factories n o practical steps had
heen taken until 1916.
p

LABOUR LEGISLATIOh

-

139
2

Kisoku) '. By the promulgation of the Ordinance for the Administwion of the Factory Act (Imperial Ordinance No. 193 of
1916), the Act of 1911 was definitely put into operation as from
1 September 1916 at the same time as the Miners' Regulations.
The Miners' Regulations applied to all mining work irrespective of the number of persons employed in the mine. Recalling
that the Factory Ad applied only to factories employing at least
fifteen persons except where the work performed was dangerous
or unhealthy, it may be inferred that mining was regarded as
helonging to the category of dangerous or unhealthy work
requiring special regulation. Otherwise, the Regulations had
much the same limitations as the Factory Act. The provisions
relating to hours of work, rest periods, holidays, safety, health
and other protective measures applied only to women and young
persons ; the provisions for accident compensation, and for
funeral and burial benefit (in case of death of a worker arising
from his employment) were also the same as in the Factory Act.
'The subsequent development of Japanese labour legislation
was much influenced hv the First Session of the International
Labour Conference held at Washington in 1919. This Conference
came at a tirne when most Japanese industries had been working
at high pressure during the war years and public attention had
been to some extent directed to the risks of industrial employmenl
by the startling rise in the numhcr of accidents recorded. The
Conference aroused an enormous amount of interest in Japan in
the labour problem itself2 as well as in the legislation which the
adoption of the Washington Draft Conventions would involve.
Difficulties which such a country as Japan was bound to encounter at the Conference had been foreseen by those who drafted the
Peace Treaty and the Conference appointed a special Committee
to deal with the countries which had demanded special consideration in the drafting of an Hours Convention of general

"

Leqistatit~eSeries, 1926, Tap 2 (R)
RGd6 Mondai (the Labour Problem) wa5 given much publicity and
its continually under discussion by the general public
" In framing any Recommendation or Draft Convention of general
application the Conference shall have due regard to those countries in
which clirriatic conditions, the imperfect d~velopmentof industrial organisation, or other special circumstances make the industrial conditions substantially different and shall suggest the modifications, if any, which it
considers 'may he required to meet the case of such countries. " (Part XTTT
(1.abonri of thc Pencr Trwlt of Vrr~~~illt-4.
Article 405, paragraph 3.)

application '. As the result of the deliberations of the Committee
(upon which Japan was represented) Article 9, applying to Japan
only. was inserted in the Hours Convention. The Conventions
dealing with the night work of young persons and the minimum
age o f atlmissio~~
of c-hildre11 to industrial employment also
wntain special Articles modifying for Japan the age adopted for
E:uropea~~industry '. 'She influence of these provisions on Japancsc Iabou~.legislatio~~
will he denll with in the following pages.

1Sxisting Labour Legislation
It is not intended in this chapter to make a detailed
vxamination of existing Icgislation. This will be done in s u b ~ e cyuent chapters whew the various aspects of conditions of labour
;ire treatetl separatelj. Under the present heading attention will
I,e drawn to the main I'catures of existing laws, and lo the extent
lo which Japan has legislated in regard to such matters as :
( i ) factories; (ii) mines; (iii) seafaring; (iv) other employments;
(v) employment exchanges; ivi) social insurance; (vii) trade
unionq; (viii) rniscella~~eorrs.
1;ar.lorics. - 'l'hc Factory Act of 1911, wliich was partially
put into operatio11 i l l l!)l6, has heen amended in several respects
lo bring i t to somv c3xtcnt illto harrrror~ywith the provisions of a
11un1l)crof the Corr\cntions ' adopted by the Tnternational Labour
-

-

~p

'

'l'herc \\as ;I wide difference between the standards of the Washir~gton Con\el~tions and the practice i n Japan i n 1919. For instance the
Itours Con\ention proposed to limit working hours to eight per day and
forly-eight per week for both sexes i n practically all industry, h u t .Japan
I ~ i r t l onlj- just succeeded (in 1916) - after more than thirty years' struggle
- - in laying down the legal limit of eleven hours (or strictly speaking
t ~ e l v ehours with one hour of cornp~rlsoryrest) ;I day for wonlen and J-oung
persons under fifteen gears of age in the fi~c,toriesemploying ~rormallg
to industry,,
fifteen or more workers. 011 the mininlum ; i ~ eof ;idnlissio~~
lhe Draft Convention proposed fourteen as the minirnurn age of admissio~r
lo industrial employment, M-hile the Iapar~eseFactory Act h ; ~ dfixed it at
lwelve gears of age, a l l o \ \ i ~ ~the
g employment. of boys above ten years to
engage in " light work ". Two Draft Conventions contemplated t h e
complete abolition of a11 night work i n industry, one for women and the
other for young persons, while the Factory Act of .Japan had allowed
fifteen years' delay of enforcement.
LABOIIIIOFFICE: Industrial C o n d i t i o n s ctnd Labour
IIVTERXATIOXAI,
l q i s l a t i o n i n Jnpan, p. 17, Stndics and Reports, Scrics R , Yo. 16. Geneva.
1926.
Here, only the national lahour laws are rlcnlt with \\ ithout mentiouing
the prefectural orders, although some of the latter contain advanced and
important regulations.
The only one of the Conventions here referred to which has heerr
ratified by lapan is that fixing the m i n i r n ~ ~ m
ace for admission of
childrrr~ to industrial employment.

Confercrrcc al Washington i l l 1919. 'I'he amended Act ' was pro~nulgatctl in 1923 hut was not applied until 1926 when the
Ordinance for the Administratio~lof the Amended Factory Act9
was issued.
Japallesv factory legislation was direclly affected not only
b) [he Conventions concerned with hours of work" minimum
age of admission lo industrial employment hand night work of
-

-

'

Act ho. 33 of I923 (cf. Leg~slul~ve
Senc,s, 1923, lap 1 ) .
' Imperial Ordinance No 153 of 1926 (cf. Legislatioe S ~ r i r s ,1926,
Jd[l
1)
?
4rticle 9 of the H o ~ ~ r(q: o n v e ~ ~ t ire,ld\
o ~ ~ as follous
L ' l l l thf, c ~ p p l i c a t i oof
~ ~ this C o n \ e n t i o ~ ~to laparr the f O l l 0 ~ i l l g
nrotlific,~tio~\\and c o ~ ~ d i t i o nh\ d l o l ~ t a i n:
' ( a ) The term ' industri,rl undcrtakinga ' includes particu1,irl) ;
" The undertaki~rgsenunleratcd i l l paragraph (a) of Article 1 ;
'I
The urtdertakings enumerated in paragraph (b) of Article 1
l ~ o \ i t l e dthere are at least tell uorkers employed ;
" The undertakings enumerated i n paragraph (c) of Article 1, in ao
f.lr ,I> these ~ ~ r l d e r t n k i n gshall
s
he defined RS ' f a c t o r i r ~' b\ the competent
,111thori1y,
" The undertakings enunlerated in paragraph ( d ) of Article 1, excepl
lrdnsport of oglssrngers or goods by road, handling of goods nt dock.
quays, whar\es, dltd warehouses, and transport by hand ; and
" Regardless of the n u n ~ h e rof persons employed, such of the undcrtakings enumerated in paragraphs ( b ) and ( c ) of Article I as may btb
declared by the competent authority either to he h i g h l ~d a n g e r o ~ ~ors lo
involve unhealthy processes
" l b ) Thr nrtnnl working hours of persons of fifteen \ears of ag(,
01 oler i r ~,1111 1)rthlir or pritate i r r d ~ ~ s t r i a
undertaking,
l
or in an, 111anrl1
thereof, shall rlot ewced fifty-seven i ~ tthe neck, except that in Ihr. r a n
silk i n d ~ ~ s t rthc
\ l i n ~ i tmay 1w sixty hours i r ~the \leek.
I'
(c) The actual working hours of pelwlls under f i f l e c ~tears
~
of age
l
or in any branch thereof,
ill m) p~tblicor pri\ntr i n d ~ ~ s t r i nur~dert,rhing,
and of all ~ n i ~ ~ofr r wh:ite\er
s
age engaged in untlcrrrror~nd n o r k in the
mines, shall in no c:ne eacreil forty-eight in the week
" i d ) The limit of hours of work may lw nlodified I I I I ~ ~thr
I
conditions pro\ided for ill .Irticle\ 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Ihis Con\ention, h u t i n no
case shall the length of such ~rrorlificationI ) c w to the length of the b a 4 r
week ,I proportion gre:~ter than that which ohtains ill those Articles
" ( P ) A weekh lest period of tncnty-four c o r ~ w r ~ ~ t i \hc o> ~ ~ r kshall
he nllowrd to ,111 classm of norkerq
" (f) Thr provisior~ in Tapnnesr f,~ctor\ lryisl,~lior~
l i r r ~ ~ t i nits
g apl'lication to placrs employing fifteen or mole persons shall be amended
50 that w r h legislation shall appl\
to p1;rtes emploving trn or morc
per sons
" ( ( 1 ) The provisions of the nbo\c> pi~ragraphsof this Article shall br
1 ) r o w h t into ~ p e r ~ ~ t i ono1
r r later than 1 Iuly 1922, except that thc
prn\ikions of Article 4 ,rs morlified 1)) pnr,lnraph i d ) of lhis Article sli,~ll
l)e l r o w h t into operation not later than 1 Tuly 1923
" (11)
The WP of fifteen presrrihrd in paragraph ( c ) of this Articles
shall be raised, not lalrr than 1 Till\ 1925, to sivtccn "
' Article 5 of the Corrventior~
" I n ronnection with the n p t ~ l i c , ~ l iof
o ~this
~
Cor~\rrrtior~
lo Tnp:~~r.thc
following m o d i f i c , ~ t i o ~of
~ < Arlit lc 2 I I I , I \ hr n~ntlr

142

-

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN J A P A N
-

y o u n g persons', b u t also by t h e Maternity Convention a n d t h e
Convention prohibiting t h e n i g h t w o r k of w o m e n . T h e a m e n d ments to Japanese legislati011 t h a t m a y be attributed t o t h e
influence of these Conventions are summarised i n the following
paragraphs :

The scope o/ application of the Factory Act was extended in
accordance with Article 9, paragraph ( f ) , of the Hours Convention
to apply to workplaces employing ten or more workers instead of
I' fifteen or more workers " (section 1 of the Act.) Also, throughout the
laws protective provisions formerly applying to " perso& below
fifteen years of age " were extended to apply to " persons below sixteen
years of age ".
Hours of work were reduced by an hour, i.e. from the former
twelve hours of attendance to eleven hours. Since the Factory Act
requires a break of at least one hour when the work lasts more than
ten hours, the legal maximurn of working hours in Japan in force at
present for women and young person is ten hours per day.

A radical change was made in the provisions relating to the
minimum age for admission to industrial employment in order to bring
Japanese legislation into harmony with the Convention ; the provisions
relating to minimum age in the old Factory Act of 1911 (section 2)
were deleted and a new law was enacted separately, the Minimum Age
of Industrial Workers Act, promulgated in 1923 and enforced as
from 1926 '. Japan has ratified this Convention, and conse uently
fourteen years is now the niinimuni age of admission to in ustrial
employment, with the exception that a child above twelve years of age
may be employed if he has completed the elementary school
education '.

8

The provisions of the amended Factory Act concerning the nicjhf,
work of women and young persons came into effect from 1 July 1929,
and the law now follows the relevant Conventions in prohibiting
employment between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.; the prohibited period was
10 p.m. to 4 a.m. in the original Factory Act of 1911.
The present Act differs from the Conventions inasmuch as it
applies only to factories (or workplaces) where ten or more workers
are engaged or where danperous or unhealthv work is carried out. The

" (a) Children over twelve years of age may be admitted into emplojment if they have finished the course in the elementary school ;
" (b) As regards children between the ages of twelve and fourteen
already employed, transitional regulations may be made.
" The provision in the present Japanese law admitting chiIdren under
the age of twelve years to certain light and easy employments shall he
repealed. "
' Article 5 of the Convention :
I' In the application of this Convention to Tapan, until 1 July 1926
Article 2 shall apply only to young persons under fifteen years of age and
thereafter it shall apply only to young persons under sixteen years of age "
a Cf. Legislative Series, 1923, Jap. 2, and 1926, Jap. 1 ( a ) .
For details see Znternational Labour Revie~~l,
Feb. 1920, pp. 198-200.

Japanese Act also allows the extension of work till 11 p.m. with the
sanction of the administrative authorities '.
As regards maternity protection, under the Act of 1911 the
er~lploynientol worrlcrl was prohibited during only five weeks after
confinement ; the Regulations for the administration of the Amended
Factory Act of 1923, however, prohibit the employment of women
lour weeks before and six weeks after their confinement. There is also
;I new pro\ision obliging the employer to allow a woman during
working hours two periods of thirty minutes each to nurse her child
if it is less than a year old '.
\ number of other changes were brought about by the Act of
1923. The exemption of specific industrial undertakings from the

application of the health and safety provisions of the Act were
lessened, and in respect of corr~pensatior~
in cases of accident a
new conception of employers' liability was introduced. Under
the amended Act the employer must pay compensation for all
accidents arising in the course or as the result of the performance
of work; under the old Factory Act he was liable only if he failed
to prove that the accident was due to a grave fault of the worker
himself. The amounts of compensation have also been considerably raised s .
The scope of workmen's compensation was widened by the
promulgation i n 1931 of the Act concerning the relief of workers
i n case of accidents" together with the Act concerning the
insurance against the liability for the relief of workers i n case of
accidentss. These two Acts came into operation on 1 January
1932. As a result of their enforcement about 1,760,000 workers
engaged in civil engineering, construction, transportation, communication, etc., are now entitled to receive relief from their
employers in case of sickness or injury arising out of their
employment. Hitherto only about 2,250,000 workers i n factories
and mines were entitled to such relief but now it is extended to
I For a detailed account of lhe prohibition of ~lightwork of women
lapan, cf. International Labour Review, March 1929, article entitled
" The Employment of Women in Tapnnese Industry ", pp. 393-395.
Cf. Legislative Series, 1926, Tap. I (sections 9 and 9bis of the
Regulations for the administration of the Factory Act).
'The provisions of the Factory Act in respect of accident compensation
#ire not applied in State factories, but under the Ordinance for the
Compensation of State Workers the amounts of compensation granted arr
practically the same as those fixed by the Factory Act icf. Legislatirw
Series, 1926, Jap. 1 ( D ) ) .
Legislativ~Series, 1931, I a p 1
lbid , 1931, Tap. 2

in

144

INDUSTRIAL

a b o u t 4,000,000 workers
undertakings.

(ill

LABOUR I& JAPAN

fact, almost all workers) i o industrial

Mirtc>s. - I11 Japanese millen w h i c h a r e privately o w n e d t h e
principal labour laws in force a r e t h e Mining .ict of 1905, as
amendctl i n 1924', a n d t h e Regulations for t h e e m p l o y m e n t a n d
relief of miners of 1916, as amended in 192e2 ant3 i n 1928 '.
liolrr a of u1or.1, wc5rc reduced b j the A n ~ c ~ ~ dI{egulalions
ed
of 1926
from the former twelve hours of attendance to eleven hours, including
a break of at least one hour for women and young persons under sixteen
years of age. Until l 9 2 5 the provisions relating to hours of work. rest
\
applicable only to wonlerl and loung
periods, etc , of n ~ i ~ i e rwere
workers, but with the last amendment made in Septenlber 1928 '
Japanese labour legislation limited for the first tinte the worhirrg hours
of men. In virtue of this amendment, since Septenher 1930. neither
nlan nor wonlarl worLir~gt~ndergroundin mines Itla\ wotk rtlor~,lhan
ten hours a d a j . For women and young persons a break of at least
half-an-hour is stipulated, thus reducing their underground working
hours to nine-and-a-half per day. 4s in thc case of factor) legislation,
the Miners' Regulations require only t n o holidays per month for women
and young persons ; four holidajs pel month are, howe\er, rompulsory
when they are working night shift\.
The practice of night worl; in ruines will be continued until 1933,
Iwn, according to thc arnendnlent of 1928. i t will be made illegal to
(>~~iploq.
\\onlerl and young I I ~ I W I I \ at night.
\I

Tho ~~rovisions
f o r r~lnter~rity
prmtectioi~ in ~ ~ ~ i are
n c the
s same as
I'or factories. As regards nzininzrrm age, thc old provision prohibiting
of children untlri twclw gears of age has heen struck
thr enlployn~el~t
out of tlre Miners' Regulations and in its stead the \lini~r~urnAge of
Industrial Workers Act is applied. In respect of safety, health arrti
accider~fcornpensatioit, the a n ~ e n d ~ n e nare
t s identical with those made
in factor). legislation. 'The pa)-ment of wages for miners is governed
by provisions which arc contained in the Mining Act of I905 ; these
arcn the same as for fartory workers '.

Scujuring. - T h e c o r d i t i o n s of w o r k of seamen a r e regulated
b? the Merchant Marine Section of t h e Commercial Code of 1899 ',
the Mariners Act of 1899' a n d t h e Seamen's M i n i m u m Age a n d
Health Ccrtificatc 4ct of 1923 '.

I hc Cor~lsrrercialCode (Book V , Merchant Marine) lays down the
l u ~ i d a ~ ~ r e nrights
t a l and duties of rr~astersand seamen alike. The siplits
of seamen in respect of discharge, conipensation in cases of illness,
injury or death. thcir light to quit the service when maltreated by Llie
master or when shipwrecked, etc., are set out in some detail I . Repatriation rights in case of shipwreck o r when the vessel is irreparably
damaged, sei/ed by the ellenly. clc., are also rnentionrd. lhor1$1 tlrc
text does not clearly state who should bear the expenses of repatrialiou
'The same chapter of the Commercial Codc ' fixes the duties and cornpetence of the master.
The Mariners Act of 1899 was the first law to regulate specifically
the conditions of employment of seamen. It does not deal, however, with such conditions of work as hours, wages, etc., but only
with articles of agreement, discharge, repatriation, discipline of
sealnen, etc.
Tlrc later legislalion relatinp Lo seamen was cnac,ted after Jal):tlr
l ~ d dlalifjed the Conventions conreiming facilities for finding emplojrnent for seamen and fixing the ~rrir~inrumage for the admission of
children to employnient at sea, hotlr adol)led at the Genoa Conference
in 1920, and tlle Conventions corrccr~lingthe rninimum age for admission of young persorrs to enlployrrrent as trimmers or stokers and the
compulsory medical exanlination of children and young persons
employed at sea, adopted at Geneva in 1921 In order to give effect to
the first-named Conventiori. the Seame~r's Employnrcnt Exchanges
in 1922 and enforced in the same year. For the
Act ' was ~)rorn~ilgatcd
npplic.,rtiou of [lie oilrcr (,orr\entions, the Seamcrl's h l i n i m u ~ nAge arid
Health Certificates Act was promulgated in 1923 and enforced also
f ~ o mLhe same year. According to this \ c t , no rhild wider fourteen
years of age niav be cmploycd at sea on any vessel other lhan a vessel
on whir11 only nie~nhersof the same farr~ily are employed, and no
voung person under eighteen years of age rllay be engaged unlcss h e is
medically certified as fit for employment as a searilan ; eighteen years
iq also thc nri~~irnunr
agc for adn~iwiol)lo e n ~ l d o ~ r n e nasl n trimmer
or stoker

(:ori~irlerci;rl en~plojees are rnrntioned in ttic Commercial (:ode
of 1899 ", but the Code does not include provisions relating to the conditions of en~plo?rrrel~t.' I ' l ~ c t ~ in fact an eqlress statenlent jsec.i n pstipulations of Chapter 6 ,
tiori 36) to thr: rffec t that n o ~ w i l l ~ s ~ a n dthe
rontainirig this section. the pro\isiorls of the Civil Code may be applied
concerning c r r ~ ] ) l o ~ n r crelntior!q
r~l
1wtwee11the " master a r ~ demplovec\ "
ib,

'

Seamen's Articlcs of A!lrecrttc.rrl iBool\ T', Chapter 11, sedioirs 576-

580 1 .

l3ool\ V. Chapter. IT, srctions 558-575.
T,c'~]islnliveSerics, 1022, lap. 2
!hid., 1023, lap. 3.
.' Commcrc~inl Cotlc. Rook I iC;c,r~eral Prir~ciples'i, Chapter
~ncrcialwnploy.xs), sect ions 29-35.
:'

6

(Con1

146

I h D U S T R I A L LAUOUR I1L J A P A R
-

--- -

i n commerce. It may he it~l'crredtl~ereforoh a t the general law of
~;o~itract
of cn~ploynlentapplies to them in rrsl)cct ol payment of wages,
of hours of work
notice of disniiss;rl, etc. 'There is I I O legal lin~itatior~
in corrullerce.
.is regards agricu1t111.c.J a l ~ a l has
~ ralilied the (:or~ventior~
(.oncxxning the age o f admission of children to eniployrt~entin agriculture
and there is an Ordinance ' which carries out the substance of the
(;onventiou. T l ~ eimportant Te~imcyDisputes Conciliation Act ' is not
stricllg a labour law. The Fishing Act menlions that the ernploynient
c,o~~ditiol~s
and accident cornpensatior~o f fishir~gworkers Itlay he regulated hy Ordinance. hut no 0rdinnrrc.e has \ P I hec11 issued.

E m p l o y m e n t exclw~ges. - Japanese legislation cwncerning
employment exchanges owes its origin to the International Labour
Conference. Japan has ratified both the (:onvention concerning
unemployment adopted at the Conference at Washington i n 1919
and the Convention for establishing facilities for finding ernplovment for seamen adopted at the Genoa Conference in 1920. It
was to he in a position to carry out these C o ~ ~ v e n t i o nthat
s the
E m p l o y m c t~ ~Exchanges Act of 1921, the Seamen's Employment
Exchangv 4ct of 1922 and the Regulations for the Control of
Profit-Making I':mplo\.ment I<\c~hangesof 1925 were promulgated.
i complele national system of employment exchanges ha.; been
cstahlishctl lor wvrkrr< on I:~nd as well aq for seamcw.
Social irrsut*nncc~.- Social iusurancc legislatioil in Japan
is represented by the Health Insurance Act of 1922. 'The scope of
application of the Act is limited to industrial undertakings to
which thc Factory or Mining Act applies and covers sickness,
injury, maternity cases and death '. Unemployment insurance is
heing studied by the Bureau of Social jffairs, hut n o national
system has yet been introduced hy law.

Trade unionism. - There is n o legislation specifically regulating the exercise of the right of association. The Contitution
guarantees the right of Japanese subjects to form associations and
from time to time Rills to give legal status to trade unions have
heen presented to the Diet hut none of them has been passed.

' The

Elementnrj Srhool Ordirrnr~ce (Imprrial Orilinnrrcr No 344 of

1900, sections 32, 35, ctc 'l

Tenancy Disputes Conciliation k t . Act Wo 18 of 1924
Act No 58 of 1910, section 50.
Seamen and norkers employed in ;~gricult~~re,
commerce, fishing a n d
forestry d o not rome u n d e r t h e Act though employees receiving less than
1,200 pen per year m a \ . h r inwred 11nder the svsttm provided h y the law.
a

Special legisiation, i n the f o r m of t h e Public Peace Maintenance
Act, a i m i n g at t h e suppression of revolutionary propaganda, was
enacted i n 1925 a n d was made still more stringent i n 1928 by a n
Urgent Imperial Order m a k i n g it a capital crime t o organise a
revolutionary movement. Another l a w , t h e Act for t h e repression of violence was enacted i n 1926, m a k i n g it punishable to
carry a r m s o r use m o b force. 13ut neither of these laws has been
expressly aimed at trade unionism n ~ r c l they affect workers'
organisations only indirectly '.
The latest Trade Union Hill was a Government measure
introduced i n t h e Diet ill February 1931 ; it was passed by the
House of Represenlatives, but failed to be adopted by the House ,if
Peers as t h e discussion of Ihe Bill was still proceeding w h e n the
session of the Diet closed. The m a i n provisions of t h e Bill are
given below i n view of t h e important influence they are bound
t o have o n t h e future development of trade unions in J a p a n .
The objects of a trade union recognised by law are " the rnainlenance or improvement of conditions of labour, nlutual aid and culture
among members and other artikit~esfor the protection or promotion
of common interests ". Any organisation of workers engaged in the
same or similar trade or intl~lstrvor any federation of such organisalions will be recognised.
A trade union may adntit as members not only actual workers but
ally person who was once ;I worlm. in the same or a similar trade as
well as anyone who is or was an official of the union. Soldiers and
\ailors, as well as civilians attached to the army or navy. are excluded
gcs~~erally
from rnem1)crship.
For the legal recognition of a, trade union notification must be
made to the authorities accompanied by a copy of the rules, including
the name. objects, address of headquarters, etc. Trade imions are fret.
to be incorporated or not as they please.
The discharge of a worker by an employer on account of membership of a trade union is ~lnlawful. h contract of service which requires
that the worker shall either withdraw from or refrain from joining a
trade union is declared invalid.
The authorities are empowered to declare illegal any conduct on
the part of a union which is contrary to law or to the rules of the union.
They may also require unions to submit reports of their transactions,
property, membership, etc. Means are provided for trade unions to
resort to litigation if their rights are unlawfully violated

ill

~4is~~elZnnt.ons.-CheI m i p r a t i o n Protection Act ' was enacted
1891;, chiefly l o meet the case of the increasing n u m b e r of

The Public Peace Police Act was considered to be a hindrance to the
growth of trade uilionism, but in 1926 the sections of the Act which had
heen critirised as obstacles to tmdr ilni6n activitieq were rrpralerl.
No 70 of 1896.

Japanese workers who at that time welit to Hawaii and the United
States. 'She pressure of increasi~lgpopulation at a later period
led to the passage of the Overseas Emigration Society Act, 1927 '
wliich was designed both to encourage and assist emigrants.
'She Act prohibiting the use of whitc phosphorus in thf3
manufacture of matches ' was passed lo give effect to the Recommendation of the Wasllington Labour Conference concerning thc
application ol the Berne Corivention ol 1906.
Furthermore, two Ordinances which call for rne~itiou ale
the Ordinance for the control of the recruitment of workers "and
the Kegulations for clormitories attached to factories4. 'These
Ordinances are of particular importance in a country where, a3
in Japan, factories have sprung up so rapidly that the labour
supply in their neighhourhood is exhausted in a short time, and
special measures have to he taken for recruiting workers and
housing them at the place of work. 111 Japan factory owners
send out agents to distant provinces to recruit workers and in
some cases - especially in lextile mills - the workers are housed
in dormitories attached to the factory. Thrse two Ordinances
were issued to deal with some of the problems arising from this
system.
Finally, still another Ordinance of considerable importance
is the Regulation for Accident Prevention and Hygiene in Factories. It lays down minute rules in order to ensure the safety
and hygiene for workers employrd in factories '.

-

~.
-

Act No. 25 of 1927 (cf. Legislwtive Serirs, 1927, .rap. 1 ) .
Act prohibiting the use of white phosphorus i n the manufacture of
rriatches : Act No. 61 of 1921 (cf. Lfgislative Series, 1921, Tap. 5 ) .
:' Ordinance for the control of the recruitment of workers : Ordinance
of the Department of the T ~ ~ t e r i oNo.
r 36 of 1924 (cf. I,egislntivf Series.
1924, Jap. 3 ) .
' Repllatiol~sfor tlortnitories attached to factories : Ortlinarrcc of t h e
Department of the Interior No. 26 of 1927 (cf. Lrgislafivr Serics, 1927.
.lap. 2, and 1929, Jap. 5).
' See for details Part I V , Chapter V, p. 257 et seq.
'The Act prohibiting the iisc of white phosphorus i n the mar~ufacture
of matches, the Regulations for dormitories attached to factories and t h r
Regulations for Accident Prevention and Hygiene in Factories are classerl
11nder the Laws regulating fartorv work in Appendiu 1. pp. 386-387.

CHAP'I'ER 11
LABOUR ADMINISTRATION

\.Vith the rapid progress ol industrialisation ill Japan, the
necessity for a cent rill administrali\e a111hority to deal with labour
questions became increasingly apparent. Before the creation of
the Interriational Lahour Organisation, matters relating to labour
protection in Japan were handled by various Government departments, and for this reasolr no co~lsistent atid uniform labour
policy could be pursued. Thr admiriistration ol' the Factory
Act came within l I ~ ecompetence of the Bureau of Industry, arid
the Mining Bureau of thc Department of Ligricultureand Commerce was responsible for the administration of thc laws for the
protection of mining workers. It was not, however, clear I\hiclt
of these bureaux should deal with labour disputes. 'This uncer
tainty led to the Police Bureati (in the Department of the h t c rior) being authorised to deal with labour displites from the
standpoint of preserving the public peace. Rut uncertaint~ still
remained ah l o whether the Department of the Interior or the
Department of 4gricul t lire and Coinmercc was competent in
regard to trade ~inions. Moreover, the position was complicated
l y the fact that matters relating to the International Lahour Organisalion were handled I y the lhparlment for F o r e i ~ n Affairs,
on the groi~nd that the Orpanisation was an oi~tcome of the
Peace Treaty.
The inconveniences resulting from the lack of a central
authority to deal with labour prohlems were felt in an increasing
degree when at its successive Sessions the Tnternational Labour
Conference adopted important Con>cntions, the influence of
which on Japanese legislation has hcm srcn in the last chapter.
The Japanese Government therefore decided, barely three years
after the International Labour Organisalion was constituted and
the International Lalmur Office cstahlished to set 111) the Ri~reaii

150

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

of Social Affairs as the central atlrninistrative authority t o deal
w i t h labour problems, including questions concerning t h e Inter
national Labour Organisation '.

Thc Bureau of Social A jfnirs
According t o t h e O r d i ~ ~ a n cole 1962', tlw Bureau of Social
Allairs is under the direction of the Minister of the lnterior and
deal.; w i t h the following subjects :
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(G)

(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)

(12)

General labour questions.
Enforcement of the Factory Act.
Mattcrs relating to mining workers covered by the Minil~gAct.
Enforcement of the Minimum Age of Industrial Workers Act.
Labour disputes.
Social insurance.
Prevention and reliel of unemplojrl~ent.
Helations with the International J,abonr Organisalior~.
lielief and charity.
Child protection.
Army and navy reliel.
Other social uorh ".

'I'he Bureau is u ~ ~ d ;Ie rDirector-General a u d is divided i n t o
Divisions, Sections a n d Services ; a branch of t h e I-Ieallh Insurance
Division is ill Osaka. The Labour a n d Insurance Divisions a r e
concerned w i t h labour administration, while purely social w o r k
is t h e concern of the Social W o r k Division, w h i c h also deals
w i t h employmcnt exchanges. There are a n u m b e r of important
auxiliary o r advisory permanent commissions attached to the
Bureau. 'I'hr morc important commissions are
(1) Cornmic4on for the i~~\estigatior~
of worheia' insurarice,
or iginallv establiclled i n December 1921 in order to prepare the draft of
the Health Insurance Act.
( 2 ) Commissioni of enquiry concerning health inwrance, consisting of the Commissions of first, second and third instance, established in accordance with the Health Insurance Act in order to deal
with the cases of conlplaint or dispute relating to the benefits granted
under the Act.
(3) E r n p l o ~ ~ n ecichangc
i~t
commissions one at the Central Roard

Iniperial Ordinance No. 400 of 1922
The Ordinance has been amended almost every year since it was
first issl~ecl. The present information is taken mostly from Shnkaikyoku
Knnkei Jimu Gaiy6 (Outline of the Work cf the Bureau of Social Affairs),
published by t h e same h r e m in Tanl~nry1928. ,
IJntil 1929, nheri the Department for Overseas Affairs was created,
matters relating to e~nigmtion11sed to hc inclr~drd among the functions
of the hreali of Pocill Affairs

LABOUR ADMINISTRATIOR

151

of Employn~entExchanges, a ~ also
~ d one at each of the Local Boards ol
Ernployn~eritExchanges. In all these corrlmissions there is a certain
proportion of the rel)resentatives of the employers and workrrh, hot11
piwtics Iwing reprcwntrd hy an rq11n1s~urr~her
of mcmher5.
'I'here are also a few p e r m a n e n t comrnissioris dealing w i t h
social questions, such as t h e Commission for t h e investigation
of social w o r k , t h e Commission for t h e prevention of unemploym e n t a n d t h e Commission for t h e inwestigation of the problems
of food a n d population. T h e internal organisation of t h e Bureau
of Social Affairs is set out below.
General Service Section :
(1) Personnel service.
( 2 ) Documents servicc
(3) Library service.
( 4 ) Accounts.

Labour Division :
(a) Labour Legislation Section .
(1) Laboul legislation in general.

(b) Labour Administration Section :
(1) Conciliation of labour disputes.
(2) Relations with the International Labour Organisation.
(3) Investigations of labour conditions.
(4) Other problems of labour.
(c) Inspection Section :
(1) Enforcement of the Factory Act.
(2) Enforcement of the Minimum Age of Industrial Workers
Act.
( 3 ) Protection of mining workcrs.
11,srlratzce Division

:

(a) Supervision Section :
(1) Supervision of health insurance societies.
(2) Health Insurance Commissions.
(3) Study of social insurance problems.
( 4 ) Insurance statistics.

( h ) Administration Section :
( I ) Special accounts for health insurance.
(2) Setting up of insurance offices and financial supervision.
(3) Training of insurance officers, etc.
(c) Medical Section :
(1) Medical treatment.
(2) Hygienc.
(3) Study of technical a q m t s of medical service. etc

152

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

(d) Osaka Braitch of the Insurance Division :
(Looks after the western half of Japan.)
Social I t ork Divisiorz :
(a) Protection Section :
(1) Charity and relief (victir~isof fire, earthquake, etc., are
included).
( 2 ) Ar111jand navy relief.
( 3 ) Reforn~atorywork.
(4) Child protection.
(6) Other social work.
( h ) I V e l f u r e Section :
( I ) Housing questions.
( 2 ) Public baths, pawnshops, cheap restaurants, cheap lodg-

ings, etc.
( 3 ) Social uplift.
( c ) Enzployment Section

(1) Ernyloyruent exchanges.
( 2 ) Prevention and relief of unemployi~~cl~(
( 3 ) Study of unemployment insurance.

'She Bureau is trot a separate Government Deparlment, being
u ~ i d e rthe direction of the Minister of the Intcrior, although its
annual budget is much larger than that of some separate Departments. This organisation is considered to be advantageous from
the point of view of ensuring the effective enforcement of labour
laws and orders throughout the country and securing the csollaboration of local authorities in all prefectures, because the Governors as well as the Chief Police Officers of the prefeclures ( w h o
assist greatly in the enforcement of labour legislation) are
appointed by thc central Government and are supervised mainly
by thc Minister of the Interior. If a separate department independent of the Minister of the Interior were created, it is feared
that difficulties might arise and the present full collaboration of
the local authorities might not be so easily rnaintaincd. However this may be, there is a section of opinion which attaches
much moral importance to the creation of a Labour Department,
believing that such a step would lead to more widespread interest
in and a better understanding of labour problems. Proposals
for the creation of a Labour Department have been peserited to
the Diet by Members of Parliament, but so far they have not
received any serious attention.
The permanent staff of the Bureau consists of C h i ~ f sof Division, secretaries, administrative officers, clerks, etc., numberin*

LABOUR ADMINISTRATIOh

--

--

. --

153

over 120 officials, who include experts' on social legislation,
industrial hygicne, and labour problems.
The yearly budget appropriation for the Bureau shows its
importance; the amounts appropriated for thc last four or five
years are shown below :

Expenditure of
the Bureau itself

1I Outside
work entruste
t o the Bureau
I

1

I l h l s lrrcludes the expenses of the Petmenent Delegafmn to the Internatlone1 Labour Olfice,
natlomel relolmator~as, employment exchange offices, asylwn for dlsahled soldiers, Stalr Lonlrlhut~on to health insurance, poor relief, etc.
2 In 1910, the Co\ernment derlded that the budget should he the \an]? t 5 in 1929
3 Itnmpd (Olflcial Gazette) Supplement or 21 March I$J29

A large number of experts known as San-yo (counsellors)
have been appointed to advise the Bureau of Social Affairs with
a view of increasing its efficiency and securing that its administrati\e policy shall Ge based on sound principles. 'The counsellors are selected and proposed to the Cabinet by the Minister
of the Interior, and the appointments are made from among
high officials dealing with industrial and labour questions ;
independent persons having either practical experience or theoretical knowledge of these questions are also appointed. The counsellors meet from time to time to discuss Bills prepared by the
Bureau and other important matters.
Tn connection with the Bureau of Social iffairs, reference
must he made to the Permanent Delegation of t h e Japanese Govcrnment to the International Labour Organisation. Japan was
the first country to appoint a permanent delegation to the Organisation, the Delegation of the Japanese Government having been
set u p in 1920 by an Tmperial Ordinance within a few months
after the International Labour Office was established at Geneva.
The Delegation has a dual function : it studies labour legislation
and industrial conditions in Europe and keeps the Japanese Gov-

' Many

of these have distinguished therr~selves in the scientific study

of such questions besides having had long ~wperience in their respective

fields.

154

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

ernment informed (being in fact the liaison between the Tokyo
Government and the International Labour Office), and it supplies
information on the subject of Japanese labour and industry to
the International Labour Office and to any other organisations or
i~ldividualsat their request. The Director of the Delegation is
the permanent representative of the Japanese Government on the
Governing Body of the International Labour Office l. 'She collaboration between the Delegation and the International Labour
Office has been close and fruitful '.

Other Central Authorities for Labour
Administration
In addition to the Bureau of Social Affairs, there are some
central Government Departments which still deal with specific
branches of labour administration. 'She Bureau of Mines, iu
the Department of Commerce and Industry, is responsible for
the "mining police " 3 ; the prevention of accidents in mines,
the supervision of equipment within and without the pit and
anything on the material side of the protection of mining workers
are also within the competence of the Mining Bureau. The Department of Communications deals with employment exchanges
for seamen and disputes between seamen and shipowners. These
functions are carried out through the Mercantile Marine Bureau.
A large number of workers are employed by various departments of the Government such as the Navy, Army, Treasury,
Railways, etc. In the enforcement of the Factory Act, as well
as the Orders issued in accordance with the Act, these Departments are considered the proper administrative organs in respect
of these workers.
Local Administrative Authorities
The principal local authorities for the enforcement or administration of labour laws in the prefectures are the local Governors, chiefs of the Communication Bureaux, chiefs of the Mininq

' The present Director is Mr. Shunzo Yoshisaka, who was for many
years Chief Factory Inspector in the Bureau of Social Affairs. Some
memhers of the staff are officials of the Bureau.
A Japanese employers' delegation has also recently been set u p by
the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Japan, with Professor Miyajima
as the chief of the permanent delegation. The employers' delegation of
Japan is also the first of its kind.
Cf. Mining Act, Chapter 4 (Mining Police), sections 71-74.

LABOUR ADMINISTRATIOR

- - - ---

--

155

Irlspection Bureaux, Health Insurance Offices and the Employment Exchange Offices.
The term "Local Governor" (Chiho CI~Gkart)in Japanese
law applies to the Governors of forty-three local prefectures (Ken),
of two urban prefectures ( F u ) of Osaka and Kyoto, to the Director-General of Hokkaido and the Superintendent-General of the
Metropolitan Police Board in the urban prefecture of Tokyo,
making a total of forty-seven local authorities in Japan proper
who are charged with the application of labour laws. They are
concerned with the administration of the Factory, Minimum
4ge of Industrial Workers and the Labour Disputes Conciliation
Acts, as well as with matters relating to trade unions in general.
Factory inspection and the conciliation of labour disputes are
included in the duties of the local Governors, who have some
hundreds of factory inspectors and conciliation officers working
under them in their prefectures.
Communication Bureaux are set up in seven centres of the
communication system of Japan, viz. 'l'okyo, Nagoya, Osaka.
Fsgasaki, Kumamolo, Sendai and Sapporo. The chiefs of these
Bureaux are in charge of the administration of the laws and
Orders relating to seamen under the direction of the Minister qf
Communications.
There are five Mining Inspection Bureaux : in Tokyo, Osaka,
Sapporo, Fukuoka and Sendai. The chiefs of these Bureaux are
entrusted with the general administration of mines ; the Mining
Inspectors carry out the duties of the mining police.
A Health Insurance Office is established in every urban or
local prefecture ; and there are four in the island of Hokkaido.
The chiefs of these Offices are under the direction and supervision of the Minister of the Interior and of the Director-General
of the Bureau of Social Affairs. The total administrative staff
of the health insurance system includes over 320 officials and
500 clerks, beside a certain number of specially commissioned
experts and supernumerary employees.
The practical work of employment exchanges is carried 0111,
by municipal bodies in cities, towns or villages, but the State
has established a Central Employment Exchange Board in Tokyo
and Local Boards in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Aomori and Fukuoka
to ensure national unity of policy.

2 56

I ~ D U S T R I A L LABOLR IN JAPAA

Z r t s ~ ~ c i . l i oof
n

- --

- --

Factory a n d Mining Labour

lnspection of labour in factories and mines is under lhe
Bureau of Social Affairs arid is carried out with the assistance of
local Governors and the chiefs of local Mining Inspection Bureaux.
With the exception of the inspection of safety conditions in
mines, which is a duty of the "mining police", the Bureau of
Social Affairs is the supreme central authority for factory and
mining inspection.
In the Inspection Section of the Bureau of Social Affairs, there
are a certain number of full-time inspectors with a varying number of part-time inspectors as an auxiliary force. The central
inspectorate in the Bureau of Social Affairs co-ordinates the administrative practice of prefectural authorities and District Mining
Bureaux with the object of maintaining uniformity. All orders,
instructions, etc., issued by the central inspectorate go in the first
instance to local Governors or to the chiefs of the Mining
Bureaux.
The permanent staff for factory and mining inspection is
composed as follows ' :
Central Inspectorate ( i n the Ri~reail of
General inspectors . . . . .
Assistant general inspectors . .
'Technical inspectors . . . . .
Assistant technical inspectors .
Health inspectors . . . . . .
Assistant health inspertors . .

Social Affairs).

. .
.

.

. . , .
.

.

.

.

.

. . . . . . .
.

.

.

.

.

4

.

2

. . . . . . .
. .
. . . .

4

Tolal.

.

2
7

.

Local Irzspectioi-c Forci~ (in Ihe prefecti~ralGovernmrnts'i
General inspectors . . . . . . . . . . .
Assistant general inspectors . . . . . . .
Technical and health inspectors . . . . . . .
Assistant technical inspectors . . . . . . .
Assistant health inspectors . . . . . . . .

.

0

19

:

.
.
.

.
.

Total.
Grarid total.

Technical inspectors include experts in safety, etc , while
health inspectors are qualified doctors in charge of industrial
hygiene.
The inspectors have the right to inspect factories and their
equipment at any time either in the day or at night. They may
~-

Cf. Rbdo . T i ! l ; i . l k c . 1930, 1). 2. a i d Dec. 1931, p. 4. The figr~reswere
exactly t 1 1 ~snmc fcr the t\vo !-ears.
I

LABOUR ADIMI;\ISTRATIOR

157

also examine any worker who they have reason to believe has
contracted an infectious or other disease scheduled as excluding
from work any person suffering from it. 'The only condition imposed on the inspectors in executing this duty is to carry with
them the inspector's warrant which they must show at the
request of the factory owner, occupier or any other person who
is entitled to see it. Any person who obstructs inspection,
evades answering questions put by the inspectors or gives false
replies is liable to a fine of 500 yen. Japanese inspectors have
no right to issue orders directly to factory owners ; this right is
reserved to the local Governor or the chief of the Mining Bureau
of the district as the case may be. When an inspector finds that
there has been a breach of the law he cannot himself proceed to
prosecute the offender ; he can only report the facts to the Public
Prosecutor '.
In order to maintain uniformity and to prowide an opportunity for discussion of the problems arising in the course of inspection, a conference of inspectors is held at the Bureau of Social
Affairs at least once a year. The degree of thoroughness with
which inspection is carried out may be seen by the annual reports
of factory inspection issued by the Bureau of Social Affairs.
During 1930 it is reported that in the aggregate 30,614 visits
were made to 26,875 factories. This means that roughly 37 per
cent. of the factories which come under the Factory Act were
The
inspected at the average rate of 0.6 times in that year!
largest number of inspections were of textile mills : 9,0243. T ~ P
cost to the State for the transport of inspectors in connection with
their official work is some 60.000 yen '.
The cases of violation of laws have not decreased on the
whole, though thc number has flucti~ated from year to year.
During 1928, 1929 and 1930, the numbers of "warnings " give?
to factory owners and occupiers in the case o f slight deviations
from the law were 0 , 9 5 4 ; 25,906 and 19,273 respectively, while
the number of convictions has varied considerably : 463 in 1928
559 in 1929 and 515 in 1930. The most frequent offences were
those of employing women or young persons in excess of t h ~

' It has been pointed out that as regards this limitation of the right
of ir~spectorsi n lapan " there is much left for study in comparison with
the systems i n force abroad i n order to i r n p r o v ~the effective working of
the inspection sgstem in this r o ~ ~ n t r"y (S. YOSHIS~KA,
op. c i f , p. 260).
The r?te \\as ronsidernhl\. l m e r than in 1929
? Cf. 118dG J i h d , Dec. 1930, p. 2.
Cf. K6iG K a n f o h z N m p 6 for 1927, 1928 , n ~ r l1929.

158

INDLSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

Iegal hours ; in 1930 there were 150 such cases. The extent of
the infringement of the law, as well as the chief causes of "warnings" or convictions during the five-year period 1926-1930 may
bc seen in the following two tables (tables XXIII and XXIV).
TABLE XXIII. - CONVICTIONS FOR THE VIOLATION O F T H E FACTORY
THE MINIMUM AGE O F INDUSTRIAL WORKERS A C T ,

ACT,
ETC., 1926-1930'

(1) Employing women or young persons in excess of the legal work
ing hours
(2) Failure to keep regularly the roll
of workers. . . . . . . . .
(3) Failure to report regularly on the
morbidity, accidents or deaths in
the factory
(4) Failure to keep regularly either
the attendance list of workers or
the book showing the payment of
wages
(5) Failure to pay wages regularly
(once a month a t least)
(6) Failure to report when the factory
should be or ceased to bc covered
by the Factory Act. . . . . .
(7) Employment of children under
legnl age or a n a l o g o ~ ~offences
s
(8) For other offences . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .
. . . .

.

-

Total

.-

-

. . .

8

1

Ci.. RCd6 JihG, VPII. 19% and 1!)P9, and [ k c . 1929, 1930 and 1931

'l'\BI.E

XXIV.

-

I\ITMBER O F PERSONS CONVICTED, CASES AND 4MOUNTS

OF
I

Year

i

FINES,1926-1929

Number of persons on
whom penalties
were Imposed

Number of cases in
whicb penalties
were imposed

Amount of fines
I

1

CI. R6dG JihG, Sept. 1930

CONDITIONS OF WORK

ILECRUITMEM', ENPLOYMENT AYD DISCHARGE OF YI'ORKEKS

Before proceeding to deal will1 such central aspects of the
conditions of employment as hours of work, wages, health and
safety arrangements, etc., it is necessary to give some account of
the law and practice regarding the entry into employment, the
general conditions of employrnent and the discharge of workers.
This will be done in this chapter undcr the headings "Recruitment", " Admission to Employment and Apprenticeship " ,
" Works Regulations " and " Discharge of Workers ".

Ifecruitmcnt '
One of the results of the rapid develop~nentof industrj in
Japan was that the demand for factory labour largely exceeded
the local supply or the voluntary internal migration to industrial
centres. In the textile industry, more particularly, expansion was
so rapid that the supply of labour in the vicinity of new mills
was very quickly exhausted, and it soon became necessary to
recruit labour in the rural districts. Since the extension of the
employment exchange system the importance of recruiting operations has begun to decline, but it would seem that employment
exchanges have not as yet been developed sufficiently to cope
with the pressing demand of the great mills.

' The problems of recruitment in Japan and the measures taken b y
the Government are described By S . Y~SHISAKA
: " Labour Recruiting in
Tapan and its C~ntrol", in Internation01 Labour R e v i ~ w . Oct. 1925,
PI). 484-499.

160--

I ~ D L S T H I A LLABOUR IN JAPAN
--

---

--

-

It has been estimated that at one time there were over
50,000 persons engaged in recruitment work '. This number has
decreased gradually year by year since the Ordinance for the control of recruitment was issued in 1924, but even now there are
some 14,000 agents touring the country lor the purpow of enliating new operatives. The number of workers so recruited in 1930
was close upon 270,000, a decrease of over 68,000 from the previous year. 'Sahlc XXV shows (by industries) both the number
of agents and of workers recruited during a period of four years,
u p to the end of 1930.
l'AR1,E \ \ V .

--

;\UMBER O F RECRI ITIAG AGEhTS AND WORKERS

RECRUITED BY THEM,

1 Various other
i

Mining
I Civil engineering
i Others

1927-1930 '

2,2lj:)
9,791
11,790
I 7 3

:J%,!*%

1

2,W
0
11,984

!

1

373m

1

3,8iJ
%,:738
9,550
7,040 I
11,320
5,778
394
180
:
1
:
%
:
8
-2%%,%2'
x

1 Cf. K6j6 Kantoku herrp6, 1923 (Appendix: Annual Hrpo1.1 on Kecruilmcnl of Norhers
for 1928, pp. 1-1) and R6d6 Jih6, Aug. 1931, [I. 2.

The agents go to the areas where they are to work armed
with propaganda literature, which is attractively illustrated to
heighten its effect. The equipment of the agents often includes
a cinematographic apparatus to show pictures of factory l i f e ,
they clescribe this life and its advantages in glowing terms and
quote wages which naturally strike the country people as being
very high in comparison with what they can earn for agricultural work. hioreover, they promise that part of the earnings
of the recruited boy or girl shall be periodically remitted to the
parents, and as a rule make the proposal that a lump sum of
money shall he sent to parents who may he in need of cash.
Advances are also made for the outfit and transport of the recruited
worker.
'These conditions naturally lead to abuses, some of the most
s ~ r i o u sof which arise from the loans made as advances on the

HECRUITMENT,

EMPLOYMENT AAII DISCHARGE

161

wages to be earned by the young people recruited. When a
large amount of money has been borrowed by the parents, the
son or daughter whose employment is the guarantee for the
loan is virtually deprived of freedom, and is practically in the
position of an indentured labourer. While there is no legal
obligation for the workers to remain with the employer until
the money borrowed has been paid back by so many months,
or years, of work, there is in fact no other solution than to continue in the employment until the loan is paid back. Moreover,
under this system of lending money to the parents of the recruited
workers the bond of the debt is sometimes drawn up in such
a way that, if any difficulties arise in the payment of the debt,
the case would be brought before the court not of the village
where the parents of the worker are living but of the town where
the factory is situated. The parents are usually in poor circumstances and have no means of travelling to a distant town even
when legal action is taken against them ; the result is that the
case is judged in their absence and as a rule to their disadvantage '.
The means used by the agents to induce the country people
to accept their offers are no doubt based upon their knowledge
that those working on the land are not easily led to consent to
take up new work in a distant town - first because often they
do not actually need outside work to make a living, and secondly
because they instinctively shrink from leaving their native place.
A positive indl~cementwill aloric persuade them to engage in the
u~iaccustomedwork of a factory in a strange place. However
this may be, the result is that year after year the employers have
to place larger and larger sums of money at the disposal of the
agents, increasingly elaborate methods are used, and there is
n o small amount of competition among the recruiting agents.
Recruitment has thus become a heavy item of expenditure
for the employer" but still more serious are its social and moral
aspects. In the keen competition for workers, the agents arc
led to describe the conditions of work in t h r factories in exag-

- -

' For a full description of this situation, cf. Dr. I'. F T J K U D ~Shakai
'S,
TJndii to R6gin Seido (Social Movements and the Wage System),
pp 319-325.
" The cost naturally varies from place to place and the itemising or
the recruiting costs is not altogether uniform, but it is said that the cost
runs from 20 or 30 yen up to 70 yen per head " (S. Y ~ S H I S ~ oKp A
. cit
, ,
p 489).

gerated terms, o\cr-emphasising advantages and concealing disadvantages, and making promises which cannot be carried out. In
the long run, these exaggerations and the abuses connected with
advances will n o doubt reduce the possibilities of recruiting, but
meanwhile the evils continue. The Government has, therefor?,
intervened to regulate recruiting by issuing in 1924 the Reguiations for the control of the recruitment of workers. Even before
the Ordinance of 1924 attempts had been made to exercise some
sort of control of recruitii~gby means of regulations made b)
the prefectural authorities applying only in the districts within their jurisdiction. It would seem that these local rules were
enforced in the areas for which they were drawn up, but since
they differed from one prefecture to another and there was n o
national lam to correlate them, the effect of the protection
afforded the workers was limited. Moreover, Mr. Y oshisaka
describes the prefectural regulations as being mainly d e s i g ~ ~ c d
to safeguard thc labour supply of the i ~ ~ d u s t r i ein
s their own
districts.
'I'he Ordinance lor the cvntrol of recruitment of workers '
was issue11 in 1924 by thc Department of the Interior under
section 17 of the Factory Act which provides that " matters respecting the engagement and dismissal of workers, the supervision
of employment agencies and apprenticeship shall be regulated
by Imperial Ordinance ". The essential provisions of the Ordinance arc as follows :
The Ordinance applies to the whole of Japan proper and covers the
recruitment of workers for factories, ]nines and manual labour gerrerally with the exception of agricultural and fishery workers '.
Any person engaged in recruiting workers must have a permit
from the local Governor. and when applying for the permit must be
in possession of an authorisation signed by the prospective employer.
The agent is prohibited from recruiting workers for more than one
employer at a time unless he has been previo~isly authorised bv the
employers concerned to work for them collectivelv.
The recruiting agent must state and thoroughly explain the terms
of employment as set out clearly in thc draft contract as well as in a
Tn Legislatiw Series, 1924, Jap. 3.
The Ordinance does not apply to the recruitment of workers pmj:rating abroad, this being already covered by a special law. Nor does i t
apply to recruitment at the place of employment and carried out h)
means of written advertisement instead of by employment agents. An\
recruitment which does not entail the removal of the recr~~itedworker
from his actual place of residence is also excluded from t h ~application of

thr law.

,163

RECRUITMENT, EMPLOYMENT A N D DISCHARGE
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booklet setting forth the conditions of employn~ent. Such draft contract and booklet must be previously submitted to and approved by the
adrriinistrative authorities.
The recruiting agent is corr~pelleclto report to the authorities on
a nurnber of occasions. Before beginning to recruit workers, he must
report at the police station of the place where he proposes to operate.
He must notify the police at least three days before he leaves the locality with the recruited workers he is conducting to their place of
employment. If a night is spent on the way (except on a train or boat)
\>hen the agent is conducting the workers to the place of employment,
he must previously notify the police station of the place whew the
night will be passed. He must always have upon his person the
recruiting agent's certificate and produce it when demanded either by
the workers or their parents. He must also carry with him the list of
the workers he has recruited and is conducting.
The action of the recruiting agent is restricted in other ways and
he is liable to severe penalties if he contravenes the regulations. For
instance, it is laid down specially that he must not recruit the worker
by force or exaggerate facts or act immorally towards women. He is
warned against taking the recruited workers to cafks, bars, tea-houses,
dancing halls, etc. Without due cause he may not prevent the recruited
workers from going out of doors, corresponding with or meeting other
people. He must in no case be cruel to the recruited workers or unduly
restrict their freedom. He is prohibited from retaining the workers'
belongings and may not refuse to return them if they have heen put in
his charge.
In certain cases the employer for whom the agent is recruiting,
or the agent himself, is held responsible for sending the worker back
to his home, and more particularly (1) if the actual conditions of
employment are found to be contrary to the statement given in the
draft employment contract or in the recruitment booklets distributed
before tile contract is concluded ; ( 2 ) if the employer, recruiting
agent or superintendent has been cruel or immoral in his relations with
the worker ; (3) if the recruited worker does not obtain the employme,it for which he has a contract either on account of failure to pass
physical, mental or other tests or because it does not suit the convenience of the emplojer to take him on; or ( 4 ) if for any unavoidable
reason the worker must return to his or her home.
Recent reports from Japan appear to s h o w t h a t these Regulations have had useful results, Penalties are being strictly e n forced. In 1930 w a r n i n g s were given by t h e authorities i n
290 cases of misconduct of t h e agents, a n d i n 334 cascs penalties
- i n t h e form of imprisonment o r fines - were imposed for
the violation of t h e Regulations o r of prefectural orders issued
i n conformity with t h e m ; although it m a y be t h e agent w h o is
prosecuted responsibility devolves upon t h e employer for w h o m
h e acts.
4lthough the question of loans a n d advances has n o t been
dealt w i t h by legislation, t h e authorities are said t o be endeavouri n g to dissuade t h e parents of workers from borrowing money
or obtaininq advances on t h e coming employment from recruit-

162

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR Ih J A P A N

i n g agents or employers. Employers also are heginning to find
out that there are disadvantages attached to the system of loans,
and as a result the competition to secure labour by this means
is rapidly diminishing. Moreover, the workers themselves have
begun to prefer higher wages to large loans made to their
parents. In Gifu, Yamanashi, Niigata and Fukui prefectures,
where the competition to secure workers had been carried to
excessive lengths, the employers have begun either to form syndicates among themselves to regulate the supply of workers or
are adopting a common agreement ruling out the methods they
have employed in the past.
Similar action has been taken by the Government, under
section 17 of the Factory Act, to control fee-charging employment agencies. Now that a syslem of free and public employment exchanges has been established i n Japan i n conformity with
the Conventions of 1919 and 1920, profit-making employment
agencies are destined to disappear '. The Government considered,
however, that immediate abolition of these agencies was impracticable and decided to tolerate them, subject to regulation. For
this purpose, the Regulations for control of profif-making employ.
ment agencies were promulgated in 1925 placing such agencies
under the strict control of administrative authorities.

"

According to the Ilegulations, any person who proposes to open an
entployment agency for profit must obtain a permit from the prefectulal Governor through the police authority of the place where the
agency is to he conducted, and while he runs the agency he is not
permitted to conduct the business of a lodging house, restaurant,
licensed brothel, pawnshop, dancing hall, caf6 or bar. He is required
to keep books recording the operations of the agenq in the form
prescribed by the Regulations and to submit periodical reports to the
authorities. There are severe penalties for the publication of exaggerated or false advertisements and notices, also for making false statements
or concealing the truth concerning the character, qualifications or state
of health of the applicant for employment or the family circumstances
of the employer, conditions of employment, remuneration and other
terms he offers. An engagement must not be forced on an applicant
for employment, nor must anyone already in employment be induced
to change his employer by being referred to another. Money, goods
or other advantages must not be given or lent on any lretext in order
to induce an applicant to accept employn~e~lt.The employment agent
is liable to a heavy penalty for immoral acts committed against an
applicant for ernployn~er~t
or for taking any applicant into a "place of

' Recornmeudation concernirlg une~nplo!~ u e ~ l tadopted
,
a I the First
Session of the International Labour Confere~~cc.
1919.
In Legislative Series, 1925, Tap. 1 ( c ) .

HECHUITMENT, EMPLOYMENT

A N D DISCHARGE

165

dmusenient " (i.e. bar, dancing hall, etc.) . Further, he has no right
to provide sleeping acconlmodation at his house to any applicant for
employment unless he has previously obtained permission from the police
authorities. The penalties for the conlravention of the Regulations
include suspension or cancellation of the permit, detention of the agent,
or fines not exceeding 100 yen.
The enforcement of these rules is said to be leading to a
gradual suppression of the evils which used to be more or less
common in profit-making employment agencies, and the agencies
have been steadily decreasing i n number for some time, particularly since the end of 1928.
Admission to Employment and
Apprenticeship
Japanese legislation is based on the theory of "freedom of
contract " and this principle underlies the legislation respecting
the labour contract, which, according to the terms of the Civil
Code, becomes legally effective only when one of the parties
(i.e. the worker) has promised to render service to the other
and the latter (i.e. the employer) has promised to give him
remuneration for the service '. The nature of the service is not
defined, hence it may be either physical or mental w o r k ; but
because of the express provision that the service is performed for
remuneration, a service without remuneration does not fall
within the purview of the law.
No detailed conditions of admission into employment are
contained in the Civil Code. The Code was drafted in 1879 by
a Frenchman, Mr. Boissonade, on the broad principles of French
law "nd the provisions regarding contracts of employment have
remained unaltered unto this day in spite of the great changes in
the social and industrial conditions of the country. Detailed
provisions restricting the conditions of admission to employment s were, however, introduced by the Factory Act of 1911 and
the Miners' Regulations of 1916, measures by which the State
for the first time intervened by legislation in regard to the terms
of employment.
More recently, legislation has also been passed to regulate

'

Civil Code, sections 623-631.
This original Code promulgated in 1890 was revised later according
to :i German arrangement, dibidinp t h e Code into fixe " Rooks " and
promulgated i n 1896.
Particulars of the ape of admission to work in factories, mmes or at
sen and of other protectixe provisions h a \ ? already been given in Part IT3

166

--

IAUUSl'HI4L L \UOUR IA J 4 P A N
-- -

the conditions ol apprenticehip. 'She system of apprenticeship
which existed in Japan during the feudal period has largely died
out with the passing of handicrafts and small-scale industries.
The " apprenticeship" system of the new factory industries had
few of the qualities of the old system and was often merely ;a
cloak for the exploitation of unskiiled juvenile labour. It became
necessary to legislate, and a n endeavour was made to retain the
" tradition of apprenticeship " ' by ensuring the effective training of workers by real13 skilled masters and yet by various legal
safeguards to pre\ent the exploitation of young workers.
According to the law now in operation, the contract for
apprenticeship must fulfil the following conditions2 :
( I ) 'rhc work 111ustbe undertaken with the object of acquiring
the hnowledge and skill necessary for a particular occupation;
( 2 ) Training must be given under the direction and care of a
specified person;
(3) Definite supervision ~ r ~ u hconstantly
t
be given in regard to
moral training;
( 4 ) The apprentit csl~il)1n11<t be subject lo regulations sanctioned
by the prefectural Governor.

Further, before indenturing apprentices, a factory owner
must obtain the approval of the Governor, previously submitting
to h i m an application showing :
(1) R'r~li~l~cr
a i i t l age> of t l ~ ci~roposcr!apltrcritice~:
1 2 ) QrlaliFcations of the instructor;

(3) Nature and duration of the training to be g i ~ e n ;
Vat11r.e of the work to hr performed by the proposcd apprentices and their 1iow.h of work;
( 3 ) Particulars of holida?;~
and rest periods;
(6) 1Iettlods of moral training:
1 7 ) Vonetary allowances granted to the proposed apprentices;
(8) Safety and h\pienic measures taken if the apprentices are
women or nllnors;
(9 I Terrnq of the articles of apprenticesl~ip
(4)

'I'he actual number of apprentices indentured under this law
is very small, and has $teadily decreased in the last ten years. Tn
1920 there were 3,118 apprentices in nineteen factories ; in 1924
the number of apprentices had fallen to 1,481 in eighteen factories,
and i n 1929 only twelve factories had an apprenticeship system

I

.

S YOSHISAKA.
01) ~ i t pp. 249-250
Cf L ~ g i s l n t i w S ~ r i c s . 1926, Tap 1

in),

Chapter TV, p. 10

-

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RECRUITMENT, EMPLOYMEhT
-- --

AND DISCHARGR

---

.

--

167
-

and apprentices numbered 780 '. Of these about forty were i n one
h e n c r y and all the rest in machine and tool industries. Recent
reports of factory inspectors show that the period of apprenticeship varies from two to seven )ears and the hours of work are
from eight to ten per day. Sundays and festival days are observed
as holidajs. Most factories gite daily or monthly allowances as
" pocket money" amounting from 15 to 60 sen per day, in addition to free board and lodging. The subjects taught include
draughtsmanship, physics, mathematics and English; the teachers
are usually graduates of engineering colleges or universities, normal schools, etc., and in many cases the training is given in
schools attached to the factory.
Mr. Yoshisaka is of opinion that the object of the legislation
has not been attained largely hecause it is not possible to apply
the same apprenticeship regulations in small workshops and
large factories.
The actual situation of apprentices in smaller workshops
w11c:tl the Factory Act does not apply cannot be ascertained b)
official reports. Legally there may be few apprentices, but
actually a large numlxx of young people are employed whose
conditions need regulation. It i s apt to be assumed that, in
workshops where less than ten workers are employed, thc
" famil! system " prevents any serious exploitation of young
workers. It is true that the relations between emplojcr and
worker are more intimate and personal, since as a rule they share
the same food and shelter, and work and live as if they were all
of one family ; and it is assunled that the conditions relating tn
hours of work and rest, nourishment and general hygiene are not
unsatisfactory, and in any case the apprentice and the master are
in like case. But it is a fact that large amounts of cheap goods
for home consumption, or for export, are manufactured under
these conditions. Toys, paper boxes, fans, bamboo arlicles,
Japanese parasols and lanterns, paper patterns, straw braids,
ribbons or tapes in cotton or silk. embroidery and hundreds of
other small hand-made objects which constitute an important
part of Japanese export goods are manufactured in small workshops not covered by the Factory Act. and it is in those workshops that unregulated apprenticeship still prevails.
---

' K G Knnfoku Nrnp6,

1028, 1). 33, , ~ n d1929, p. 47 of the appendix

168

I N D ~S ~ R I A LLABOUR IN J.IPAN

Works Regulations
Rules of employment exist in many industrial undertakings,
but it is only in mines1 and in factories where fifty or more
workers are regularly employed that the law requires works
regulations to be drawn up and posted. In most cases these
regulations lay down the conditions of employment and discharge, hours of work, holidays, method of payment of wages,
compensation for meritorious service and punishment for breaches
of discipline, etc. These regulations are almost always issued by
the management without agreement with the worker and their
terms are often disputed. Works regulations must, howewr,
be approved by the administrative authorities. The Mining Act
of 1905 requires that "the holder of the mining right shall fix
the rules concerning the employment and labour of miners and
shall obtain the approval of the Director of the Mining Inspection
Bureau " (section 75); but as regards factory work, it was only
in 1926, when the Amended Factory Act of 1923 was put into
force, that the Ordinance for the administration of the Factory
Act "aid down provisions requiring factory occupiers employing
regularly fifty or more workers to draw up regulations concerning :
(a) Time of beginning and ceasing work, rest periods, holidays,
alteration of shifts if work is performed on a shift svetem employing
the workers in turn in more than two groups;
( b ) Time and methods of paying wages;
(c) Provisions concerning payments for board and ally other
charges made to workers;
(d) Provisions concerning discipline, if any;
( e ) Provisions concerning the dismissd of workers.

The employer must submit the draft regulations to the prefectural Governor and obtain his approval of them ; the Governor
may amend the draft if he thinks fit. The same procedure must
be followed if any change is subsequently made in the regulations
required by the Ordinance. Appropriate measures must be taken
by the employer to make the works regulations known to the
workers. The factory owner is required to "affix in a conspicuous
--

-

- -

worthy of note that regulations must be made for ,111 mines,
independent of the number of workers, while for factory work the smaller
workshops are not included in the Ordinance.
In Legislnfiva Series, 1926, .lap. 1 (B). Chapter 111, section 27 quater.
I

I t is

RECRUITMENT, EMPLOYMENT

AND DISCIIARGE

169

place in each workshop particulars of the hours for beginning
and ceasing work, rest periods and holidays ". Some of the more
important items in the works regulations must be "clearly
shown " to the workers. For example, the rates as well as the
methods of calculation of wages as fixed by the regulations must
be thoroughly known by the factory worker or miner, as also
the disciplinary provisions. 'l'he regulations must also contain a
summary in simple language of the requirements of the law as
regards maternity leave, compensation, etc.
An enquiry made by the Kyocho Kai in 1926 revealed the
nature and extent of the rules relating to sanctions laid down as
the " conditions of employment" in textile mills '. 'The acts which
gave rise to sanctions included : disobeying the orders of foremen
or management, disorderly or immoral conduct, irregular attendance at work, lack of attention in the performance of work,
working for other factories without the consent of the employer,
failure to improve in proficiency or skill, drunkenness, smoking
in other than rooms designated for the purpose, etc. The sanctions to be applied included reprimand, fine (or payment for
damage done), reduction of wages, suspension of work, detention
in the factory premises and discharge. Not infrequently there
were rules to the effect that those who " make complaints" or
instigate or incite others, or who "are about to engage in instigation " would be punished. Investigations showed that in a
few cases the rules of the factory laid down explicity that those
who organised a strike were punishable. Although Japan has no
special law which prohibits the employer from demanding that
in the employment contract the workers shall promise not to
join a tradc union" in practice the employer is not permitted
to make such a demand. For instance, in 1925, the prefectural
authorities of Aichi, Miyagi, Tottori, etc., ordered the suppression
of the clauses in the works regulations which provided for sanctions to be applied in case of a worker joining a trade union.
The methods of control of works regulations by the local
authorities are reported in the annual reports of factory inspection If the provisions regarding sanctions contained in t h ~
works regulations are found to be excessively severe, the authorThe enquiry was addressed to 161 textile mills erriploying at least
300 workers ; of these mills 105 replied. Cf. S h a k a i Seisaku Jiho, Nov. 1926,
p. 141 ; Aug. 1927, p. 136.
The Trade Union Bill contains n provision on this point
(( f. Part 111, Chapter I, p. 147).

170

IhDUSTRIAL L.4BOUR I N J A P A N

----

ities secure their alteration and this has had the effect of reducing
the cause of friction between c m p l o ~ e r sand workers '.

A number of legal conditions have to be fulfilled before a
worker can be discharged. The conditions which apply generally to all employment contracts are found in the Civil Code
whereas the conditions which apply specifically to factories and
mines are in the factory legislation and mining regulations. 'The
general rule of the Civil Code is that an employment contract
which was made for an indefinite term may be cancelled at any
time by either party, but the notice to cancel the contract takes
effect only two weeks aftcr the noticc is given unless there is a
special agreement to the c-ontrary'.
The factory law provides that when an employer wishes to
discharge a worker, the notice for dismissal must be given two
weeks in advance, or the worker must be paid a sum of money
equivalent to at least two weeks' wages in lieu of notice ', except
that in cases of force majeure, such as the destruction of the
workshop by fire, misdemeanour or crime committed by the
worker, etc., the contract may be cancelled at once without
notice or the payment of two weeks' wagcs. The worker, on
thc other hand, is only subject to the general provisions of private
law when he wishes to leave his employment; he is not bound
by ohligations corresponding to those laid upon the employer.
For example, according to Japanese custom, illness of the worker's parents (if they look to him for assistance) constitutes an
"unavoidable circumstance " demanding his presence at home
and he may leave his work at once, enjoying the same freedom
from civil responsibility towards the employer as if he were
himself ill or injured. The worker who is injured or contracts an
illness in the performance of his work cannot be discharged OR
two weeks' notice ; in such cases, the notice of two weeks cannot be given until a minimum period of two months has expired.
Women may not he dismissed during leave of absence for
childbirth. The law entitles them to a period of leave of four
weeks hefore and six weeks after childbirth, so that, if the four
The rules of the textile mill? relating to sanctions h a w doubtless
bee11 made less r-evere since 1926.
Ci\il Code. section 627.
' Section 27 bis of the Ordinance for the administration of the
Factory Act icf. Cegislatiz~e Series, 1920. .Tap. 1).

RECRUITMENT, EMPLOYMENT ABD DISCIIANGE

171

weeks' leave of absence has been taken, the dismissal notice cf
the employer can only take effect after twelve weeks, or two
weeks after the ten weeks' maternity leave.
Japanese legislation takes into consideration the fact that
many workers are recruited at a distance from the place 01 work
and obliges the employer to pay the full expense of the journey
home, when discharging a woman or a young person under the
age of Pixteen to suit his own convenience, or when a worker
who is injured or contracts illness in the performance of his
work is discharged and returns home within fifteen days after
dismissal. This must cover the journey by train, ship or other
mcans of transport with meals and sleeping accommodation in
addition if the journey takes more than a day. In the case of a
sick person requiring someone to accompany him the expense
must also be borne by the employer, In addition, the employer
usually gives the worker a small sum as "pocket money". In
1930 there were 12,285 factory and 8,827 mining workers
returned to their homes at the expense of the employers in conformity with the legal provisions governing discharge, the cost to
the employers concerned being 44,274 yen for factory and 109,063
yen for the mining workers'.
The factory and mining laws of Japan require further that
the employer shall deliver a certificate to any dismissed worker,
at the latter's request. The certificate must deal only with the
period during which the worker has been employed, the kind of
work performed and the wages h c has received. Although the
purpose of this limitation is not explicitly stated in the text of
the law, it designed to protect the worker from employers
whose practice was to make notes or marks on the certificate
which were prejudicial to the worker in seeking employment
ekewhere. The employer may, however, enter any statement
regarding the conduct, skill, etc., of the worker at hi. request.
In practice, however, it appears that few workers demand
certificates.
Apart from these provisions of the national law, supervision
over conditions for the dismissal of workers is exercised by prefectural Governors and chiefs of local mining bureaux when they
approve the works regulations. More detailed legal regulations
regarding the conditions i n which workers may he discharged
-

-

I

RGtlii .Tih6, Per. 1929, p 1 1 , and Jan 1932, p. s

172

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

have however, for some years been demanded by trade union
leaders, with a view to safeguarding workers against dismissal
on account of trade union activities.
Another matter, which it has been urged should be
regulated by legislation, is the " discharge allowance ". It is
an almost universal custom in Japan to give a "discharge
allowance ", but it is not a legal obligation. Employers, however,
consider themselves to be under a moral obligation to grant such
allowances, and they constitute a not inconsiderable charge on
industry. The practice is still regarded as an expression of the
paternalistic sentiment and is even upheld as a "noble tradition,
peculiar to Japanese employers ". Of late, however, the adequacy of the custom to meet the needs of discharged workers,
especially when they are discharged in large numbers, has been
called in question. When an employer is obliged to close his
factory owing to depression or failure, obviously he is unable
to pay the workers he discharges anything approaching the sum
he would pay under normal conditions. Rioreover, with the
growth of large-scale industry and the cessation of personal
relations between employer and worker, the individual needs of
the workers are no longer taken into account in fixing the
discharge allowance.
A Japanese writer who has made a special study of the question suggests that its solution does not lie in providing for the
grant of allowances to workers with a record of long or specially
meritorious service, hut in guaranteeing reasonable means of
living to all workers who hecome unemployed otherwise than
by their own fault'. This conception is not entirely new, for
the discharge allowance has for many years been considered as a
form of unemployment relief, and the idea of making it a legal
obligation on the employer to pay discharge allowance has been
seriously entertained. The difficulty, however, arises precisely
from the fact that the principle adopted in fixing the amount
has been almost without exception to grant either a fixed sum
or fixed percentage in proportion to the length of service. The
practice has, of course, varied imrnenseIy according to the size
or financial capacity of the undertaking, the condition of the
labour market at the time when the discharge takes place, and
many other circumstances. Inevitably there is a big difference
Yos~ro M ~ R I T A
: Shitsugyo Hoken Ron
Insurance), pp. 273-274.

(Essay on Unemployment

RECRUITMENT, EMPLOYMENT

A N D D~SCHARGE

173

between the ordinary allowances which are voluntarily granted
by private companies and those granted by State or public institutions when exceptional circumstances cause the discharge of
workers en masse. Examples of the maximum allowances
granted by forty-nine representative factories in Osaka are 2s
follows : under one year's service, 32 days' wages ; four to five
years' service, 107 days ; ten to fifteen years, 296 days ; twenty
to twenty-five years, 497 days '.

' Zbid.,

p. 276.

CHAPTER I1
HOURS OF WORK, YIGHT WORK AND REST PERIODS

Factories
Hours of work. - The only statutory limitation of hours of
work in Japanese factories relates to women and young persons.
Subject to certain permanent and temporary exceptions mentioned below, the daily hours of work of women and of young
persons under sixteen years of age ' employed in factories where
ten or more persons are regularly employed or where the work
is of a dangerous nature or injurious to health ', may not exceed
eleven hours, including a break of one hour ; the weekly hours
of work are not specifically limited. The limitation of dailj
hours of work also applies, since 1 September 1929, to all factories engaged in weaving or doubling and which use motive
power, regardless of the number of persons employed" during
the first two years of the operation of this amendment, the Iimitation was twelve hours a day, but since 1 September 1931 it has
h e n eleven hours.
The only permanent exception in force affects factories
which are entirely exempted from the field of application of the
Factory Act, under paragraph 2 of section 1. These factories are
specified in section 1 of the Ordinance for the administration of
the Act ; they are factories which do not use motive power and
are engaged in the manufacture of certain foodstuffs, basket,
bamboo and straw goods, fans, certain kinds of toys and paper
goods, Japanese wearing apparel, stockings and other tailored
articles made hy hand, hand-made silk and cotton cord, embroidery, lace, button-lace or drawn thread work.

' The ape \\as fifteen )ears until 1 luly 1929
' Cf. Legislative Series, 1926, Tap. 1 (B.)
' Cf Legislntivr Series, 1929, Tap 1 (R'i

--

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HOURS O F WORh
- ----

--

175

- ---

---

For a number of years after the amended Factory Act came
into force (1 July 1926), a longer working day was permitted in
various branches of the textile industry. These were granted in
virtue of section 3, paragraph 2, of the Act, under which the
Minister of Home Affairs was autliorised to extend the daily hours
of work by a period not exceeding two hours, according to the
nature of the work, and for a period not exceeding fiftee~lyears
from the date of enforcement of the amended Act. In pursuance
of this provision, section 3 of the Regulations for the administration of the Factory Act permilted any undertakings for spinning,
the manufacture of silk thread by machinery or of silk woven
goods for export, as might be specified by a prefectural Govcrnor, to extend the hours of work of women and young pereons
under sixteen years of age1 to twelve in the day until 31 August 1931, provided that the work was not carried out by two
or more shifts. By a subsequent amendment, made at the request
of the manufacturers, the exception for the manufacture of silk
thread by machinery was abolished on 1 July 1930 ; the other
exceptions came to an end on 31 August 1931 as provided for in
the Regulations.
No provision is made for exceptions in the case of preparatory or complementary work. In case of emergencies arising
from a natural calamity or actual or impending disaster, the
Minister for Home Affairs may suspend the provisions of the Act
relating to working hours, night work and rest periods in specified industries and districts. Temporary exceptions permitting
overtime will be dealt with below.
As regards the hours aclually worked in Japanese industries,
the most important sources of information are the annual reports
on factory inspection issued by the Bureau of Social Affairs (these
reports, however, only appear from one to two years after the
date to which they refer), the monthly report on wages and
prices published by the Bureau of Statistics of the Imperial Cabinet (which contain up-to-date information on hours of work but
are not comprehensive), and the labour census
which
since 1924, when the first investigation was made, has been taken
every three years. The second labour census was taken in 1927,

"

'

Fifteen years until 1 Tidy 1929.
Officially called R6dB T5kei J i t c h i ChBsa (literally " L a h o l ~ r Statistics Investigation ") Jcf. L~gislatiz'r g ~ r i e s , 1922, Inp 1'1

1-76

I ~ D ~ J S T R I ALABOUR
L
IN JAPAN

and it is principally horn this that the figures here used are
extracted ; the report of the 1930 census is not yet available.
The 1927 labour census covered 7,486 factories employing
1,381,931 workers (629,106 men and 752,825 women) or 72 per
cent. of the total factory workers in that year. According to this
census, 314,461, or 23 per cent. of the total workers investigated,
worked overtime, while 39,181 or 3 per cent. worked less than
the regular hours. If these two groups are left out of consideration, 1,020,803 or 74 per cent. of the total workers investigated
worked as shown in table XXVI.
TZBLE SXVI. - IIOURS OF ACTUAL WORK PER DAY

--

Number of
persons
working
regular hours

Factories

~

iverage houm

of
actual work

Textile :
Silk filatures
Cotton spinning
Cotton weaving
Silk weaving
Wool weaving
Others
Total
Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
Leather, bone, etc.
M700d and bamboo
Food and drink
Clothing
Construction
Printing. and bookbinding
Artistic, etc.
Gas and electricity
Others
Aggregat.e total
--

1

1,0%0;803

The
(1) RLd6 Toliei J i l t h i ChGsa Hirkoku, Oct. 1927, Factories seclioll, Vol. 11, p. 516.
c~aprcssion " hours of actual wovk " uscd in this aud succeeding tables means hours of works
e.rrlrrding hreaks (ci.. RCdU TBhei J i t v h i Clr6ra H6koli11, 1924, Yol. I , 1,. 40, lOotn0k).

According to this table, while hours of actual work in the
textile industry averaged 10 hours 18 minutes a day, those of the
next most important industries from the standpoint of the numbers of workers employed, i.e. machine and tool (13 per cent. of
the total workers employed in factories), food and drink (9 per

177

HOURS OF WORK

cent,), metal ( 6 per cent.) and chemical (6 per cent.) ranged
from 8 hours 54 minutes in the machine and tool industry to
9 hours 12 minutes in the chemical industry. Japanese industries may thus be divided into two groups as regards working
hours : the textile group, and all other industries combined. In
the first group, the prevailing hours of work were just under
11 a day in silk filatures, and in cotton spinning and weaving
just under 10 hours, while in all the other industries taken together 9 hours were most generally worked. In computing the
average hours of work for all industries, the textile group exercises a great influence upon the total average because of the
large number of workers involved therein'. Thus the average
for all industries was raised to 9 hours 54 minutes.
More recent information on hours than that given by
the 1927 census is provided by the reports of the monthly statistics of wages and prices published by the Bureau of Statistics of
the Imperial Cabinet.
T9VLE XXVII.

- CIIAVGES

IN DIFFERENT

IN HOURS OF ACTUAL WORK

CLASSES OF FACTORIES,

1926-1930

.-

Textile
Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
Leather, bone, etc.
Wood and bamboo
Food and d r i n k
Clothing
Construction
P r i n t i n g a n d bookbinding
Artistic
Gas and clwtricity
Average
--

C l u n p n Bulika Coke8 Geppri, 1927-1930 The figilres show a,erage hours of \\ark for the
\\hole year. The imzstigation c o ~ e r z dfrom 340,000 to 380,000 \\orkers employed in approriniately 740 factories

I Silk-reeling, the largest
branch of the textile industry, emplojs
385,435 workers (or 20 per cent. of all Japanese factory worker.i), cotton
spinning has 225,518 workers (or 12 per cent. of the total number
employed in factories), and cotton \\caving employs 156,563 workers (or
8 per cent. of the total number. (Taken from K6j6 T E k i Hyo (Factory
Statistics T,~bles),1927, pp. 26-30.)

178

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

The available data do not explain the considerable differences between these figures and those of the labour census, but
lhey may be taken as indicating the trend of hours in the various
industries. The noticeable fall in the hours of work since 1929
was caused by the abolition of night work in the cotton spinning industry which came into operation on 1 July 1929. By
this new arrangement, the actual hours of work in this industry
were reduced from ten hours to eight-and-a-half in the day.
Hours of work were also reduced in other important industries,
such as machine and tool, food and drink, metal and chemical
industries.
The Bureau of Social Affairs made an investigation in 1929
of the total hours of some 55,000 persons employed in cement
manufacturing, paper manufacturing and other processes in
which, for technical reasons, the work is carried on continuously
by a succession of shifts. The enquiry showed that about onethird of these undertakings worked with three shifts and the
remaining two-thirds generally with two shifts, while about
1,800 persons were employed on alternate days for twenty-four
hours in succession. The three shifts were chiefly of eight hours
each, though in some cases of nine hours ; the two shifts were
usually of twelve hours each, but in some cases they were alternating shifts cf thirteen hours and eleven hours, or fourteen hours
and ten hours. Table XXVIII shows the number of factories and
workers classified according to the variety of shifts and industrial
groups :
TABLE XXVIII. - SHIFT SYSTEM I N VARIOUS INDUSTRIES

WORKING CONTINUOUSLY,

Total

1930 '
Percentage of workers on

number of

i

Factories

workers
investigated

2 shifts

1

3 shifts

1

Alternatiw
6ayse.rvice

Machine and tool
Chemical
Food and drink
Gas, electricity, etc.
Miscellaneous
Total
1

rommunication to fh? International 1,al)onr Office from the 'l'ok?o Office in 1930

I
/

Overlime. - In addition to the gcneral provision in section 8
ol the Factor) Act permitting the suspension of the provisions
relating to hours of work, night work and rest days in cases of
emergencies resulting from natural catastrophes, the Act empowers the occupiers of factories to cause overtime to he worked
in lhc following circumstances :
(1) 111 ex( eptional emergencies resulting from unavoidable circumstances: in such circumstances the occupier may obtain permission
from the administrative authorities for overtime to be worked during a
specified period, pro\ided that, in order to prevent the loss of raw
materials or goods which deteriorate rapidly, previous permission is not
necessary for the extension of hours of work for a period not exceeding
four consecutive days or sewn days in the month; a report must be
made to the authorities if this provision has been applied;
(2) To meet "temporary pressure of work": in this case the
occupier may prolong the working day by not more than two hours
on not more than seven days in a month; the authorities must he
informed in advance;
(3) In "undertakings subject to seasonal pressure": permission
may be obtained to extend the day's work by one hour, provided the
total number of the days when overtime is worked under this provision
does not exceed 120 days in the year.

I

The arnou nt of overtime worked in Japanese factories covered
by the Factory Act is shown in the annual reports of factory
inspection. According to these reports, 159 applications were
received during 1927, chiefly from cotton-weaving factories i n
Fukui prefecture, for extensions of from half-an-hour to two
hours a day for fifteen to sixty days on the ground of " unavoidable circumstances " (section 8, par. 2, of the Factory Act).
The unavoidable circumstances in this instance were damages
to the mills by heavy snow. No similar cases were reported i n 1928
or 1929.
According to the census of labour of October 1927, out of
I -381,931 factory workers covered by the investigation, overtime
was worked by 314,461 or 23 per cent.; its average duration for
all industries being 1 hour 18 minutes. In the textile industry,
8 per cent. of the workers worked overtime, while in the food
and drink trades and in the chemical industry the percentages
were 23 per cent. and 38 per cent. respectively. In the metal
industry and the machine arid tool industry (where hours of
work are shorter than i n others) more than 50 per cent. of the
workers worked Ill2 hours and 1 hour 24 minutes overtime
respectively. Table YYJX shows the particulars as given i n the
census.

180

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

TABLE XXIX.

-

--

--

NUMBER O F PERSONS AND HOURS OF OVERTIME

WORKED IN FACTORIES,

Industry

I

Total number
of persons
investigated

OCTOBER

1927 '

Number of persons
working overtime
Number

/

Per cent.

Hours

of overtime
worked

Textiles :
Silk filatures
Cotton-spinning
Cotton-weaving
Silk-weaving
Wool-weaving
Others
Total or average
Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
Leather, bone, etc.
Wood and bamboo
Food and drink
Clothing
Construction
Printing and book binding
Artistic, etc.
Gas and electricity
0them
Total or average
1

R6d6 Tdkei Jitchi Ch6sa H6kok1z, Oct. 1925, Val. Li, pp. 516-530.

During the last few years the number of permits issued for
extensions of working hours u p to two hours per day and for
seven days in the month, on the ground of temporary pressure
of work, have increased as shown below' :
Permits issued

Most of these permits were issued for the textile industry,
particularly the weaving mills, which obtained 6,985 out of
Cf. R6d6 J i h 6 , Dec. 1929, p. 15, and Dec. 1930, p. 7

HOURS O F WORK

181
-

10,152 permits in 1930. Printing and bookbinding, manufacture
of tapes and braids, manufacture of rubber wares, etc., are predominant among other undertakings which have applied for
permission to work overtime ; the printing and bookbinding industry received 636 permits and the rubber-ware industry 150 permits during 1930.
In " undertakings subject to seasonal pressure" the number
of applications for overtime has been small : 16 cases in 1927,
18 in 1928, 15 in 1929 and 13 in 1930.
Breaks and rest days. - Young persons under sixteen years
of age1 and women employed in factories are entitled, under
section 7 of the Factory Act, to a break of at least thirty minutes
if the work exceeds six hours per day, and of at least an hour if
the hours of work are more than ten per day. Men also benefit
indirectly by this regulation, for in almost all factories the breaks
are gencral. In most cases the statutory hour's rest is divided
into three periods of half-an-hour at noon, and fifteen minutes
at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. respectively.
According to the report of the census of labour of 1927, the
average length of the breaks for 71 per cent. of the total factory
workers covered by the census varied from fifty-one minutes to
one hour a day, for 10.2 per cent. it was more than one hour,
while for 18.5 per cent. it was under fifty minutes. In the textile
industry, where hours of work were longer than in others, the
average length of the breaks exceeded fifty minutes a day, while
in the printing and bookbinding industry 54.2 per cent of the
workers were granted a break of only half-an-hour. In the metal
trades 29.5 per cent., and in the machine and tool industries
34.9 per cent., of the workers also had less than half-an-hour's
rest in the day. Table XXX shows the length of the breaks in
the various industries covered by the labour census of 1927.

Fifteen years until 1 .July 1929.

182

I A D U S T R I ~ LLABOUR IN JAPAN

-

----

Worherb h a ~ i specified
n ~
length of rest periods
per
-day a s percentage of total
---

t actor1r5

1 h.
31 m.
to 2 h.

Textiles
Silk filatures
Cotton spinning
Cotton weaving
Silk weaving
Wool weaving
Others

-

More
than
'2

1

h.

-

- 1 --I

I

1.31

Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
Leather, bone, etc.
Wood and bamboo
Food and drink
Clothing
Construction
I
Printing and
bookbinding 1
Artistic, etc.
I
Gas and electricity
Others

9.9

i

1.9
3.2

I

9.0
4.7
-6.6

1

I

3.9

--

3.5

I

-

1

29

I

'

I
1

/

-2.0
-

-

-

I

1.3 '

i

.iggreg:ite total 1
-I

-

I

---

---

]?odd TSQei 1 1 1 t h (l16sa
~
l1Bhol.u (Cansus), Oct

1927, 1 0 1 11, pp 304-305

Under the Factory Act, the employer is compelled to grant
the breaks to all workers concerned at the same time, and not
by rotation as had been previously permilted. All work must
stop during the rest period and machinery must not be left in
operation. If it is difficult for the whoIe staff to stop work simultaneously because of the process employed or the limited space
in the dining-room, special permission must be obtained for the
introduction of a special arrangement (section 7 of the Act).
According to the factory inspection reports there were 40 applications in 1927 under this provision, 30 in 1928, 324 in 1929
and 67 in 1930. The sudden increase in 1929 of applications
from the textile mills may perhaps be put down to the changes
made in the shifts in the course of this year.
The suspension of breaks is not recognised by law under
any circumstance, except in the case of a natural calamity ; the

HOURS OF \FORK

183

compulsory break is included in the legal hours of work. In
summer, if the break is lengthened beyond the statutory period,
the employer may obtain permission to increase the working
day by the excess of the break over one hour, provided that the
hours of work are not extended by more than one hour in all.
Under this provision, 1,008 applications were received during 1929, and 1,438 in 1930, of which 694 came from silk fila
tures and 280 from cotton-weaving mills.
As regards rest days, the Factory Act lays down that women
and y o u ~ ~persons
g
under sixteen years of age must be granted
at least two days n. month. The Washington Hours Convention
made provision in the special Article for Japan (Article 9 ) for
a weekly rest day of twenty-four consecutive hours for all classcs
of workers. This Convention, however, has not been ratified by
Japan, and there is no Japanese legislation prescribing a weekly
rest day. Nor is the weekly rest customary in Japan. Public
institutions such as Government and municipal offices or schools,
and some private establishments, such as banks, etc., close on
one day in the week, but most of the industrial and commercial
houses still retain the old custom of giving two holidays a
month usually on the first and fifteenth day of the month or
on the first and third Sunday. In addition to these rest days,
they also grant several holidays, chiefly on New Year's Day and
in midsummer at the time of the Buddhist festival BOIL.
As a general rule, all the workers in an undertaking are
granted the rest day at the same time, but in electricity and gas
plants and in many of the silk filatures, the workers are usually
obliged to take the rest days in rotation. A good many factories
observe national holidays or fix the regular holidays so that they
fall on national holidays. Moreover, there is a tendency on the
part of many factories to take advantage of Sundays or holidays
as a means of reducing production when business is slack
Table XXXI shows the number of rest days per month observed in
different branches of industry in 1927.
Table XXXI shows that while the majority of cotton spinners
en-ioyecl a weekly rest ', over 80 per cent. of the silk reelers and
Under the supplementary provisions of Lhe Factory Act it was compulsory to grant four rest days a month to women and young persons
under fifteen years of age employed in factories working two or mow
shifts and where the abolition of night work was postponed until
1 July 1929.

284

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN
.

-

TABLE XXXI.

- REST

DAYS PER MONTH I N DIFFERENT FACTORIES,

rota1 number
of workers
investigated

Factories

Workers having various numbers of rest
days per month as pvcentage of total
workers in respective industries
--

1 day

2 days

3 days

4 days
or more

Textiles :
Silk filatures
Cotton spi n ~ i n
Cotton-weaving
Silk-weaving
Wool-weaving
Others
Total
Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
Leather, bone, etc.
Wood and bamboo
Food and drink
Clothirtg
Construction
Printing and tookbinding
Artistic, etc.
Gas and electricity
Others
Aggregate total
JlGdri Tdliei Jitrhi Lh6sa H6liok11, Oci. 192i, Vol. 11, pp. 312-318.

weavers in the cotton and silk mills had only two days' rest in
a month. In a heavy industry such as the metal trade it is noteworthy that only 27.7 per cent. of the workers had a day's rest
every week ; the remainder were given two to three days' rest
in the month. In 1927 nearly half the factories covered by Ihc
census (47.8 per cent.) gave their workers two days' rest in the
month; while 43.7 per cent. enjoyed four rest days in the month.
Although in recent years, as already pointed out, a gradual reduction in the average hours of actuaI work has been taking
place, table XXXII shows that the average number of working
days per month is almost stationary in all factories.

HOURS OF WORK

185

TABLE X 1 X I I . - A V E R A G E W O R K I N G DAYS PER MONTH
IN VARIOUS FACTORIES,

-Factories

1926-1930 '

I

Textiles
Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
Leather, bone, etc.
Wood and bamboo
Food and drink
Clothing
Construction
Printing and bookbinding
Artistic, ctc.
Gas and electricity
Average
1

( l l i n g l n Bnhhn Toke1 G e p p 6 , 193i-1931

During 1930, especially in the cotton-spinning mills, more
factories granted weekly rest, for, on account of the severe trade
depression in that year, the Cotton Spinners' Association found
it necessxy to limit the output of its member mills by sealing
their spindles. This inevitably aggravated unemployment among
mill operatives, and under the pressure of public opinion and
encouraged by the Government, the producers adopted the
weekly rest to relieve the unemployment situation '.
Night work. - Under section 4 of the Factory Act the ernployment of young persons under sixteen years of agez and cf
women is prohibited from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The employment
of such persons until 11 p.m. is, however, permitted with the
sanction of the administrative authorities, and almost all cotton spinners have sought permission to use this exception.
Table XXXIII shows the number of factories and of young persons
under fifteen years of age and women engaged in night work
before the prohibition of night work came into force; the number

' Industrial

and Lnbozzr l n f o r n u ~ t i o n ,Vol. XXXV, p. 139.
This age was fifteen until 1 Tuly 1929, when the application
of the prohibition of night work for women and young persons was also
put into effect.

186

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

of young persons and women represented some 17 per cent. of
the total number employed in privately controlled industries.
TABLE

XXXIII. -- RLMBER

O F FACTORIES AND PROTECTED WORKERS

Number of workers
Industry

Factories

1

,

1

o m e n

1

Total

Textiles :
Cotton-spinning
Cotton-weaving
Others
Total
Machine and tool
Chemical
Food and drink
RIiscellaneous
Total
1

K 6 j 6 K a n t o l x XenpG,

1928, p. 107

Mines
Hours of work. - The provisions relating to miners' hours
of work were originally almost identical with those of the Factory Act, but an amendment to the Miners' Regulations, made
in 1928, fixed ten hours as the maximum working day for all
miners underground; this provision was applied from 1 September 1930, and was the first instance of the legal regulation of
the hours of work of men '.
For underground work, the Regulations of 1926 limited the
working hours of women and young workers under sixteen years
of age to cight where the temperature is above 30•‹C., and prohibited their employment altogether in any place underground
where the temperature is above 36" C. The amended Regulations
of 1928 entirely forbid the employment of these workers in underground work as from 1 September 1933, except when authorised
by the administrative authorities to work in coal mines where
coal seams are thin. There is no general limitation of the hours
of work above ground ; the hours of women and of young persons
-- .I

Cf. Part 111, Chapter I, p. 144.

187

HOURS OF WORK

under sixteen years of age may not exceed eleven in the day,
including a break of one hour of rest.
Various exceptions are permitted by the Regulations : the
limitation of hours to ten does not apply to miners chielly employed in watching or in intermittent work ; in case of necessity
caused by an "actual or imminent disaster or any other unavoidable cause" the employer is allowed to employ any miner,
subject to the permission of the Chief of the Mines Inspection
Bureau and for a prescribed period, irrespective of the limitations
prescribed regarding hours of work, rest periods, etc.
As regards the actual hours of work I, the only figures
available are those of the 1927 census of labour. This census
covered 313 mines employing altogether 277,263 persons or about
94 per cent. of the total miners in that year. Of this number,
215,665 were men and 61,598 women ; 193,332 were employed
underground and 83,931 on the surface. Of the total miners
investigated, 57,684 or about 21 per cent. worked overtime,
1,062, or less than 2 per cent., worked less than the regular
hours. L ~ a v i n gthese two groups out of consideration, 218,517,
or 77 per cent. of the total miners covered by the census, worked
as follows
TABLE XSXIV.

- NUMBER

O F DAILY HOURS O F WORK 1iY MINES,

Mines

Number of persons
working rrgulnr
hours

Average
hours of
work

Undergroiind
Coal
Metal
Oil
Other
Total or average
Surfacc
Coal
Metal
Oil
Otllers
Total or average
IlC,lij T6hei .litchi C116sa HGliokr;, Oct. 1 9 9 i , Vol. I V . 1 , ~ .54-5.5.

'

" Actual hours of work " as used here should be understood to
mean the " hours of attendance ", 2nd in the case of underground work
the term applies to the hours computed from the time the miner enters the
cage in order to descend until he or she !eaves the cage after reascending.

188

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

'The table shows that the hours of work were longest, both
underground and on the surface, in coal mines, where 89 per
cent. of all miners were employed at the end of 1927. More
than 67 per cent. of all the miners in coal and other mines were
engaged in underground work. As in mining operations in
other countries, the hours of work were generally shorter underground than on the surface, the average for miners in the workings being 8 hours 54 minutes, and for surface workers 9 hours
6 minutes.

Overtime. - The average time worked in excess of regular
hours by the 57,684 persons found to have worked overtime was
1 hour 6 minutes underground, and 1 hour 12 minutes above
ground. Particulars are given in table XXXV.

Total
number
of persons
~vestignted

Mines

Underground :
Coal
Metal
Oi 1
Others

Sumber of persons
working overtime
Nulnber

/

Nl,mber
hours of
overtime
work.perd

Percent

10.0
35.4

-

i

H. A!.
1 It!
1 1 00
-

Total
Surface :
Coal
Metal
Oil
Others
Total

Breaks and rest days. - The Regulations for the employment and relief of miners provide, as in the case of the Factory
Act, that persons under sixteen years of age and women shall
have a break of at least thirty minutes if a day's work exceeds
six hours, and of at least one hour if it exceeds ten hours.
The census of labour of 1927 shows that in coal mines
53.3 per cent. of the miners working underground had a break
ranging from fifty-one minutes to one hour in the day, 19.1 per

189

HOURS OF WORK

-

cent. les5 than fifty minutes, while 2.5 per cent. had no break
at all. In metal mines, 55.9 per cent. of the underground workers
also had fifty-one minutes to an hour's break, but 35 per cent.
less than half-an-hour. Table XXXVI sets out in detail the situation in coal, metal, oil and other mines.
TABLE XXXVI.

- LENGTH OF REST PERIODS PER DAY
OCTOBER

Mines

Total
number o!
miners in

Miners having specified length of rest per day as
percentage of total

-

Less
None than
30 m.

-

Underground :
Coal
Metal
Oil
Others
Total
Surface :
Coal
Metal
Oil
Others

175,192
17,465
675

I N MINES,

1927 '

more
than
2 h.

11.4
35.3
13.5
8.4

Total

4.4
7.0
-

In respect of rest days, while the Regulations only prescribe
two days in the month for women and young persons under
sixteen years of age and contain no provisions in regard to rest
days for men, the actual situation is more favourable in mines '
than in factories. According to the census of labour of 1927,
two or three rest days per mont,h were usually granted in
mctal mines, four in coal mines and oil fields, and two in other
mines.
On an average, 88 per cent. of the total miners employed
underground were given four or more rest days per month, while
65.3 per cent. of surface workers had four or more days, as shown
in table XXXVII.
It was compulsory under the Regulations of 1916 and the amended
Regulations of 1926 to grant four rest days in the month to women and
young persons employed at night in mines in virtue of the exception for
mines working nith two or more shifty.

190
TABLE S X X V I I .

IiVDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A A

- RvhIBER

Number
of persons
investigated

O F REST DAYS PER MONTFT I& BII\ES,

Miners having different numbers of rest days per
month a s percentage
- of total workers in respective
groups
i day
of rest

2 days
of rest

3 days

of rest

4 days or
nore of rest

Underground :
Coa 1
Metal
OiI
Others
Total

1.8
63.8

2.3
28.5

95.9
12.5

100.0
6.9

4.6

88.0

Surface :
Coal
Metal
Oil
Others
Total

2.1
43.9
78.0
100.0
17.3

4.5
40.1
20.0

93.4
1.9
65.3

1

-

-

-

14.0

-

R6d6 l'okei J i t c l i i Chosa H6kokr1, Vol. IV, pp. 12-13, Oct. 1927.

Night work. - 'She Miners' Regulations of 1916 prohibited
the employment of women and of young persons under fifteen
years of age during the hours between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. This
prohibition did not apply if the miners worked alternately in two
or more shifts, provided that the women and young persons employed at night changed shifts at intervals not exceeding ten days.
By the amending Ordinance of 1926 these provisions were
changed by the substitution of " 5 a.m. " for " 4 a.m. " and " sixteen years of age" for " fifteen years of age "; the extension of the
prohibited night period came into force on 1 July 2926, the
raising of the age of young persons on I July 1929.
These provisions were further amended by the Ordinance of
1 September 1928, which abolishes the exception permitting the
employment of women and of young persons under sixteen years
of age between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. where work is organised i n
two or more shifts as from 1 September 1933. After this date,
however, it will be possible to employ any miner until 11 p.m.
where two or more shifts are worked, subject to the permission
of the Chief of the Mines Inspection Bureau. It will also be possible, subject to permission by the same authority, to employ

101

HOURS OF WORK

women and young persons under sixteen years of age until
12 p.m. in coal-sorting at the surface in one of two alternating
shifts ; such persons may not, however, be employed on the next
day before 6 a.m. Finally, where the workers are employed in
coal-sorting at the surface in one of three or more alternating
shifts, it will be possible, subject to the permission of the Chief
of the Mines Inspection Bureau, to employ them at night for a
specified period.
Transport and Postal, Telegraph and
Telephone Services
The Government publishes monthly statistics of the hours
of work in transport and postal, telegraph and telephone services. Hours of work in these services are not regulated by law.
T4BLE

XXXVIII. - DAILY

HOURS O F WORK AND REST DAYS PER MONTE1

I N TRANSPORT AND POSTAL,

TELEGR.WH

AND TELEPIIONE

Rest hours

SERVICES,

Actual
hours of
work

Rest days
--

H.
Postal, telegraph and telephone
Transport :
Railways
Tramways
Motor-buses
Navigation

1

M.
07

1 58

3
1
3
2

--

Average

06
15
44
0 3

H. M.
7

Days

28

11 12
9 02
7 03
8 30
9 4 5

3.7

5.0
5.9
3.8
-

4.5
5.0

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING

Legal Provisions
Legislation in respect of wages is limited in Japan to certain general provisions for the protection of wages in the Civil
Code and the Code of Civil Procedure, and various provisions in
the factory and mining laws and regulations regarding the nature
and periodicity of payments, savings funds, etc.
The Civil Code recognises the priority of wages over other
liabilities in the event of the bankruptcy of the empIoyer. Wages
which have become due during the six months preceding bankruptcy are a first charge on the assets of the employer u p to a
maximum sum of 50 yen. The Code also gives workers the
right to dispose of articles produced by them to meet their claims
for the last three months' wages ; this right, however, cannot
be exercised if the articles in question have been mortgaged or
pawned because the creditors' right over mortgaged or pawned
articles takes precedence of the workers' claim. The Code of
Civil Procedure lays down that wages cannot be seized in distraint unless they amount to more than 300 yen per year ; should
a worker's income exceed 300 yen per year, one-half of the
amount exceeding 300 yen may be seized. In view of the changed
economic conditions it is recopised that these old provisions of
the Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure no longer provide
sufficient protection to wages and that their revision is desirable;
and it has been proposrd that this revision ~holildbe made by
special legislation.
The principle that wages should be paid in cash at least
once a month is laid down in both the mining and factory legislation. Section 78 of the Mining Act of 1905 provides that " the
holder of the mining right shall pay wages in cash to any miner
at least once a month on a definite day ". The Ordinance for the

WAGES ARD COST OF LIVING

193

Administration of the Factory Act (section 22) states that " wages
shall be payable at least once a month in cash ". An exception
to the rule is, however, permitted by the Factory Ordinance,
section 24 of which provides that official consent may be obtained
to a scheme whereby " some other grant for their (the workers')
benefit is made in lieu of a part of their wages ".
The Factory Ordinance also permits part of the wages to he
retained as savings on behalf of the workers. In this case, the
law requires that the employer shall establish a reliable scheme
for the administration of the savings fund and obtain the sanrtion of the administrative authorities in advance.
It is further provided in the Factory Ordinance that wages
and savings must be paid without delay upon the request of a
person who is entitled to make such a claim, in case of discharge
or death of the worker, or in other circumstances prescribed by
the Minister of the Interior '. The factory occupier, however, is
authorised to retain his own contributions to a worker's savings
if the worker is dismissed for a breach of the contract of employment or in consequence of an act for which the worker is
held responsible.
It is illegal for an employer to make a contract of emplojrnent which infringes these provisions of the Factory Ordinance
or fixes in advance either the sum payable to the employer for
breach of contract or the amount of indemnity for damage.
Some provision is made both in the mining and factory
legislation for the methods of payment of wages to be brought
to the kiwwledge of the workers. The Miners' Regulations (seetion 1) stipulate that the rules of employment must mention
"the method of payment of wages and the days for payment ",
while the Factory Regulations (section 12bis) provide that the
employer "shall make clear to the worker, before the latter
begins work, his or her rate of wages and how to calculate
them". Under the Ordinance respecting the recruiting of
workers, the recruiter must submit to the prefectural Governor,
who has jurisdiction over the area where the recruitment is t o
be conducted, a draft contract of employment containing, inter
alio, particulars as reyards wages. Finally, employers are also
In virtue of this provision, the worker is entitled to the payment of
savings i n case h e or she returns home for more t h a n a month, or is in
need of money because of illness or childbirth, or for n wedding ceremon!
or funeral.

under a legal obligation to keep a record of the payment of wages
to each worker.
Current Methods

of

Wage Payment

Few collective agreements have been concluded in Japan,
where, as previous chapters have shown, only some 7 per cent.
of factory, mining, transport and casual workers are organised.
A report of the Bureau of Social Affairs ' published in 1930 states
that there were in existence forty-nine collective agreements,
covering approximately 110,000 workers or about one-third of
those organised, and of whom 100,000 were seamen. The wages
of other workers are in most cases fixed by individual bargaining.
In considering wages in Japan it is particularly important
to take account, not only of the basic wage, but also of such
supplementary wages as overtime pay, special allowances,
bonuses and the payment of remuneration in kind. The payment
of supplementary wages is extensively practised in Japan and
they constitute an indispensable part of the workers' earnings.
According to section 1 of the Ordinance for the administration
of the Health Insurance Act, wages include the "payments and
other benefits received regularly or periodically". " Living-out
allowances " (tsiikin fe'ate') to workers living outside the factory
d
in respect of living accommodation or rent
gates ~ n advantages
do not enter into account in determining bhe amount of wages.
Bonuses or allowances granted at intervals exceeding three
months must also be excluded in computing wages '.
Statistical information indicating the incidence of various
methods of wage payment in Japan is not available, but the
information shows that basic wages may be divided generally
into time rates, piece rates and contract rates.

Time rates are rarely based on the hour ; the Sh6yu brewery
factories in Hyogo prefecture are an example of this method,
which is also practised in certain divisions of the machine and
tool, metal, shipbuilding and c'tlemical industries.
On the other hand, daily rates are so general in Japan that
the term Chingin (wages) usually refers to daily wages while
H d k i u (salary) refers to monthly payments. In many factories
where daily rates are paid the syptem is in reality one of task
I

Cf. RGdG Jih6, hug. 1930.
Cf. Legislative Series, 1926, Jap. 4 i c )

WAGES AND COST OF L I V I R G
--

195

-

work, the rates of pay increasing with the output in excess of the
amount assigned to each worker for the day. Daily rates are
also frequently subject to deductions if the worker arrives late
or leaves his work before thc hour fixed. In silk filatures, however, where workers are rarely paid under the daily wage system,
deductions are not made from earnings if the workers stop work
early.
The payment of weekly wages is uncommon ; and monthly
wages are paid only where it is difficult to reckon the work on
a time basis. In some seasonal industries, workers are paid by
the season. Men working in paper mills are often paid a so-called
yearly wage for a period lasting about ten months in the year. In
small cotton-weaving factories and silk filatures in rural districts,
the operatives, for the most part young girls, are sometimes
employed on a long contract lasting two or three years and
occasionally even longer, concluded between the employer and
the workers' parents who are in need of money. In such cases,
wages are often fixed in advance for the whole period of the
contract, a portion being paid to the parents at the time of
engagement. These advances or loans are refunded every year
out of the workers' earnings.
The piece-rate system is exteusively practised, especially in
the textile industry, and various methods have been devised in
order to encourage the increase of output or improvement in
quality. Complicated systems of piere rates increasing with the
amount of output in excess of a standard quantity have been introduced - systems so complicated that in silk filatures, for
instance, they are said to be often beyond the comprehension of
the uneducated girl operatives. In this industry, the daily
standard volume of work is predetermined for the worker, and
bonuses are granted or penalties inflicted according to the variations from the standard, the ratio of thc net product to a given
amount of material, its lustre, evenness, denier, etc. The
worker's earnings are her standard wage plus the bonus or minus
the penalty, as the case may be, and often the penalty is so high
that the worker may receive a very small wage. The standartl
wages are raised or lowered according to the materials, season
and market prices. The administrative authorities are reported
to be encouraging the etablishment of minimum wages in this
industry.
The contract wage system is found in some industries, and
especially in mines, where it is considered a convenient method

196

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IK J A P A N

for supervising the workers, simplifying the method 01 wage
payment and accelerating the speed of work. Contracts are individual or collective, or are made by a middleman. Under the i n .
dividual contract system, a worker contracts to do a definite
amount of work for a definite sum, while under a collective contract it is a group of workers which undertakes a fixed task for
a fixed price. In the latter case the wages are paid to the group
collectively and are divided among the workers, usually at varying rates as previously agreed upon. When an employment contract is concluded through a middleman, wages are paid to this
agent who distributes them among the workers after deducting
his commission fees.
Supplementary wages include overtime wages, allowances,
bonuses, and material or other supplies.
Workers on daily or piece rates usually receive extra wages
for overtime worked before or after the regular working hours
or on holidays. They are generally paid at progressive rates
which are applied from the beginning or some time after the
commencement of overtime work. According to the report of
the labour census of 1927, out of the 1,381,931 factory workers
investigated, 314,461, or 23 per cent., worked overtime for
1 hour 18 minutes on the average on the day the investigation
was made. The average wage per worker was 2.31 yen a day,
as compared with 1.19 yen paid to those who worked no overtime. It is impossible to calculate from these two figures an
average overtime rate or the percentage of overtime wages in
relation to regular wages, but it is obvious that overtime pav
constitutes an important part of the wages of workers in factories ~ n in
d mines.
Foremen or those entrusted with special duties such as the
supervision of workers are often paid monthly nllowartces. During the war, special allowances were also granted to workers in
most of the factories on account of the abnormal rise in the
cost of livinp.
It is an almost universal custom in Japanese industry to
grant bonuses : regular or full attendance bonuses, annual or
or half-yearIy bonuses and bonuses for long or specially useful
services '. The regular or full-attendance bonus is usually equal
-

I The " discharge allowance " has been discussed above (cf. pp. 170173). The special services for which bonuses are given include invention4

or improvements in manufacturing processes, prevention of waste or
accident, saving life and property, etc.

--

.
.

AKU COST O F LIVING

197

-.

to one to three days' wages per month and is paid with the wages,
though in mines a small daily bonus, usually of less than 15 sen,
is common. Annual bonuses, paid at the end of the year, or
half-yearly bonuses, paid at the end of July and December, vary
in amount with the state of trade, the value of the worker's services, and length of service
In some cases, the bonus system has developed into a form
of profit-sharing. In 1928, the Japan Industrial Club, an employers' organisation, made an investigation which showed that,
out of 430 selected establishments, 42, or nearly 10 per cent.,
had introduced profit-sharing1. In most of these undertakings,
however, the worker had not a right to a share in the profits,
the grant being made or withheld at will by the employer. The
system would appear, therefore, to be more accurately described
as " a bonus system based on profits ".
Money wages are supplemented in a large proportion of
Japanese factories and mines by material supplies, a system
which may be described as part payment of wages in kind.
Accordiiig to the labour census report of 1927 (see table XSXIX) ,
out of the 7,486 factories investigated, with a labour force of
1,374,836 workers, 4,370 factories with 776,859 workers (or
58 per cent. of the factories and 67 per cent. of the workers) paid
wages parlly in kind. In the textile industry 86 per cent. of the
workers received part of their wages in kind ; almost all the silk
filatures and cotton-spinning factories investigated paid their
workers on a system of money wages combined with wages in
kind? The percentage was higher in mines than in factories,
wages in kind being paid in 87 per cent., employing 67 per cent.
of the total miners investigated.
The most important forms of payment in kind are dormitory
or housing accommodation, including sometimes light and fuel,
rice and other food and clothing. The average cost of these items
per worker per day ranged in 1927 from 6 sen in the leather and
ivory industries to 20 sen in textile industries as a whole (28 sen
in silk filatures, 14 sen in cotton-spinning factories, 17 sen in
HonpB KGgyo ni okem Riyeki Bunpai narabini H u i j i Seido ni
kansuru ch5sn (An Enquiry into Profit-sharing or Analogous Systems in
Japan). Published by the Japan Industrial Club, 1930. 86,241 persons,
of whom 8,291 were staff, 77,250 workers and 700 ~~nclassified,were
covered by the enquiry.
In these industries, employers find it convenient to accommodate
workers (most of them young girls recruited in remote parts of the
country) in dormitories, with such supplies as are necessary for daily life

198

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR 19 JAPAR

cotton-weaving mills). The average figure for all the industries
was 19 sen, this being greatly influenced by the textile figures ;
in mines, the estimated cost was 9 sen in coal mines, with an
average of 10 sen for all mines. The results of the 1927 labour
census are given in table XSXIX ; this table reveals the interesting
fact that the average daily wages for all the industries covered
was higher in the factories which did not supplement money
wages by material supplies, i.e. 1.93 yen as against 1.28 yen,
while in mines the situation was the reverse, i.e. 1.52 yen as
against 1.88 yen.
TABLE XXXIX.

- 4 V E R A G E DAILY WAGES

MOXEY,
19271

WHERE W A G E S W E R E PAID WHOLLY IN

on

I

PARTLY

IN MONEY AND PARTLY

Undertakings paying wages
wholly in money

I

IN KIND,

Undertakings paying wages partly in kind
Average daily wages

Number Number
of
of undertakings workers

Average Number Number
daily
of
of underwages
su~~lies

(1) Factories
Textiles :
Silk-reeling
Cotton-soinninr

wool-weavihK
Others
Total

Ten

Yen

0.3 1
1.24
1.08
0.96
0.91
1.39

0.69
1.13
I .04
0.91
0.84
1.22

1.13

0.91

0.20

1.71
2.44
2.58
1.64
I.4:3
1.90
1.w
I. l(i

1.88
2.52
2.42
1.79
1.79
3.0'3
1.92
1.65
1.27

0.18
0.16
0.10
0.12
0.18
0.06
0.10
0.19
0.10

2.03
2.88
2.52
1.91
I
3.09
2.01
1.84
1.37

2.11

2.33

0.16

2.51

2.09
I .G5
2.2:5
1.57
-- -1.93

2.19
1.43
2.59
1.9'3
1.09

0.07
0.17
0.10
0.07
0.19

2.26
1.60
2.69
2.00
1.28

0.28
0.14
0.16
0.17
0.20
0.13

-

-

Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
Leather, ivory, etc.
Wood a n d bamboo
Food a n d drink
Clothing, etc.
Civil engineering,
construction
Printing and bookbinding
Artistic, atc.
Gas and electricity
Others
Total or average

Yen

1.GTr

-

-

Ben
0.98
1.27
1.20
1.11
1.04
1.35

1.14

.w

--

(2) Mines
-

pp

-

--

- -

-

Coal
Metal

Oil
Other5
Total or average
1

900I

1.5'2
I

I

271

1.78

110

R6d6 T6kei J i f c h i Chdsa Hdkokrz, 1927, Vol. 11, pp. 532-558, and Vol. IV, p. 58.

1.88

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING

199

As regards frequency of wage payments, the annual factory
inspection report for 1928 states that wages are paid once or
twice a month in most Japanese factories. Factories paying
wages three times a month or on a weekly basis are very rare.
Statistics for the country as a whole are not available, hut the
following figures reported by the prefecture of Kanagawa may he
considered to reflect the general situation.
T\BIZ

XI. - Y U M B E R OF FACTORIES PAYING WAGES .\'ISPECII?IED
'
--

Once

Industry

a

nonth

Twice
a
nonth

--

Textiles
Machine and tool
Metal
Ceramics
Non-alcoholic drinks
Wood and bamboo
Electricity
All othrrs

71
22
23
11
16
52
56
46

39
23
39
7
4
67
36
215

Total

--

118
47
73
18
20
121
56
88
-541

j1

--I
I
?

K6j6 Kantolia Nenpo, 1928, p. 52.
lisually on the 15th and the last day of each month

According to this table, out of the 641 factories investigated,
55 per cent. paid wages once a month, mostly al the end of the
month, 40 per cent. made payments twice a month, and only
5 per cent. paid wages weekly.
The legal provision that wages must be paid at least once a
month has the effect of preventing any undue delay in payment,
but the law has but little influence on the loan system, which
is really a system of advances on wages that results in virtually
depriving many workers of their individual liberty '. No recent
statistics are available showing the present extent of the loan
system. The Tokyo Local Employment Exchange Board made
an enquiry into the employment conditions of young girls in
1,204 silk filatures within its administration in 1924. According
to this study, loans had been made by the employers against the
Cf. Part IV, Chapter I, pp. 163-164.

200

INDUSTRIAL LAUOTIR I N J A P A N

wages of 135,822 workers, or 80.5 per cent. of the 168,614 workers
covered by the enquiry ; only 24,578 or 18 per cent. ol these
workers had borrowed money for their own needs, all the rest
having been borrowed for the families. The amount of loans
per head ranged from 1 yen to 480 yen, the average amount
being 31.31 yen, which was equivalent to 2.4 months' wages on
the basis of the worker's average wage of 156.20 yen per year.
Tn 1928, the average indebtedness among girls employed in silk
filatures in Yamanashi Prefecture was 23.49 yen '.
The evils of the loan system are now widely recognised in
Japan. Under this system, the girls under a debt are virtually
obliged to stay with the same employer until the loan is liquidated. "Most of the parents who have asked for one loan demand
others, so that the girls have no opportunity of earning wages
for their own use. In order to meet this difficulty, they are willing to do overtime work at rates far lower than those for regular
work. ""'There
are many young girls who work without knowing how their loans are liquidated or even without the knowledge
of exactly how much they are being paid. "
These evils are
only partly mitigated by the application of the law requiring
employers to keep a monthly account of the wages earned by
each worker and that all workers should be informed exactly of
the method of payment and the rates of their wages.

Actual W a g e s
The sources of information here used are the report of
the 1927 labour census and the monthly report on wages and
prices published by the Bureau of Statistics of the Japanese Cabinet. Average wages computed from these two sources show considerable differences as the census is conducted on a wide scale,
covering both big undertakings and a large number of small
factories and mines where the actual hours are longer and the
wages lower than in the more important establishments4, while
the Monthly Report covers only representative factories and
KGi6 Kantoku Nenp6, 1928, p. 51.
~ i d Jih6,
6
Dec. 1928, pp. 5-6.
Cf. Kannai Seishi Jok6 Ch6sa ( ~ u l d i s h e dby t h e T o k y o Local E m ployment Exchange Board), p. 55.
' I n 1927 t h e census o f labour covered 1,381,931 workers employed
i n 7,486 factories and 277,263 m i n e r s in 313 m i n e s .
~

A

201

WAGES AND COST O F LIVING

mines1. Moreover, the census only includes basic wages and
payment for overtime, while the monthly report also includes
allowances, bonuses and payment in kind. For these reasons,
the average wages reported by the census of labour are usually
lower than those published in the monthly report.
Table XLI shows a comparison of wage figures given by the
two reports :
TABLE XLI. - COMPARISON OF AVERAGE I).IILY WAGES I N FACTORIES
AND MINES, AS REPORTED BY THE LABOUR CENSUS AND BY THE

MONTHLY REPORT ON WAGES AND PRICES, OCTOBER
Report of the labour census
Items
Male

Average for all
factories (yen)
Index number

1

1

Female

1927

Monthly report on
wages an. prices 2
Male

1

1

Female

I

Average for all
mines (yen)
Index number
1

RddB T6kei Jitchi Chdsa H6kokw, 1927, V o l . 11, p. 334.
Chifigin Aubka Tdkei GrppB, 1926, pp. 5 and 17.

Thus, in October 1927, the average wages in factories given
in the monthly report were 17 per cent. higher for men workers
and 14 per cent. higher for women and girls than the average
wages given in the census report. In mines, the difference of
average wages published by the two reports was less pronounced:
the wages of men as reported by the monthly report were only
5 per cent. higher than those given by the labour census, while
women workers' wages were actually 2 per cent. lower.
Factories. - About one-half of all factory workers in Japan
are women and girls, and a comparison of the average daily
wages of men and women workers employed in different branches
of manufacturing industry shows that they receive much lower
wages than men.

In October 1927, the Monthly Report of Wages and Prices covered
approximately 380,000 persons working in 740 factories and about 125,000
miners in 80 mines.

202

IBDUSTRIAL LABOUR IIV J A P A N

TAB1.E XLII.

--

COMPARISON O F AVERAGE DAILY WAGES

O F MALE AND FEMALE WORKERS EMPLOYED IIV MANUFACTURIKG

INDUSTRIES,

1927-1931'

Pen

0.98
1.oo
0.97
0.87
0.79
1 Ille figures arc for the I I I O I I of
~ ~ September each year. Cf. the lkcembc~ numbers of
Chinyin Bukka T6kei Gepp6, 192i-1930, a n d Jan 1932.

This table not only shows that the average daily wage of
women was only 33.1 per cent. of that of men in September 1932,
but also that the average wages of women and girls as compared
with men workers decreased steadily from 39.4 per cent. in 1927
to 33.1 per cent. in 1931. The principal economic reasons for the
very low wages of women factory workers, 80 per cent. of whom
are relatively unskilled workers in the textile industry, appear
to be the following : the abundance of the supply of young female
labour; the fact that few women workers are the chief supporters
of the family, but seek work in factories between school-leaving
and marriage for the purpose of helping their families or of
earning a marriage dowry for themselves ; the youth of girl
workers '. Finally, it should be noted that women workers are
unorganised and thus unable to take concerted action to improve
their working conditions - in 1931, only 0.7 per cent. of the total
female workers employed in manufacturing industries were
members of trade unions.
Statistics show that, as compared with youths of the same
age, girl workers begin early to earn relatively high wages and
that there is little difference between the average wages of the
two sexes when they first begin to earn; the difference in the level
of their wages which appears later is not marked until they are
over sixteen years of age. For instance, in September 1931, the
average daily wages of boys under sixteen years were 0.67 yen as
In the past four or five years over 20 per cent. of all female workers
employed in Japanese factories were girls under sixteen years of age
(50th Nihon T e i k o k ~ lT6kei Nenkan, pp. 228-229).

203

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING

against 2.39 yen earned by male workers over that age, while
those of girls under sixteen years were 0.51 yen as against 0.86 yen
for women workers1. The numbers of boys and girls affected
vary considerably : at the end of 1929, the number of boys under
sixteen years employed was only 3.3 per cent. of all male workers,
whereas the number of girls in the same age-group was 20.3 per
cent. of all women employed.
TABLE XLIII.

- AVERAGE DAILY WAGES O F WORKERS

IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES, SEPTEMBER

1928-1931'

(In Yen)
Male

Female

Average

Industry

Textiles:
Silk filatures
Cotton-spinning
Cotton-weaving
Silk-weavine
Wool-weaviLg

1

A,erage
Ceramics
Metal
Machine and tool
Chemical
Paper
I,eather, hone, etc
Wood and hamboo
Food and drink
Clothinc
Construction
Printing and bookbinding
Gas and electricity
General average

i

Chinyin Bukka Tokei Gellp6 Dec. 1927-1930 and Jan. 1932. The report covered about
370,000 workers (245,000 men anh 125,000 women) employed in approrim~tely 730 factories.
The earnings included bonuses, allowances and payment i n kind. The original tables contained
ninety-eight items, classified under fifteen different industries. I n this table, only the industries
of outstanding importance have been included. The total merage, therefore, is not the average
of the il.ems selected here, hut of the ninety-eight items given in the original tables.

The general averages of daily wages in various industries
during the years 1928-1931 are shown in table XLIII. This table
indicates that in the last three or four years there has been a
steady decline in the wages of practically all Japanese factory
workers. It also shows that the highest wages are earned by
metal workers, by mechanics in machine and tool manufacturing
trades, in the leather and hides trades, in gas works and by electricians. Women's wages throughout these years were much
less than half of the wages of men workers.

' Chingin

B u k k a T6lcei Geppij. Tan. 1934.

204

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN
-

It will be noted that wages in the textile industry, already
very low, declined geiicrally over the four-year period. The
wages of workers in silk filatures, which averaged 0.73 yen in
1928, fell to 0.52 yen in 1931. The operatives in cotton-spinning
factories were paid a better wage in 1928, but in 1931 their
average fell to below 1 yen. The wool-weaving factories used
to pay the best wages in the textile trade, but their average wages
fell to 1.27 yen in 1931. The average figure for all textile factories fell from 1.11yen in 1928 to 0.87 yen in 1931. The decline
in the wage level in 1930 and 1931 is attributed to the increasing
severity of the trade depression.
Mines. - Table XLIV shows the average daily wages in
representative mines in Japan in September 1928, 1929, 1930
and 1931. At the end of June 1930, 83 per cent. of the whole body
of miners were men and 17 per cent. women '. The average daily
wages of men and women workers in 1930 were 1.75 yen and 0.97
yen respectively, but there was a fall to 1.57 yen for the men and
TARIE

XI.IV.

-

AVERAGE DAILY WAGES O F WORKERS IN MINES,

(In Yen)
Surface

Underground
Mines

Year

(

Fe- Aver
nale 'age

Mrtal

Coal

Oil

Others

Average

Average

-

-

- -

Hale

Fenale

Fenale

Male

-

-

-

-

1.90
1.87
1.74
1.57
1.50
1.51
1.15
1.34
1.78
1.77
1.72
1.66
1.96
1.89
1.80
1.60
-

0.74
0.72
0.69
0.61
0.75
0.74
0.71
0.65
0.80
0.84
0.82
0.82
0.91
0.79
0.83
0.76
-

1.95
1.96
1.84
1.67
1.86
1.88
1.72
1.53
1.78
1.77
1.72
1.66
2.06
i.99
1.88
1.67
-

0.75
0.74
0.71
0.65
1.27
1.22
1.03
0.77
0.80
0.84
0.82
0.82
0.90
0.88
0.87
0.79
-

1.67
1.67
1.59
1.46

0.75
0.74
0.71
0.65

1.88
1.90
2.75
1.57

1.19
1.15
0.97
0.74

- -.

Chingin B ~ l k k a T 6 k e i G e p p 6 , Jkc. 1928-1930 and Jan. 1932. The report covered about
125,000 minors (106,000 male and 19,000 female) employed in approxinlat,ely eight?. mines. The
earnings included bonuses, allowances and payment in kind.
1

Rod6 Jiho, Sept. 1931, p. 20

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING

205

to 0.74 for the women in 1931. In the four years ending September 1931 miners' wages show a decrease on the same sort of
scale as those of factory workers.
In 1930, 67.4 per cent. of all miners worked underground,
and 32.6 per cent. on the surface '. The average daily wages of
underground workers, men and women combined, were 1.82 yen
in 1930 and 1.62 yen in 1931 ; those of surface workers were 1.41
yen in 1930, while in 1931 they had fallen to 1.34 yen. There has
thus been a steady decrease since 1928, if a slight improvement in
1929 is excepted.
There is little variation in wage levels in different kinds of
mines. The highest wages were paid in oil wells, with an
average of 1.61 yen for both sexes combined, while in September
1931 the lowest wages were paid in coal mines, 1.45 yen. In spite
of the dangerous nature of the miner's occupation and the greater
physical effort demanded of the workers, table XLIV shows that
the wagcs of miners arc lower than those of factory workers in
general.
Transport and postal, telegraph and telephone seruices. -There was a very slight rise in the average daily wages of the
workers in postal, telegraph and telephone services in the fouryear period 1928 to 1931, the average daily wages of men rising.
from 1.45 to 1.48 yen, and those of women workers from 0.97
to 0.99 'yen. The average daily wages of the whole group, however, declined from 2.23 yen to 1.98 yen in the case of men, and
from 1.40 to 1.06 yen for women.
As regards transport, the lowest wages were paid in railway
services, while tramway workers and motor-bus drivers were paid
relatively higher wages than those earned in other branches of
transport.
Table XLV gives some particulars of the actual daily wages
in these services.

At the end of June 1930, 174,307 miners were working ~mdererounrl
a n d 84,162 on t h e surface (Rod5 Jih8, S ~ p t 1031,
.
p. 21).

206

INDUSTRIAL L 4 B O t R 11 J A P 4 N

T96LE

XLV. -

4 1 R R A G E DAILI WAGES O F WORKERS I N

TRAhSPORT A h D POS I A L , TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE SERVICES,
SFPTEMBER

1928-1931'

(In Yen)

>,'I \

Ice.

i1 /

Female

1

(

Average

1928 1929 1930 1931

Po tal, elc

, stnlces

I I ansport
Railnays
I I rmways
\ otohuse.
\ lr ~gat~on
L\ela,e

-

1.-18 0.97

0.96

0.98

1.54 1.58 1.63 1.55 0.85
2.55 2.54 2.11 2.34 1.13
3.00 2.94 3.13 2.91 1.55
1.80 1.81 1.79 1.75
20 1.98 1.40

0.87
1.11
1.74

0.86 0.78 1.53 1.57 1.62 1.54
1.09 1.12 2.52 2.51 2.39 2.32
1.80 1.63 2.33 2.45 2.59 2.39
- - 1.80 1.81 1.79 1.75
---1.63 1.06 2.20 2.21 a.17 1.77

1.45

1.46

1.45

-

1.55

0.99

1.18

1.18

1.18

1.21

-

1 C h i n g i n Urzkka T6kei C e p p 6 , tkc. 1928.1330 and Jan. 1932.
The report covered 58,000
lborkers, oi' !!horn 43,000 were men inri 15,000 women. The wages include allowances and
bonuses.

W a g e s and Cost of Lixing
The Department of Commerce and Industry1 has published
statistics of wages and prices at regular intervals since 1900, but
the prices were wholesale prices, and it is only since the war that
statistics of retail prices have been compiled. In 1922 the Bank
of Japan began to publish monthly index numbers of retail prices
in Tokyo, and in 1926 of wages throughout the country. Since
1925 the Bureau of Statistics of the Cabinet has compiled figures
showing the wages of factory workers and miners as well as the
retail prices in large cities in the country, but the prices include
food and fuel only. Finally, the Department of Commerce and
Industry has undertaken the collection of retail prices of food,
clothing, fuel and miscellaneous articles on a nation-wide scale,
but the figures are only available from 1929
No attempt, however, has yet been made officially to compile
cost-of-living index numbers weighted according to the importance of the various items of daily necessity. Further, no statistical report published periodically from official sources has
included the item of house rent, which constitutes more than
15 per cent. of the total expenditure of the workers' families.
'These circumstances make it impossible to compute scientifically reliabIe index numbers of the cost of living in Japan.
Without such figures however, the real wage cannot be ascer-

I

Previously the Department of h g r i c ~ ~ l t u r and
e
Commerce.

WAGES AND COST OF LIVIKG

207

-

tained. and the wage figures quoted in the preceding pages fail
to show how their fluctuations have affected the standard of living
of Japanese workers.
The need for reliable cost-of-living index numbers has begun
to be realised, but it was only late in 1931 that the economic
department of a big newspaper publishing company, the Osaka
Asahi, began to compile and publish them tri-monthly, with
data gathered from the whole country. Owing, however, to the
fact that the figures date only from October 1931, they cannot
be utilised in this chapter, which tries to show how wages in the
past five or six years have affected the standard of living of the
workers '. An attempt is made therefore in the following pages
to work out such index numbers with the data that are available.
In order to compute the index numbers of cost of living and
real wages, the "Index Number of Retail Prices in Tokyo" and
the " Statistics of Factory Labour ", both published by the Bank
of Japan, have been used, taking the year 1926 as the basis, The
former contains a hundred items, including food and drink, fuel
and light, clothing and miscellaneous articles, but not house rent;
the latter contains index numbers of wage rates and actual
earnings of factory workers of both sexes. The weights of various
items of daily necessity are obtained from the percentage distribution of the average expenditure of the families of wage
earners as shown by the family budget enquiry of 1926-1927 '.
The articles which appeared both in the report of the family
budget enquiry and in the price index of the Bank of Japan,
together with their weights, are set forth in table XLVI (see
page 208,.
In calculating the cost-of-living index numbers, 1914 was taken as
In order to obtain weights for various items, use was made
the base.
of data already gathered by the Statistical Bureau of the Cabinet in its
family budget enquiry carried on for a year ending in August 1927
throughout the whole country. More than 150 items of family expenditure
were included in the original enquiry of the Statistical Bureau, but the
Asahi enquiry reduced the number to seventy-seven more important items
only. These items were divided into five categories weighted as follows :
food and drink (48.03), housing (22.281, fuel and light (6.891, clothing
(13.48), cultural expenses (9.32). Data was secured in Tokyo, Osaka and
eleven other principal cities, these being the cities covered in the invesfigation regarding the index number of commodity prices in Tapan carric>d
out by the Department of Commerce and Industry. Weighted arithmetical
averages were taken for the index numbers The actual figures are as
follows :
October 1931 . . . . .
Y o ~ e m l ~ e1931
r
. . . .
Ikcemher 1931 . . . .

(Cf. Osaka Asahi, 11 March 1932.)
Cf. below, p. 212.

208

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

TABLE

XLVI.

ITEMS ARD THEIR WEIGHTS USED

FOR T H E COMPUTATION O F THE COST-OF-LIVING INDEX NUMBERS
Item

Weight

1. Food and drinks :
Rice (Japanese rice) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.64
Round and pressed barley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.20
Reans and vegetables (soya bean and red bean, steamed beans
(nutto), Irish potatoes, dried onions, lotus root and other
vegetables combined) . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 2.84
Pickles and bean-cakes (pickled turnips and all other pickles,
2.18
tsukudani, and bean cakes) . . . . . . . . . . .
Meat (beef and pork) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.02
Fish (tunny, mackerel, shell-fish, salted salmon) . . . . . 3.41
Seasoning material (salt, bean-sauce, bean-paste, vinegar, white
and brown sugar, oils and dried bonito) . . . . . . . 3.37
Milk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
0.22
Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . 0.55
Sak6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.80
Other drinks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.48
Candy and fruits . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 2.45
Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.39
2. Clothing (20 articles including cotton, silk, woollen and mixed
cloths, cotton and silk waddings, cotton and woollen
9.33
threads) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accessories (10 articles including shirts, socks, hats and caps,
3.66
umbrellas, wooden clogs and shoes) . . . . . . .
3. Fuel and light (gas, charcoal, coal, coke, wood and electric light)
4.56
4. Miscellaneous articles :
Stationery (Japanese and European paper) . . . . . . . . 9.13
Soap and drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . 6.39
Total
1

,

Kukei Chdsu H 6 k o k u , 1926-1927, V o l . 11, pp. 326.329.

'Table XLVII shows the index numbers of retail prices in the
City of Tokyo from January 1926' to February 1931, computed
by a simple arithmetic average of all items in the respective
groups. In the table is also shown the weighted average of retail
prices which reflected the trend of the cost of living. This figure,
however, cannot be called a cost-of-living index in a strict sense
of the term, because it does not include house rent, taxes and
other items indispensable for determining the actual cost of
living. Nor can the " real wage index " included in the table be
regarded as complete, for it has been computed not with a com-

' Although price figures are obtainable from 1932, )et wares are
a\ailahle only from 1926. Both price and wage figures, therefore, have
been taken from 1926 in order to place the two items on n comparable basis.
As the original price index was based upon 1914, the figures have been
converted so that the indm number for 1928 is 100 for both prices and
wages.

209

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING
-

plete cost-of-living index but only with the weighted index of
prices. The index number of real wages in this table has been
obtained by dividing the wage index by the weighted index
number of retail prices.
'I AH1.E XLVII. - IhDEX NUMBERS O F COST O F LIVIRG A h D RE41, WAGITS,

Food

1931

111

Clothing

Fuel

1

M!scellmeous

Average

June
July
August
September
October
Xovember
December
January
February
1 Index 11um1)ers of aclual earnings of laclory n o r h o ~ s (cacluding those i n stlk filalu~es)
Ihe region of Tok>o and Yokohzma

It w ~ l be
l seen from table XLVI[ that the retail prices, anti l l ~ e
cost of living as reflected by the retail prices, have declined considerably during the last five years. The average index of retail
prices fell from 100 in 1926 to 91.5 in 1929. The decline of
prices has been most marked since 1930, the index number
having fallen from 87.8 in January 1930 to 74.2 in January 1931,
or a drop of 13.6 per cent. within one year. The weighted
average of retail prices which represent the trend of cost of living
has declined further than the unweighted price index, especially
since the latter part of 1930. The weighted index stood from
1 to 3 per cent. helow the unweighted index before September
1930, and from 5 to 7 per cent. after October 1930.
The wage index, on the contrary, advanced from 100 in
1926 to 108.3 in 1928. Although the index has steadily declined
since the heginning of 1929, yet it maintained its level above
the basic figure of 1926 until December 1930. It was only after
January 1931 that wages began to fall below the figures of 1926.
IROCSTRIAL LABOUR IN J A P A N

15

It should be borne i t ~mind lhat the figures for wages used in
connection with the cost of living do not include those paid in
silk filatures, which have abnormally declined in recent years '.
The wages quoted, moreover, show ihat the average daily
wages and the number of working days per month have not been
considered. As a matter of fact, the average number of working
days per month has slightly declined in recent years end this
suggests that the workers are earning less per month now than
a year or two ago '.
The real wage index has shown a steady tendency to rise
during the entire period from 1926 to 1930. 'I'he index rose from
100 in 1926 to 109.2 in 1927, to 117.8 in 1928, and to 121.6 in
1929. It showed a sharp advance toward the latter part of 1930,
the number standing at 149.9 in December 1930. As mentioned
above, however, the real wage index given here cannot be laken
as complete, because the cost-of-living index is insufficient and
the wage index seems to be a little higher than the average
monthly income of all workers. Moreover, the figures of retail
prices are for Tokyo only, while the wage figures are for the
region of Tokyo and Yokohama, so that the table should not be
taken as applying to the whole country. Nevertheless it may
serve to suggest the fact that the standard of living of the Japanese workers is being raised by the gradual rise in real wages.
It is reported that the family budget enquiry, undertaken
in 1926-1927, would be conducted every year from 1931 3 . Co-ordination, 1;s far as circumstances allow, of the items contained in
Government publications with those included in the proposed
family budget enquiry would be advantageous; if this were
effected it would greatly facilitate the composition of a costof-living index of an authoritative kind.

' Average daily wages of workers in silk filatures has declined from
0.74 yen in March 1930 to 0.59 yen in March 1931 ( C h i n g i n B u k k a T d k e i
G e p p G ).
The average number of working days per month has fallen from
26.9 in 1929 to 26.5 in 1931 (cf. C h i n g i n R u k k a T 5 k e i G e p p 6 , March 1930
a n d March 1931, p. 1 ) .
V s a k a A s a h i , 4 Tune 1931.
' For instance, C h i n q i n Rukkn Tiikt'i Gf'pp5.

W A G E S ARD COST O F LIVING
-

TABLE XLVIII.

- AVERAGE MOIVTIILI INCOME

(yen)

1 % 1 1 1 '%1 1 1 1
%
I 'I%

-.-

'

Income group

Undar
60

211

AND EXI'EhI)ITtTRI'

OF EMPLOYEES' IlOlrSEHO1,DS

Item

--

- -

140t60

160180

180200

Over Aver200 l'age

I

Income

1. Earnings :

Husband
Wife
Other members
Total
11. Other income :

From lodgers
From property
Presents
Other sources
Total
Grand total

Total
Shortage of the husband's
earnings to meet expenditure
Balance between income
and expenditure

I. Earnings

I
0.30
0.65
0.78
0.58
0.37
0.5G
1.28 2.33
3.77
6.17
4.06 11.86
7.96
9.41 11.89 12.81 13.82 15.91
1.40
1.57
2.78
3.46
6.71
5.11
10.94 13.96 19.22 23.02 24.96 33.44
!40.5.5 110.21 130.25 149.23 170.23 188.85

----

0.21
0.98
17.00
.5.22
20.51 11.81
9.47
-3.50
-.
47.19 21.01
230.03 137.17

---- ----

I

Expenditure

/

103.28J 120.25,132.81 152,781 165.961 197.821 121.31

:

Husband
Wife
Other members
Total
I. Other incomr :

From lodgers
From property
Presents
Other sources
Total
Grand total
lurplus of income as
against expenditure
1

2

Kakei C l ~ d s aHckoku, 1926-1927, Vol. JI, pp. 22-23.
'This is thc only case where total inrome i s insufficieut to meet Iota1 expenditure

212

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAR

TABLE SLIX.

-

AVERAGE MOSTHLY Ii\COME A h D EXI'ERDITIJRE

OF INDUSTRIAL

--

Under
60

[

WORKERS'

--

l n c o n ~ eg r o u p (yen)

1 I
1%

IIOUSEIIOLDS

100120

120140

I

140
160-

1

/

160I80

Over Aver( 180200 / 200 / a g e

I. Earnings:
llusband
\T1ife
Other memhers
Total
11. Other income:
From lodgers
From property
Presents
Other iources
'I'otal
(:rand total

I

Expenditure

I

Incornt7 in Percentage

I

3101tage of husband's earnings
to meet expenditure
Surplus

Hushand
Wife
0th1.r members
Total
Olher income:
From lodgers
From property
Prrsents
Other so:lrces

11.

Total
Grar:d tolal

Valuable information regarding the actual income and
expenditure of Japanese workers' families was collected in the
course of the family budget enquiry undertaken by thc Bureau of
Statistics of the Cabinet from 1 September 1926 to 31 Augu~t
1927'. It was by far the most important of the investigations2

' Cf.
?

International Labour Review, March 1931, pp. 388-398.
Previous enquiries h a d been made by the Kyocho-Kai, Tune 1921 to

WAGES A N D COST OF LIVING

-

213

-- -.--

made in Japan on this subject, and included the family budgets
of employees ', industrial and land workers. The scope of the
investigation is shown in table L.
TABLE L .

--

SCOPE O F THE FAMILY BUDGET ENQUIRY
OF

1926-1927
Number of families
investigatrd

I.

Employees.

.

11.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

1,575

Industrial workers :
Factory workers
2,028
Jlincrs.
447
Transport, postal, telephone and telegraph workers
416
Day labourers
. . . . . . . . ---319
Total.
3,210
111. 1,;tnd workers :
Landowners.
. . . . . . . .
232
. . .
330
Srnnll holders or peasant farmers Y
Farm workers of various kinds
. . . . - 208
Total.
. . . .
670
-. . . .
Grandtotal.
5.455

.

.
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

'

1s regards size of family and incomc, the enquiry showed
that, among employees, the smallest family had 3.22 members in
the income group of under 60 yen a month, and the largest had
4.84 mcmhers in lhe group receiving from 180 to 200 )en, while
the average family had 4.06 members. Industrial workcrs had
larger families than employees : the group of those earning less
t h a ~GO~ yen a month had the smallest family of 3.74, while
amongst those receiving more than 200 yell the family numbered
5.49, the average number being 4.11 per family. Still larper
families were found among land workers, the smallest being
4.33 in the lowest and the largest 7 . X in the hiqhcqt income
group, with the average figure of 6.83 members pcr family.
'I'ablc J,T shows more detailed figi~res.
hIay 1922, by the Bureau of Social Affairs, February ; I I I ~March 1921, by the
Comn~ission for the invwtigation of the working conditions of miners,
,
and by various municipalities.
April to J ~ m e 1925,
' Lower officials, clerks, teachers and policemen.
Knkei Chiisa Hijkoku, 1926-1927, Vol. ;I, p. 2, and Vol. IV, 11. 14.
The neasant farmer works as a rule rather more than half the gear on
his own holding and works for wages on a larger farm for the rest of t h ~
time (Ministry of Apricnlture and Forestry of Japan, quoted in I n f c r national Labozci Review, Nov 1927, pp. 710-711 ) .
Some of these are farm servants a n d live in sharing
" in the life of the
employer's family, the greater part of the wages heing i n board and
lodging iibid.) .

214

INDUSTRIAL

T W L E L1. --

LABOUR IK J \PA>

-

-

-.

q10h I B L Y I i l C O M E \ A D EXPF'A\~)ITIJHI*:

L \ I:R&C'.E

OF LARD WORKERS' HOUSEHOLDS

I

Income g r o u p (yen)
ltern

Income
I.

Earninr?~from Parm products

II.

Other income:

i

(a) From lahow:
Husband
Wife
Other mombers
'l'olal

(b) O t l ~ e r 60ur~eh:
From propert?

PresentOther.
'l'ot'll
Grand total

'l'otal
Shortage of c;~rnings lo meet
expenditure
Surirlw 2

11. Olber income:

(b) Other bourre.:
From prol)erf)
Presents
Otht,~..

12.8

7.6
.4.1
21.5
-

I'ol,tl
(;rand lotnl

100.0

2

Kukei Clr6sa HCkoku, 1926.1927, \ o l . LY, 1111. 1 4 - l i
1)eficit i s indicated b y I I I ~ ~ I I Yyipn
(-8

(Monthly
lrtcome in Yeni
---

1 1

-

I

i

Under I
60

(irollp

1. E ~ n p l o gw s
If. I n d u s t r i a l w o r k e r s
Factory W01k1r6
Miners
Transport, postal, iclcgraph
and
t?ltphone w o r k e r s
Day l a b o u r e r s
Averago for i n d u s
trial workers
Ill. Land workers
I

/
I

1

3.58

3.58

Xi7 1
1.:~'

3.9J

iver
age

4.06
1.10

i.37

3.75
1.26
4.1 1
5.83
I

1

%)

:3.?2
3.9ti

,

~--..Lp

h-nliei Cl16s,r H i r l ; o h ~ ~ r193-13'77,
,
Yol

.-

W.\GES Ahl) COST OF l.IVIh(:

215

The average income of emplqces ranged from 53.31 yen
to 230.02 yen per month, the general average being 137.17 yen.
The income of industrial workers was lower, varying from
52.86 yen to 231.41 yell a month, with a n average income of
102.07 yen. 'The land workers' income was the lowest of all
three groups, with an average figure of 96.11 yen.
Tablcs XLVIII, XLIX and LI show the sources of inconle of
tllc three groups in relalion lo thc total expenditure of the family.
'They indicate that 84.7 per cenl. of the lotal income of employees
was derived from their work, as against 15.4 per cent. from other
sources '. Industrial workers depended for their income upoti
their labour to a larger extent : 91.1 per cent. of their entire
income cume from labour and only 9.0 per cent. from non-labour
sources. The tables further show that the proporti011 of the
income from work decreases as the total of the illcome rises while
the proportion of the income from other sources increases. For
example, among industrial workers the percentage of income
from work decreased from 94.6 per cent. in the lowest income
group Lo 87.5 per cent. in the highest, while income from othrr
sources advanced from 6.5 per cent. to 12.5 prr cent. This tendency is seen more markedly among employees.
l h e enquirj also estahlished thr fact that i l l the various
illcome groups the proportio~iof the income from the work of
the head of t11c l~ouseholddecreases as the total ol' the income
increases. Among industrial workers, for instance, the husband's
income decreased from 90.1 per cent. of the total income in tbc
lowest income to 74.6 per cent. in the highest. 'I'his diminution
is made up partly hy the increasing proportion of the income
from the work of other members of the household (0.8 per cent.
in the lowest income group to 10.6 per cent. in the highest),
and partly by the rising proportion of the income from other
sources (from 6.6 per cent. of the total income to 12.5 per cent.
in the highest). Tn the case of employees, the decreasing proportion of the husband's income was compensated by the increase
in the proportion of the income from other sources than work
which advanced in percentage from 7.8 per cent. in the l o w e ~ t
income group to 20.5 per cent. in the highest.
For those who worked on the land, table LT shows thaf
64.0 per cent. of the total incomr of their homeholds was derived
r 3

226

--- -- .--

-

13DUSTRIAL L4UOLR FA J A P A N

from farmiug operations, 11..5 per cent. from the labour of the
husband, wife and other members of the household, and 24.5 per
cent. from other sources. Thus the income from sources other
than work constituted nearly one-fourth of the farmers' entire
income.
With regard to the groups covered, the enquiry showed that
if the total income is compared with the total expenditure, both
employees and industrial workers were left with a small surplus.
The surplus increased both in absolute figure and in ratio as the
income of the groups increased. In the employee group, the
surplus rose from 1.98 yen, representing 2.8 per cent. of the
total income of the group receiving from 60 to 80 yen a month, to
32.20 yen constituting 13.9 per cent. of the total income of the
group earning more than 200 yen a month. The average surplus was 12.83 yen per month or 9 . 4 per cent. of the average total
income of all the employees investigated.
The industrial workers' surplus ranged from 0.34 yen per
month or 0.6 per cent. of the total iricome of ihe lowest income
group to 54.06 yen per month or 23.4 per cent. of the highest
income group, with an average of 10.69 yen or 14.8 per cent.
of the average total income of the industrial workers investigated.
Therefore, although the average surplus of the industrial class
was smaller than that of the employees, in actual amount i t w a s
higher in proportion to the total income.
A further analysis of {he enquiry, however, shows that the
income of the head of n household is not sufficient to meet the
total expenditure of the family. In the employees' group, the
deficit of the husband's income as compared with the total
family expenditure amounted to 5.31 yen per month in the lowest
income group and 33.16 yen in the highest, with a n average
deficit of 14.69 yen per month. 'The deficit of the illdustrial
workers was l e ~ sthan that of employees : ihe deficit rauged from
4.89 yen per month in the lowest income group to 18.66 yen irl
the group receiving 180 lo 200 yen n month, thc average deficit
amounting to 6.27 yen. 'Thus the surplus of income over expenditure was made possible only by the assistance of the wife and
other members of the family as well as by income from other
sources than work.
The enquiry disclosed the fact that land workers were in the
poorest financial conditions of all three groups of workers investigated M7ith all earnings from the cultivation of their own land

WAGES A ~ D
COST OF I,IVIBG

217

and income from work of the husband, wife aud other members
of the family, this family budget showed a large deficit in all
illcome groups, especially in the group earning under 160 )en
per monbll. Even with all incomes from sources other than work,
which constituted almost one-quarter of the entire income, the
budget showed a deficit of 0.23 ycri a month per family on the
average.
With regard to the nature of the family expenditure, the
enquiry distinguished four categories :

( l j Subsistence costs, including food, housing, clothing,
light and fuel.
(2) Expenditure necessary for hygiene, for the care ant1
education of children, transport and correspondence
(tram fares, postage, stationery, etc.), and taxes.
(3) li:xpenditure for social purposes, recreation, travel, beverages, tobacco, sweets, e t ~ .
(4) Other.
According to the enquiry, the average monthly expenditure
of the employees, industrial workers and land workers covered
was 124.34 yen, 91.38 yen and 96.39 yen respectively. Of these
total amounts, employees spent 63.3 per cent. under category ( l ) , 12.9 per cent. under category (2) and 20.6 per cent.
under category ( 3 ) . Industrial workers spent the relatively
large proportion of 66 per cent. under category (1) and only 18.8
per cent. under ( 3 ) , the percentage of the expenditure under
(2) being about the same as in the case of employees For land
workers. 70.4 per cent. of the total expenditure came under caiegory (I!, with 7.1 per cent. and 15.2 per cent. for (2) and (3)
respectively.
Further study of the report of the enquiry shows that, under
category ( I ) , the proportion of the expenditure for food decreased
as lhr income of the family rose. For employees, the food item
decreased from 37.6 per cent. of the total family expenditure in
the lowest income group to 22.3 per cent. in the highest; for
industrial workers from 42.8 per cent. to 25.2 per cent., and for
land workers from 45.5 per cent. to 31.6 per cent. Moreover,
for both employees and industrial workers, the total expenditure
under category (1) decreased from more than 72 per cent. of the
family expenditure in the lowest income group to about 58 per

218

IKDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

cent. in the highest, while for land workers the corresponding
figures were 73.6 per cent. and 61.5 per cent. Conversely, the
proportion of expenditure under category (2) showed a tendency
to increase with the rise of income in all groups ; for employees
from 9.5 per cent. to 13.7 per cent., for industrial workers from
10.4 per cent. to 12.2 per cent. and for land workers from 6.2
per cent. to 8.8 per cent. Expenditure under category (3) also
showed a distinct tendency to rise in proportion as the income
of the groups increased : for employees from 13.6 per cent.
to 23.0 per cent., for industrial workers from 14.9 per cent.
to 22.1 per cent. and for land workers from 14.0 per cent. to 20.6
per cent.
If the various items of expenditure are examined in more
detail it is seen that the percentage of expenditure for food per
month for emplo)ces, industrial workers' and land workers'
families was 26.5 per cent., 32.6 per cent. and 41.2 per cent. respectively of the total expenditure of the family, or 24.0 per cent.,
29.2 per cent. and 41.3 per cent. respectively of the average total
income. These percentages well reflect the standard of living
of the three classes of workers investigated.
Rice was the principal food of all the groups, representing
from 40 to 60 per cent. of the total food cost, or from 10 to 25 per
cent. of the total family expenditure; this suggests how the daily
life of the working people is affected by fluctuations in the priw
of rice. More fish is consumed than meat, the former constitutiny
about 11 per cent. of the total food cost of employees and industrial workers, and thc latter only from 3 to 4 per cent. Land
workers spent only 5.6 per cent. of the total food cost for fish
and meat. Bean products and vegetables, including pickles,
were important items of the budgets; for these, all groups ~f
workers investigated spent about 15 per cent. of their outlay on
food. Sugar and bean sauces are important seasoning materials,
and cost more than 10 per cent, of all the food expenditure
Table 1,TII shows the various food items in further detail.

Til31,E L l J I .

-

4 N i L Y S I S 01' R \ P E X D I T I HI': FOR FOOD lh THE I.'AMILIES

OF EMPLOYEES, IXDUSTRIAI. WORKERS ANI

yws

Per

Rice
Other cereals
Fish
Meat
Eggs and milk
Beans and vegetables
Dried food
Bean cake and pickles
Seasoning
Purchase of meals

IAND WORKERS,
Group
lndust,rial

era

Per

cent.

cent.
--

40.0
1.9
11.4
4.2
3.9
8.9
1.6
65
10.5
11.0
-

47.9
1.9
10.5
3.1
2.3
8.7
1.3
6.7
10.3
7.2

.

1926-1927 '
-- .

Lonil workers

--

Amount
(in yen)

24.64
2.75
2.01
0.27
0.32
:<.Ti
0.34
1.91
4.76
0.16
.- . -

Of the 4,785 employees and induslrial workers covered by the
investigation of 1 September 1926, only 380 persons, or 7.9 per
cent. owned their own houses, 4,242 persons or 88.7 per cent.
lived in rented houses and 163 persons or 3.4 per cent. in rented
rooms. I h e average number of rooms in the houses owned or
rented, was 3.5 for employees and 2.5 for inclustrial workers.
Each howe had 16.8 mats" or 3.9 mats per pcrson, for employees
ai~tl11.0 mats, or 2.7 mats pcr pcrson, for industrial workers.
Land workers lived in larger houses, each house having on thc
average 4.7 rooms with 26.5 mats in a 11, in atidition to a woodelr
floor covering 6.6 mats' space and clartlien floor space equivalerlt
to 7.9 mats. There was but little variatio~lin the proportion of
expenditure on housing iri the dilfcreni incomc groups. Averag~.
rent and other housing costs per month absorbed from 15 to 18
per cent. of the total family expenditure or from 14 to 17 per cent.
of the total family income according to the groups of persons
investigated .
Clothing came third in order of importance, accounting for
more than 13 per cent. of the total family expenditure, i.e. over
r 7

Kalzei Ch6sa F16kokr1, 1920-1927, Vol. IT, pp 314-315, pp 326-327. and
Vol. IV, pp. 128-129.
' A mat has a dimension of approximately 3 feet hp 6 f e d

220

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

11.5 per cent. of the entire income of employees and industrial
workers. Land workers spent, less 011 clothing, the percentage
being only 7.9 per cent. of the averagc income. The relative cost
of clothing was almost invariable irrespective of income g r o u p
among employees, but industrial workers showcd a tendency to
spend higher amounts upon clothes as the total income increased.
The expenses of the workers' families under calegory ( 2 1 ,
including such items as taxes, the children's schoolir~g,medical
expenses, hygierre, etc., were found to be of secondary importance.
In thc families of employees and industrial workers these items
came Lo less than 13 per cent. of the total expenditure, and in
the families of land workers reached only 7.1 per cent.
The expenses under category (3), including beverages, tobacco, cincmas, social intercourse, elc., werc on the whole
heavier than the items under category ( 2 ) . Of these expenses,
the largest single item was thc expenditure for social purposes.
Its percentage rose from about 6 per cent. in the lowest income
group to about 12 per cent. in the highest, with average figurcs
[rom 7 to 8 per cent. of the total famil) expenditure of all persons
investigated. In Japan, it is customary to give a present in
money or goods on special occasions, such as births, marriages,
funerals, travelling, at the time of entering military service, al
the New Year, etc. Such presents are an important source of
income to thc working people, hut they are in turn obliged to
spend a considerable sum of money on gifts to others.
The percentage of expenditure on beterages, tobacco, etc.,
represented 6.2 per cent., 7.1 per cent. and 4.5 per cent. respect i ~ e l yof the family expenditure of the employees, industrial
workers and land workers. The total expenditure under
category (3) increased from about 14 per cent. in the lowest
income group to 22 per cent in the highest for all workers
investigated.
Further details of the expenditure of the families of the
three classes of workers are given in tables LIV, LV and LVJ.

22 1

WAGES A?;D COST 01' IAVING
- -

-

TAULE LIV.

- hVRHAGE

MONTHLY RXPENDITTJRE O F T H E FAMILIES
O F EMPLOYEES

I

lncorrle group (in yen)
-

-

?$
Category ( 1 ) '
I'ood
ILou~ing
Clothing
I.izh1 and fuel
'Total
Catogory ( 2 ) :
Hygiene
Schooling
Fares, po~tagc,ctc.
'l'a,t>,

Total
Categorv ( 3 ) :
Social expeas?.
Culture and ~ n x r a l i o r r
'l'ra! elling
Hc!f'rages, tol~acco, clc.
Total
Caleyory ( 4 ) :
.\I! others
(;rand total

Catesory ( 1 ) :
I~ood
Ilonsin~.
(:lothing
I . i ~ l l tand fuel
('alegory (2):
Hvgiene
Pcl~ooling
Fare-, postage, etc.
Taxes
,rota1
Category ( 3 ) :
Social expenses
Culture and rccreatioll
T r a elling
~
Iheragea, tol~acco,etc.
Total
Calecory (4) :
411 others
(:ranrl loldl

I / I / 1 /-I
100-

120

120li0

140I60

160180

180200

0vc.r Aver200
age

222

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

7'4BI,E L\

. - AVERAGE

RIO;\TALI EXl'C\I>ITURE

OF I N D U S T R I \ I .

WORhERS

OF TI113 FAhlILIES

'

Income g r o u p (yen)

1 ::-/ % / I I /
100120

Category ( 1 ) :
Food
Housing
Clothing
I.ight and file1
Jolal

120140

110160

160IS0

1

180200

--

"'2.50 25.32 '28.41 30.71 33.71 37.29 38.65 38.59
7.42 10.04 12.71 16.16 18.42 20.12 23.41 25.19
5.12 7.99 10.29 12.80 15.36 18.21 21.29 21.34
5.25 5.63 5.89
3.91
3.02 J.34
4.45 4.85 ---:38.06 16.89 j5.32 64.12 72.34 80.85 88.98 94.00

I I

Over Aver200
age

44.73 29.82
27.68 14.42
24.36 11.87
9.63 4.17
103.40 60.28

Category (2):
Hygiene
Schooling
Fares, postage, etc.
Taxes
Tot 11

----,5.3

Catcgor) (3) :
Social experises
Culture and recreation
Tra%elling
nrlrrapec, tobacco, etc.
'I'otal

8.72
2.37
9.97 11.57 14.46 15.9;
6.46
4.13 5.34 7.18
8.43 3.26
6.28
4.52 5.35
1.19 1.94 2.69 3.60
6.49
2.15
0.38 0.65
0.90
1.06 1.03 1.23 1.45 1.48
0.80
4.89 6.12 6.64 7.72
3.88
9.42 9.92 10.61 12.65 6.51
----7.82 11.61 14.95 18.48 21.99 2.5.97 29.22 33.04 39.20 17.13

Category (4):
111 olhers

3.15
1.49
0.60
0.26

9.75
5.46 6.09 7.41
7.6'3
8.70
8.97
2.04 2.78 3.19
1.20 4.14
3.94 5.77
3.89
1.18
3.52
1.62 1.91 2.24 2.75
2.12
0.41
0.81
1.05 i.27
0.53 0.58
21.53
13.09
17.70
14.88
9.09 11.32
16.94

-..

1.93

2.87

59 ?-, "67.66,
-I
82.23

Expenditwe in Percentage

'Total
Cateyory ( 2 )
Hypicne
Schooling
Fares, portage, etr
I'aws
'I'otrl
Category (3):
Social expenses
Culture and recreation
Tra\elling
Reverages, tobacco, etc.
Total
Category (4):
All others
Grand total
Kakei Ch8sa H5kok11, 1926-1927, Tol

-

6.94
9.79 13.2'2 3.63
4.01
4.69 6.74
97.93 112.11 128. I6 1X2.081 134.54 li7.3; 91.38

Category ( 1 ):
Food
Housing
Clothing
Light and luel

1

5.84
2.53
1.40
0.51
10.34

I

1.14!

Grarid total

4.19
1.77
0.94
033
7.23

11, pp. 326-329

TABLE LVI.

-

4 \ E R i G E BIO,\THLY 13XPEi\lDITI RP: O F T H E FAMILIES

O F L i N D WORKEIIS

Cate:orj ( 1 )
Food
Hon.inr
Clothing
Li:hf and h z l
I'otrl
Calegnry ( 2 ~ 1 :
Hygiene
Schoolinz
Fares, po-tagr, elc.
'Taw.;
Tot rl
Catego~,y( 3 ) :
Social expenses
Culture and rccreat~on
Tra) elling
I?c~cra;rs, tohacco, etc.
rot11
Calegory ( 4 ) :
All othern
Gr:~nd tolal
2alcgoi.y ( I J :
Food
I+orrsir~c
Clothing
J,ixhl and fncl
I'otal
:*tcc.ory (2) :
Hyaiene
Schooling
Fare-, postage, rlc.
'I';rx<.a
Tot 11
lalcgory (3):
Social erpelrses
( h l t o r e and recreation
l'ravclling
I k ~ e r a g r r ,tobacco, etc.
'1'0t91
:alegory ( 4 ) .
411 othcrs
(:~dnd total

'

hnkei ChZw H d k o l : ~ r ,1926-1927, Tnl IV, pp. 128-Ct1.

'

ISDUSTRIAL ACCIDEPiTS, ACCIDENT COMPENSATION
AND MUTUAL BID

I t ~ d u s t r i n lAccidents
In the early years of the development of modern industry in
Japan, accidents were naturally frequent. 'So-day the number
of accidents in comparison with the total number of workers has
to some extent diminished as a result of the growing safety
movement and the widening scope of legislative or other preverllive measures. In the following pages, the frequency of accidents
in Japanese factories and mines will be dealt with, followed by
an examination of the legislative and other measures taken for
the compensation of industrial accidcnis '.

Accidents in factories. - Statistics of industrial accidents in
Japanese factories cover fatal accidents, " serious injuries " requiring a1 least two weeks of absence from work for treatment, and
"light injuries " requiring at least three days of absence.
'l'ab!e LVII ( A ) shows the total numbers of industrial accidents recorded for the ten-year period 1921-1930 in Japanese factories, classified in main groups of industries, and (B) the fatal
accident< By far the largest number of accidents occurred in machine and tool factories ; textile mills and chemical works taking
the second and third places. As regards fatal accidents, however,
machine and tool factories and chemical works are almost equal,
while textile mills show a much lower number.
'I'ablc LVIJI gives for the year 1930 the accident rate per
1,000 workers in the same groups of industries. The highest
accident rate was in machine and tool shops, followed by t h e
---

.

---

' Legislative

and other measures for the prevention of accidents \\ill
be dealt with in fhe llext chaptrr.

-

225

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS A h D COMPENSATIOh

-

--

State-owned factories, which are largely engaged in dangerous
processes, most of them being munition factories or arsenals,
chemical works and gas and electricity undertakings. The rate
for fatal accidents in 1930 was highest in the gas, electricity arid
smelting group, followed by State-owned factories, chemical
works and machine shops. Both the total accident rate and the
fatal accident rate in textiles is shown to be much lower than
in other industries.

i

Number of accidents
Private factories

Total
number
of
workers

I

year

I

Machine
Chemiand
cal
tools

Food
and
drink

Gas,
electricity,
smel- aneous
ting

State
facto-

Total
lumber
or ac:idenis

Q8
< c4 %
*

-

'i:

&$'2
$%s
2g

Private factories

,rextile

1 Mzi!r

1

Food
and
drink

Gas, elec
tricity,
smelting

Miscellaneoua

factories

1 Rddd Takei YBmn (19'29 edition), pp. 73, 242-243, supplemented with Rdd6 JihB, Dec
1929, p. 15, k.
1930, p. 8, and Dec. 1931, p. 9.

Ihid.
The unusual rate o? fatal accidents in 1923 wa.: no douhl due to the e a r l h q ~ ~ a hwhiclr
e
took place in Septemlwr.

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

15

226

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

TABLE L V I l l . - PHOPOIlTIOlV OF 1iLI)USTRIiL ACCIDEhTS
I N YARIOUS F4CTORIES,

1930 '

Deaths

Kind of factory

Textile
Machine and tools

1 81
63

Chemical
Foods and drinks
Gas, electricity and
smelting

11
1

1
I

22

--

Total and average

I 243

State-owned factories

/

39

-I

Grand total or average 303

'She next table shows that in 1930 the number of fatal or
serious accidents which occurred in connection with machinery
in operation and installations for power transmission was not
much less than the number due to all other causes. The percentage of deaths to the number of fatal or serious accidents was
highest in the case of electricity and lowest in the case of
transport.
The sex classification of the workers killed or seriously
injured is as follows :
Ven injured
. . . . . 8,732, including 237 deaths
Women injured . . . . .
763
,,
6
,,

Thus over 90 per cent. of the victims were men; most of the
women injured or killed were in cotton-spinning or weaving
mills and filatures where women are almost exclusively employed,
and where, as tables LVII and LVIIJ showed, the accident rate
is low.

ISDUSTRIAL

'l'AELE I.I\.

ACCIDENTS

227

A N D COMPENSATION

- C4LSES O F ACCIDEhTS 1 3 PRI\'ATE FACTORIES,

(

1I

I

)

1

1930 '

1

Serious
Percentap
i n j u i
of deaths
~ n c l u d l n g all serioi
accident
deaths

A. Accidents caused by niachinery in
motion or in connection with the
apparatus for power transmission :
1. ,\lotors or power transmission
apparatus
2. Machine-saws
3. Cogwheels
4. Punch presses
5. Derricks with motors
6. Ilerricks without motors
7. Other mechanical causes
Total
B. Other accidents :
1. Transport or handling of goods
2. Falling objects
3. Falls
4. Scalding or burning
5. Explosive or inflammable substances
6. Electricity
7. Other
Total
I

1
I

29
147
--

Rod6 Jih6, July 1931, py. 12-13.

Accidents in mines. - 'The number of accidents in Japanese
mines has decreased generally during the past twenty years,
although it rose sharply once in 1927. The fluctuations in the
number of accidents have, however, been due mostly to the
rise or fall of the total mining force. For instance, there was a
great increase of accidents during, and for a few years after,
the Great War, when Japanese mines were working at a
pressure unknown before. From about 1916 to 1919, however,
the increase in the number of miners was abnormal, reaching
in 1919 the figure of 464,727, the maximum number of miners
who have ever been employed at one time in Japanese mines.
The number of accidents rose correspondingly in those three
years. reaching its highest point in 1919 when 218,873 accidents with 930 deaths were recorded and no fewer than 6,578

228

-

-

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
--

-

-- --

.
-

-

(1

grave injuries " I . The highest number of fatal accidents
(1,099 deaths) in the last decade, occurred in the following year
(1920), when the total number of workers in mines was 439,159.
and in 1927 with 1,002 deaths, when there was only a small
increase in the number of miners employed in comparison with
1926. The percentage of accidents has varied from over 60 per
cent to 45 per cent. within the last ten years.
The general experience that cases of accident are far morz
frequent in underground than in surface work holds good in
Japan, there being nearly three times as many deaths snd injuries
in the pits as on the surface.
Table LX shows the number of accidents for the years
1920-1929 and the accident rate for the year 1929.
TABI,E I,X ( A ) .

- KCRIBER OF 4CClDENTS

IR' MINES.

1920-1929 '

--

-.

Deaths

1)

Grave
injuries

Slight
injnrirs

Total
number
>I accidents

I

Total
number
of miners

Ratr per

b~

workers in
all mines

--

464.8
535.6
550.0
567.7
583.4
606.5
542.5
556.7
487.3
453.9
R6d6 TBkei
edition), p.

'

250 and 252, ?n~l

These are injuries invol\ing the loss of a limb, perlt~anentwounds or
injuries to the eye, ear, etc., or other cases requiring the absence from
work for thirty days or longer for treatment. The description " grave
injury " in mines differs from a " serious injury " in factories. (The verbal
distinction has purposely been made in translation, though in Tapanese
the word " Jii-sh6 " (heavy wound) is used indiscriminately to mean two
cases which differ g r e a t l ~ ) . There is a similar distinction between I' light
injury " in factories, and " slight injury " in mines, which are designated
in Japanese by the word " Kei-sh6 " (light wound) indiscriminately. The
"light injury " in factories requires n treatment of three days or more
but less than two weeks, while the "slight injury" in mines requires
a treatment of from three to thirty days. This lack of uniformity of definition makes it impossible to compare the factory and mining accident
statistics.

- ..

--

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDERTS A R D COMPENSATION
.
-.
-

229

-

AND

UNDERGROUND)
I N V~4RIOUSMINES, 1929 '
Surface or
underground

Kind of mine

All non-fatal
injuriea

I

Metal mines

Underground
Surface
Average

Coal mines

Underground
Surface
Average

Oil wells
Other non-metal mines
Total

I

II

Underground
Surface
Average
Underground
Surface

The largest number of accidents in Japanese mines arise from
the collapse of gallery roofs ; every year more than a third of the
total number of mining accidents are attributed to this cause.
The actual number of the cases of collapse of roofs has diminished
in recent years, but the number of men buried by roof falls has
nevertheless increased ; more than half the deaths are caused by
falls. A large number of deaths also occur from accidents in
connection with the haulage systems, and also through unforeseen
explosions. Electric shock, defective machinery or the upe of
defective tools produce many accidents in mines, but both in
regard to the number and gravity of accidents roof-falls are the
most serious.
Accident Compensation
L q a l provisions. - 'The underlying principle of Japanese
compensation law is that the burden of increased liability to
accidents due to the general adoption of mechanical methods in
industry must not be bornc by the workers themselves but by
the industry concerned.

230

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

Under the Factory Act I , the principle of accident compensation applies to factories where normally ten or more worers are employed '. II also applies to factories "where the work
is of a dangerous nature or injurious to health " " regardless c,f
the number of workers employed. The processes which are
considered as dangerous or injurious to health are defined in the
Ordinance for the administration of the Factory Act. They
includc some sixty different items, among which are : the handling ol mercury, lead and any poisonous chemicals or substances;
the manufacture of matches ; taxidermy ; smelting or refining of
metal ; manufacture of gunpowder, ether, varnishes ; napping or
trimming of woven or knitted goods ; manufacture of cottoqwool ; hackling of hemp ; sorting of old cotton, cotton rags, or
old hemp, waste paper, w-aste cotton thread or rags ; fur-dressing ;
tanning ; manufacture of glue ; hair and feather dreseing, etc.
The Minister of the Interior is empowered to include any other
items in the list if he deems it necessary.
Under the Mining Act of 1905, and the Mines Regulations of
1916 all miners in private mines are entitled to compensation :
accident compensation for miners employed in the State-owned
mines is dealt with 11)- special Ordinances, the benefits being
much the same in amount as those provided for in the factory and
mining legislation.
At the beginning of 1932 two new laws, both promulgated
in 1931, were put into operation : the k t concerning relief of
workers in case of accidents and the Act concerning insurance
against liability for relief of workers in case of accidents ". Under
these Acts some 1,750,000 workers engaged in civil engineering,
construction, transport, communications, etc., are entitled to
worhmen's compensation '. Hitherto these workers had no
Cf. Legislative S ~ r i e s .1923, Tap 1, and 1926, Tap. 1 ; the Factory
Act of 1911 and A m e n d d Factory Act of 1923, sections 1 and 1 5 :
Ordinance for the administration of t h e Factory Act, 1916, and Amended
Ordinance, 1926, sections 4-20 ; Repnlation~for t h e administration of the
Factory Act, 1916, and the Amended Regulations, 1926, sections I , 13-15,
19, 23-25, 28.
V o r m e r l , fifteen workers.
State-o\\ned factories, arsenals and workplaces do not come 11ndf.r
the Factorj Act, compensation being provided by special Ordinances.
Cf. Leuislative Series, 3926. Tap. 2 ; 1924, Tap 2 : 1928, Tap. I ; and
1929, Tap. 3."
' Cf. i b i d . , 1931. Tap. 1 and 2.
If these are added lo t h e 2,250,000 i n factories and mines who already
possess a claim to workmen's compensation, approximately 4,000,000
workers are covered h v this legislation.

- - -. - -

I R D U S T R I A L ACCIDENTS A h D COMPENSATION
--

231

legal protectio~~
in case of accidents beyond that provided by
the Civil Code (sections 415 et seq.). This was based on the
principle that in order to claim damages for injury the worker
must prove either that the accident was due to negligence or 3
deliberate act of the employer, or that the employer had specifically violated the worker's right. The procedure was slow
and complicated and it was generally too costly for the worker to
attempt to put the law in motion. The situation is now reversed,
the employer being compelled to pay compensaLion if there is
injury, the burden of proof falling upon him if he disclaims
liability for compensation. Moreover, the Act concerned with
insurance provides facilities for meeting the cost of compensation.
Meanwhile, a fundamental change in the legislation on
workmen's compensation had taken place in 1923. The prescription of the law that any accident to be compensated must have
occurred "through no serious fault of the worker himself" was
repealed, so that henceforward any worker injured or seized with
illness when at work automatically became entitled to compensation. If he died as a result of the illness or accident, compensation became payable to his family, and the application of
this provision was further widened by the addition of the words
" or any person who was dependent on the earnings of the worker at the time of his or her death ".
The conditions governing workers' compensation under the
factory and mining laws are as follows '.
Tn the event of injury, illness or death of the worker arising
out of or in the course of his employment, the employer must
compensate him, his family or the person dependent upon his
or her earnings. The dismissal of the worker does not affect the
obligation to grant compensation, except in cases for which
special provision is made. Should the victim of the accident
receive an indemnity according to the provisions of the Civil Code,
the employer is entitled to deduct from the compensation which
he grants an amount equal to the indemnity already granted to
the worker '.
Tn the case of sickness or injury sustained by the perforThe conditions are somewhat inferior in the new Act concerning
the relief of workers in case of accidents (cf. Legislative Series, 1931,
Jap. I ) .
V f . L ~ g i s l a t i v e Series, 1923, .Tap. 1 , section 15. An exactly similw
amendment has been made in the Mining Act (cf. Legislafive Series,
1021, Tap. 2 ) .

232

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
~

mance of work, the employer must supply medical treatment to
the victim at his own expense, or bear the expenses of medical
treatment. During the time the injured worker is unable to
earn wages by reason of his or her absence from work for treatment, the employer must grant monetary daily benefit amounting to at least 60 per cent. ' of the daily wages to which the
worker is entitled. The amount of the benefit may be reduced
to the minimum of 40 per cent." if the grant is continued for
more than 180 days '. If no recovery from the injury is made
within a period of three years, the grant of the compensation
may be discontinued on payment of an amount which must at
least be equivalent to 180 days' wages *. This is called the " final
allowance " (Uchikiri fujoryo) .
Permanent physical or mental disability occasioned by
accident must be compensated in the following scale (the scale
indicates the minimum requirements)' :
(a) If hopelessly maimed for life. . . . .
540 days' wages
( b ) If disabled for work for life . . . . . . 360
,
,,
( c ) If disabled for resumption of former work,
permanently broken down in health, or, in
the case of a women, if disfigured with scars
on the face. . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 ,,
,.
(d) If maimed, but able to resume former work
40
,,
,.

In the event of the death of a worker arising out of work,
the employer must pay to the surviving family or relative of the
worker, or any person maintained by the earnings of the worker
at the time of his or her death, an amount equivalent to at least
360 days' wages besides money for funeral expenses equivalent
to twenty days' wages or a minimum of 20 yen ', in case the
wages for twenty days do not reach that amount.
An injured worker who has been dismissed by an employer
loses his right to compensation unless the claim is entered within
a year from the date of dismissal. No claim to compensation
lies against an employer in respect of an injury which had appa-

"

Before the amendment, which became effective in 1926, one-half of
the wages.
Formerly one-third.
Before 1926. three months.
Formerly 170 days.
Formerly 170 days for (a), 150 days for ( b i , 100 d a y s for i c ) , 30 cln?-s
for ( d ) .
V o r m e r l y 170 days' wages.
' Fornrerlj 10 yen.

INDLSTRIAL

ACCIDENTS

A R D COMPERSATION

233

rently been cured by medical treatment and which recurs after
the dismissal of the worker.
Every employer must draft rules governing the amount of
compensation, the procedure and other matters relating to compensation, and submit them to the prefectural Governor who
may order alterations to be made in the rules for compensation
if he deems it necessary ; alterations in the rules made by the
employer must also be submitted for approval.

Compensation paid. - Every year, compensation amounting
in money to some 1,400,000 yen is paid in respect of over 13,000
workers in private factories and 20,000 workers in State-owned
factories (arsenals, dockyards, etc. ) , who are injured or killed.
Out of the 13,000 injured in private factories, approximately half
receive only sickness benefit for slight injuries which do not
entail absence from work ; the sum paid out for such cases in 1930
was about 85,000 yen. In the same year 264 workers lost their
lives in accidents, and the compensation granted in the form
of survivors' allowances and funeral benefit amounted to nearly
210,000 yen . There were also about 6,000 workers to whom the
absence allowance was granted, the total amounting to some
90,000 yen. For details of the amounts of compensation paid
to factory workers, see table LXI.
The amount of accident compensation paid to miners in cash
is much the same as in the case of factory workers. During 1929,
12,843 miners received compensation amounting to 1,759,158 yen.
The "injury allowance " was the largest item of allowances paid
in compensation, 851,499 yen, or 49 per cent. of the total, and
the " si~rvivors'allowance " was next in importance, 555,028 yen,
or 32 per cent. " Absence allowances" totalled 179,061 yen, and
sickness allowances given in money 155,730 yen. By far the
largest proportion of accident compensation paid to miners,
89 per cent., went to coal miners. The number of women miners
who received compensation was 947.
Additional allowa~zces.- In addition to the accident compensation prescribed by law, further allowances are in some
cases spontaneously given by employer^. The amounts granted
are stated to be often considerable, but where there is a schedule
o f the allowances it is generally kept secret. Grants of money are
also occasionally made to men who leave employment temporarily for military service, and some companies have fixed rates for
such grants.

234

IXDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

A

I
I

-

Classified by Industries
Nnmbrr of workers
injured
(or killed)

Kind of factories

1

Privates jaetoraies

Amount of
compensation
(in yen)

13,915

Textiles
Machine a n d tool
Chemical
Food a n d d r i n k
Gas, electricity a n d s m e l t i n g
Fuliscellaneons
State-owned facloi'ies
Total

I

l3. - Classified by the Extent of Injuries
Number
of workcrs

Exlen t of injuries

Amount of
compensation
'(in yen)

Private factories
Those w h c received slckness
allowance only w i t h o u t being
a b s e n t from w o r k
Those w h o received the absence
allowance only
Incapacitated for life
Maimed permanently
Killed

Aid discontinued after receivi n g allowance for three years
Others
State-owned factor.ics
Total

I___---

-

8-

RCdd Jih6, I)Ec. 1931, pp. 9-12,
'1 11e vorkers injured during thl: year and not recovered till the end of the year are ondcr
Ihiq heading. The amount of compensation c aid to them cannot he ascertained because it is
1

tmn-ferred lo the following year.

'Sable LXII gives examples of additional compensation which
were collected during a recent investigation made by Kyocho

Kai.

Mutual-Aid Societies
State-owned u n d e r t a k i n g s . - Somc years before legislation
provided for accident compensation for factory workers and
miners, a system of mutual aid among industrial workers had
already been developed in Japan. The system has been most
widely adopted in Government undertakings, where i t has been
encouraged by the Government. Its development among private
enterprises is still insignificant as compared with the mutnalaid system among Government workers.
The Ordinance ' for the relief of State workers was issued to
ensure that workers in State undertakings who do not belong to
a mutual-aid society should receive the same compensation for
accidents as the workers in private employment ; the Ordinance
dces not apply to workers who belong to mutual-aid societies
subsidised by the State. Tt was necessary because there are in
State undertakings a considerable number of workers ineligible
for membership of the mutual-aid society, being (1) only temporarily employed, (2) under probation, (3) voluntary workers
without fixed payment, (4) of foreign nationality, etc. 'Those
who belong to any one of these categories are covered by the Ordinance for the relief of State workers, even i f a mutual-aid society
exists in the works where they are employed.
Mutual-aid societies in State undertakings have developed
since 1907, when the formation of a society of railway workers
was authorised by an Imperial Ordinance for the first time
Similar societies were founded for the workers in the RIonopoly
Bureau (manufacture and sale of tobacco, sale of salt, etc.) in 1908,
for the workers in telephone, telegraph and postal services as
well as the workers in the Government Printing Office in 1909,
for the Naval 4rsenal Workers in 1912, for the workers in the
State iron-foundry in 1922, for the workers in the Mint in 1923,
for the Military Arsenal workers in 1926, etc. Such societies also
exist for policemen, firemen, labourers employed in the civil
engineering enterprise? undertaken by the Government (Department of the Interior), forestry workers in State-owned forests
(Department of Agriculture and Forestry), and workers emImperial Ordinance KO. 239 to omend the Ordinance for the relief
of State workers, dated 30 Tune 1926 (cl. Lrgislntiilr Series, 1926. .Tap
1 (D)).
? lmperial Ordinance No.
127 of 1907 decreeing the formation of a
Mutual-Aid Society of R a i l w a y Worhers.

ployed by the colonial Governments of Ch6sen (Korea), Taiwan
(Formosa), Karafuto (Sakhalin) , Kant6-ch6 (Kwantung) , etc.
Thc total membership of mutual-aid societies in State undertakings was 574,383 in 1929, and the amounts of benefits granted
was 16,539,570 yen, while the total revenue amounted to
41,275,363 yen '.
The organisation of the mutual-aid societies in State undertakings is practically uniform. They are under the control of
the Minister of the Department to which the undertaking belongs.
All permanently employed workers and clerks of Japanese
nationality are admitted as members. The State grants to the
society annually a subsidy equivalent to 3 per cent. of the maximum total amount of the wages of the members. The members
pay a monthly contribution amounting to about 6 per cent. of
their monthly wages and receive in return benefits in cases of
injury incurred in service, invalidity, sickness, retirement from
work, death and natural calamity (such as fire, flood, earthquake, etc.) . An example of the scale of henefits granted is
afforted by the Mutual-Aid Society of Japanese State Railways
TAnLE

LXJII. - BENEFITS

GRANTED HY THE MUTUAL-AID SOCIETY

O F THE J A P A N E S E STATE R A I L W A Y S

I

Kind of allowance

Kature of claim

Amounts granted

Blinded totally, lost
two limbs or hopelrssly incapacitated

Sum equivalent to 7
to 9 months' wages.
paid annually
till
death

1. Injury benefits granted for injury incur.
red in the perform.
ance of work :

(a) Tnjury pension

The revenue and expenditure
takings in 1929 were as follows :
Yen

itIem11er.s' contributions
State $rant . . . . .
Interest on capital . .
Giik
. . . . . . .
Sundrira . . . . . .
l otal

. . . 16,283,391

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

. 13,347,592
. 11,405,375
.
275
.
238.730

. . . . . . . . 41,275,3fiR

rnuitial-aid societies in State under-

enr,i\ors' bcnefils . . .
Invalidity benefits
. . .
\Ie,iical henefits . . . .
Retirement allowance
.
Long service prizes . . .
Fire benefit . . . . . .
IIealth insnrance benefits
Sundries . . . . . . .
Total

' Cf.

. . . . . . . 16,458,793

50th Nihon Teikokou T6kei S ~ n k n n ,p. 246.

238

ISDUSTRIAL LABOTiR IN JAPAN

TABLE LSIIJ.

-

continued
-

-

Kind of allowance

I
I

Sature of claim

Amounts granted

--

Lost oue limb, or permanently
incapacitated for work

4 to 6 months' wages
annually till death

Incapacitated
though 8 to 18 months' wages
able to move about
and
retired
from
work

(c) Lump-sum grant

I

Injured
permanently,
but continuing for-

(d) Lump-sum grant

1

2.

1 to 6 months' wages

lnuulitlity beflefits
granted for injury or
sickness which obliged the members to
give up work :

(a) Invalidity pension Blinded totally, lost 5 to 6 months' wages1
two limbs, or hopepaid annually
till
for tvorkers who have
lessly
incapacitated
death
been members for at
by permanent sickleast ten years :
ness or injury
(b) Invalidity pension Lost one limb or permanently incapacitatfor workers who have
ed for Gork through
been members for at
sickness or injury
least ten years :
though able to move
about
(c) Lump sum grant- After 1 year's member-

3 months' wages

ship
ed for occupational
disease or tuberculo- After 3 years' membership
sis
After 5 years' membership
After 7 years' membership

13. Sickness benefits :

(a) Medical benefit

6 months' wages

9 months' wages
12 months' wages

1

i

,

1

Jf treated by the rail- Five-tenths of the cost
way doctor or at the
I railway hospital
Seven-tenths of
the
I If infectious or occl~p<~cost
tional diseases, including tuherculosis

/
(b) Absence benefit

If absent from work be- Five-tenths of the wacause of 3 ( a )

ges paid from the
fifth day of absence

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

TABLE I A J I I .

continued

/

Kature of claim

Kind or allowance

Amounts granted

of
the
If not recipient of 3 ( b ) Five-tenths
wages paid for LC
eeks

Maternity benefit

C)

-

239

AND COMPENSATION

. Retirement benefits:
a ) Retirement pension If a member
years

for

One-quarter of the wages for a year paid
till death
One-third of the samf

15

If a member for 20
years
If a member for longer
than 20 years

If a member for
months or more

O) Lump-sum grant

.

1 per cent. of the
wages for a year i:
added
for
each
additional year oi
membership
10 days' wages for each
additional 6 months
membership

6

Death benefits :

a) Survivor's pension

For death incurred by
sickness or injury in
service
If the deceased was
member for 15 years
or inore

b ) Lump-sum grant

If

the deceased was
member for more
than one year
1-3 years' membership
3-6 years' membership
6-10 years' membership
10 or more years'
membership

Funeral benefit

For death i n c ~ ~ r r e din
service
For others

C)

4 months' wages

Calamity benefits :

i.

;

Personal calamitj For fire, earthquake, 2 months'
benefits
less
flood, etc., incurred 1
I
by the member himself

a1

1

wages

or

b) Family calamity be- For sickness or injury 10 days' wages or less,
in the family
payable only once a
nefits
i
year
c ) Family death benedeath in the farni- 10 days' wages or less
fit

1

Privntcly owned undcrtalcings. - No detailed information is
available in regard to mutual-aid societies in private undertakings, but according to official statistics there are over 3,000
"friendly societies ", the chief function of which is mutual aid,
with an aggregate membership of over 500,000 scattered over all
parts of Japan '. An enquiry was conducted by the Government
in 1927 in order to ascertain the extent to which mutual-aid
societies had spread in certain classes of private undertakings ".
However, no general description of these societies is possible
owing to the fact that they are vastly different one from another
and unlike the mutual-aid societies in State undertakings, there
is no legislation which facilitates the growth of new societies on
more or less uniform lines. A brief account of the way in which
contributions were paid and benefits granted by some of the societies is given below.
In stone works and quarries, the employer contributed to
the society 1.5 sen per 1,000 knn h f the rough stone, while the
worker paid 0.7 sen per kan handled by him, or 5.0 sen per day
on a daily basis instead of by amount of work performed. In cases
of injury or sickness the workcr received in compensation free
treatment and board, or their equivalent in money ; if obliged to
be absent from work on account of injury or sickness for ten days,
he was paid 3 yen as absence benefit. For an absence of from
10 to 20 days, the benefit might be increased to 7 yen. In case
of death, the allowance paid to the family of the deceased ranged
between 50 yen and 200 yen, the exact amount being determined
by the length of service which the worker had rendered.
In building and civil engineering works, the maximum contrihution of the employers was equal to the total amount of the
.-- - . - - -.

.

' In

1930, there were 3,336 friendly societies with a total memhcrship
of 603,998. Of these societies, 1,883 had named mutual aid as their
principal object. There were 170 societies with more than 500 members :
1,711 societies with 101-500 memhers ; 1,227 societies with 51-100 members :
228 with 50 or less members (Cf. 50th Nihon Teikokn T5kei Nenkan,
p. 247).
The enquiry m-as made only in respect of undertakings which W O U ~
be covered by the Act concerning the relief of workers in rase of accidents.
Thr rnqniry showed that the societies existed as follows :
Stone works and quarries . . . . . .
Building and engineering . . . . . . . .
Privalely owned railways and tt.amways . .
Omnihus services
Other transport and general work . . . .
Loadinp and unloading . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

rota1
"

. . . . . . . . . . .

2

13
53

10

20

11
-

109

A kart or kwccn equals 8.267 pounds or 3.75 kilograms.

~

- --

INDUSTRIAL hCCIDEhTS AND COMPENSATIOR

--

-

241

workers' contributions. 'The contributions of the workers
varied in amount, the highest amount being a day's wage per
month, while the lowest amount fixed by a society was 1yen per
year In the first case, the medical benefit granted was half the
actual cost, arid the absence allowance half the daily wage. Injury and invalidity benefits ranged between 20 and 500 days'
wages. paid, presumably, in a lump sum. The death and funeral
benefit was a sum equivalent to three months' wages ; to this
might be added a survivors' allowance of between 300 and 600
days' wages of the deceased. In the case of the minimum contribution of only 1 yen per year, the rule was to grant 5 yen if the
worker was obliged to be absent from work by sickness or
injury for thirty days, and 20 yen at the death of the worker.
In railways and tramways the conditions were more favourable. The largest contribution made in any instance by an employer was twice the total amount of the worker's monthly contribution, when the worker paid 0.5 per cent. of his monthly
wages, and received medical benefit equivalent to a maximum
amount of 20 yen. Permanent injuries and invalidity were compensated by amounts varying between 20 yen and 500 yen. The
minimum allowance granted at the death of the worker was
100 yen. The smallest contribution by an employer was half the
worker's contribution, where a married member paid 50 sen per
month, and a single member only 20 sen. The society in this
case paid medical costs and a funeral benefit varying from
10 yen to 15 yen.
For other transport undertakings, including omnibus services, the information is incomplete. There was one case of :in
omnibus proprietor paying to the society 0.2 per cent. of the
total amount of passenger fares received per month. In this
case thc worker's contribution varied with sex or grade, but
usually it was either 1per cent. of the wages per month or a sum
of 50 sen or less. In Tokyo, most societies paid an absence allowance of 1 yen per day for ninety days. Invalidity and injury
benefit varied between 15 yen and 500 yen, according to the
gravity of the injury or sickness. No mention is made of medical
benefit in the report. A death benefit of 500 yen was paid by
some societies in Tokyo, but in other cases only a death benefit
of 20 yen or so was paid, without any provisions for absence,
invalidity or other benefits.
In warehouses and other places where heavy goods are loaded
and unloaded the employer contrihuted 15 yen and the worker

1 yen per month. When absence from work resulting from
sickness or injury lasted more than ten days, the worker received,
from the eleventh day till the fortieth, a daily allowance of 1 yen,
and from the forty-first day till the seventieth day, 70 yen. He
received besides a medical allowance of 30 yen or less ; wheu
disabled by injury, the benefit ranged between 20 yen and
150 yen, and in cases of fatal accidents while at work, a death
benefit of 200 yen or less was paid. The most unfavourable conditions were found in a society where the contribution of both
the employer and the worker was 20 sen per month ; for a
month's absence the employer paid 10 yen, and only 30 yen
for fatal injury.

CHAPTEK V
HEALTH ASD SAFETY OF WOHKEHS

Heallh Conditions in I~acloriesa n d Illines
Sickness among factory workers. - No sickness statistics
are available for Japanese factories generally, and the partial statistics which are most useful are not of very recent date. From
lime to time the Government collects and publishes information
from various prefectures considered to be representative, and it
also occasionally compiles and publishes sickness statistics of
factories in all parts of Japan where not less than 500 workers
arr employed. The most recent figures available for these large
factories are for the year 1926, and they are used in the following paragraphs as being most indicative of the situation in largescale Japanese industry.
These statistics are contained in the Factory Inspection Report
for 1926 ' and show in the first place the comparative frequency
T413I.E LXIV.

-

C \SITS O F SICKNESS AND TRJTTRY

IN FACTORIES EMPI.OYING
--

1926 '

-

/

--Men

Injured

AT L E ~ S T500 WORKRRS,

/

20,542

1

59,551

1

Numbers

1

-

Women

5,698

1

Percentages
-

-

.
-

Total

I
*
.

I

women

Total

26,240

Sick
Total
1

KKiij6 Kantoku NenpB, 1926, 1).

1

1

140,937 200,488

175.

-I K6j6 Kantoku Nenp6 (Annual Report of Factory Inspection), 192x3,
pp. 177-189.

244

IADLSTRIAL L4BOUR I N J A P A N

--

of sickness arid accidents, the cases selected being those which
require at least three days' treatment and absence from work.
Table LXIV shows that out of 200,488 cases, sickness\accounted
for 174,248, and also that the sickness rate was higher for women
than men, being about 77 per cent., while the accident rate was
higher in the case of men (78 per cent.).
'She following table shows the sickness and injury rates per
thou~antlworkers employed, on the basis of the above figures.
TkULI LXV.

1 1 F4CTORIES EMPLOYING A T LEiST

-

-- -

-

Injury rate

I

96.5

Sickness rate

i

183.3

I

1,000 WORKERS
500 WORKERS, 1926 '

- SICKNESS A R D IAJURY R4TES PER

Kdjd Kantok~r Nenpd, 1926

'

14.2

42.8

338.4

11 176

Among the undertakings covered by the 1926 investigation,
textile mills employed the largest number of workers. For this
reason, and because women workers predominate in the textile
industry, it was obvious that the largest number of cases of sicknesb reported should relate to that industry. A study of the morbidity statistics classified by industries piwen in table LXVI
also shows, however, that the sickness rate generally was higher
in the textile industry than in other industries. In 1926 the
sickness rate for men and women together was 314 per thousand
workers. Of these, 60 per 1,000 workers suffered from affections
of the stomach and intestinal diseases, forms of sickness which
might be attributed to coarse food or malnutrition. Recently
many prefectural authorities are making special efforts to improve the quality of the food of factory workers. Textile workers
also suffered considerably from bronchitis (23.94 per 1,000) and
beri-beri (12.80 per 1,000), although workers in the food and
drink trades were most affected by the latter disease (20.55
per 1,000) .
The sickness rates in the other groups of factories covered
by the enquiry were : miscellaneous 284.82 ; gas, electricity and
smelting 190.58 ; food and drink trades 184.78 ; chemicaI 178.07;
machine and tool 18.00.
If all the groups of factories are taken together, the total

T.lRI,I? LSVI.

- MORBIDITY

OF FACTOlZJ WORKISRS IN PIUVATELY-OWNED FACTORIES, CIASSIFIED BY FACTOIIIES

f

Factories

IWri txri
culosis

-

--

Textile mills

Men
Women
Total
Par rnille

(Total number
engaged: 470,671)
Machine a n d tool shops
(Total number
engaged :88,OBi)
Chemical factories
(Total number
engaged

08,265)

Food a n d drink nlanufactories
(Total number
engaged

: 4,:li8)

(Total number
engaged : 2,101)
Niscellaneous factories
: 8,995)

1,051
1,436
2.80

Men
Women
Total
Per mille

-1.67

Men
Women
Total
Per rnille

60
I2
72
1.96

377
25
102

4

-

1
0. !)?

Men
Women
Total
Per rnille

2
0.95

Men
Womm
Total
Prr rnille

:I1
I
32
3.66

-

-

Grand total
(Total number
engaged : 612,480)

/

!

-

?8:!

Men
Women
Total
Per rnille

Gas, electricity, smelting

(Total number
engaged

patients and rnfio per 1,000 worker

M4.n
- -

I

Women i
Total
Per ~rlilleI

h 6 ~ 6 K a n t o k uNenpi for 1926, pp

184-185

( Trachoma

Pleurisy

Stomach
and
intestinal

onlaginus
skin
diseases

Totals

figures ilrclicate that slomacll and intestinal affections were the
commonest sicknesses (53.75 cases per 1,000 on the average),
bronchitis and beri-beri coming next with 21.06 and 12.57 cases
per 1,000 workers respectively.
'I'able LXVII which follows shows that of the total number of
sic~hoesscasrs, digestive and respiratory affections had the highest
percentages, r e p r ~ w n t i ~~~~gc n r l23
) p w cent. and 22 per cent.
respectively of the total of morbidity cases. Actually, tuberculosis claimed the largest number of victims, and table LYVIII
below shows that there were 88 deaths out of each 1,000 cases,
while 211.8 workers per thousand were discharged before recoverv or were still absent from work and under treatment at

-

Sickness

-

--

\\'omen

Yen

Tnberculosis

general

in

~

I'ercen tagpa
--

-

Total

-- --- -

,

i

Tnberculosis of the
lungs
I
Affections of respi- ,
ratory organs
AfTections of diges- '
tive organs
Beri-beri
Tr:rchom:r
i

1

I

-

'

-- --

885

1,377

556

i,osr

-

"1 , 1 3 8 31,791

23Xl
1,848
I

2,861 1

516

39,324

I

I

I

hi,jri Anr~tolc~rV e n p o lot 1926, pp. 179-180

3,377

Men

I

Women

HEALTH AND SAFETY

OF W O R ~ E R S

-

-

--

247
A

the time of the enquiry. In 19% Lhe number of tuberculosis
patients reported showed an increase of 380 over the previous
year; of the 1926 total, 2,262, luherculosis of the lrings accounted
for 81 per cent .
Sickness ctmong mining workers1. - Although the difference between the sickness and the accident rate is less marked
in mines, where the risk of injury is greater, than in factories,
the proportion of cases of sickness to cases of accident is nevcrtl~clessnearly three to one. 'Sable LXTX shows that during 1927
there were 367,135 cases of sickness in mines, the percentage rate
being 182.27 for women and 123.45 for men.

T&HI,E LXIY.

- SICKltESS

4 A D 1MTlRIES O F RlJRIW
-

I

-

I

Sic*l.

2

I

--

\Yomen

I
I-- - -.-

Injutwl

Perccmtsg(.s

-- -

*I..n

llO,i47

2

209.456

7

1927'

-

Numbers
--

WORKERS,

1

TOM

1

8 5

47.60

7 3 5

123.45

I .1
iR4.21

55.M
113.6!1

I
1 Only coal mlnes employing 500 or mole miners and other mines or 011 wells emploging
at least 300 mining workcrs are covered by the figures for sickness On the other hand, the
figures lor accidents are taken from statistics covering all J~pancsemine9 Thus the statistics
far \he injured and l h e sick are not strirtly compdral)lr
Honpd Kdqyo no 91irei lot 192'7, pp 366, 401

-

The highest sickness rate in 1927 was found in coal mines.
The percentages of men and women registered as having been
sick and absent from work for at least three days were 144.88
and 191.87 respectively. Although comparative figures are not
given in the following table, the official report states that the
sicknrss figurer. rose suddenly i n 1926 for all mines, owing to
the infliience of the Health Tn~uranceAct, which came into force
in that year ; cases of sickness were more frequently reported
than before, on account of the new facilities for treatment and
compensation.
Fiyl~rcsand ot11c1 daln in t l ~ i ssc,c.liott h : ~ \ r11rc.11I:~kcnfroin l l o n p d
KGgvo no S i i s c i for 1927, pp. 365-4111

248

IADI STRIAL LABOI R IA JAPAN

hlrn

Metal mines
Coal mines
Oil wells
Non-metal mines

Total

I

Numbers
Women

--

1 ---

Total

Men

-Women
--

I

I

144.88

I!J1.37

404 1

15.95

16.33

27,915
336,139

80.48

867,185
--

81.45

--

2,657
_I I 126 88

-

Percentages

133.15
-

118.93
-18'2.27
-

--

Although the predominating diseases of miners differed from
one mine to another, the average percentage figures for all mines
show that 28 out of every 100 miners suffered from digestive
troubles and had to stop work at least once in the year for this
cause, while over 23 per cent. were absent for affections of the
respiratory organs. MTomen were more affected by these sicknesses than men, the separate figures given in tahle LXYI showing
percentages of 36.57 and 21.40, in the case of digestive disorder^,
and 31.47 and 21.07, in the case of respiratory troubles, for men
and womcn respectively. The harmful effect of heavy mining
labour on maternity may he imagined by the fact that 10,992
women out of 33,591 (or about 20 out of every 100 womcrl worhers) suffered from diseases of the urogenital organs, the majority
being diseases of the womb. Skin diseases and nervous disorders
also bulk largely in the sickness statistics, men suffering more
than women from diseases of the nervous system. Details will be
found in table LXXI.
Occupational diseases and compcnsafion. - 'She preceding
sections have dealt with sickness generally regardless of whether
the sickness is specifically caused by the worker's occupation, i.e.
whether it is an occupational disease. Japanese legislation,
however, as other legislations, makes a distinction between
ordinary sicknesses and occupational diseases from the point
of view of the degree of protection afforded the worker.

249

HEALTH AND S A F E T Y OF WORKERS

Percentages

Numbers
Sickness
Women

lnfectious diseases
Tuberculosis
Syphilis
Beri-beri
Anaemia
Parasites
Other infectious 01.
constitutional
diseases
Nervous diseases
Diseases of circnlatory organs
Diseases of respiratory organs
Diseases of digestive organs
Diseases of urogenital organs
Rheumatism
Skin diseases
Poisoning
Others

Total

196
310
467
1,412
116
800

789
928
2,696
5,172
281
1,978

4,017
5,559

14,537
21,765

808

2,860

16,868

60,427

19,602

72,810

Women

10,992 19,546
4,295
1,233
7,011 31,316
570
162
28,126 127,165

Total number of
sick cases
Total number of
miners covered

Under the factory and mining laws ' of Japan the employer
is compelled to compensate the worker for either sickness or
injury arising out of the performance of his work, sickness and
injury being put on exactly the same footing in this respect. The
principle of compensation for occupational diseases was first
established in the Mining Act of 1905 (section 80) and subsequent
legislation has applied the same principle. In practice difficulties
arise in determining what diseases are "occupational diseases ".
With a view to meeting these difficulties, the Government issued

' Ordinance for the administration of the Factor) Act, 1916 (aine~lderl
1923), section 4; Regulations for the employment and relief of miners, 1916
(amended 1926), section 17.

250

IhDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

in 1916 a n instruction ' altaching a list of the diseases regarded
officially as occupational. The list contains the following :
1. I'oisoning in trades which involve the handling of arsenic,
mercurj, lead or their compounds, phosphorus or substances containing phosphorus, hydrocyanic acid, cyanic conlpounds or other poisono~isor dangerously strong substances.
2 . Corrosion or ulceration occasioned by the handling, in connection with the work, of mineral acid, caustic soda, chrome, fluorine
or their compounds, tar or other corrosive or irritative substances.
3. I'hlegmon in the hand or fingers of operatives handling raw
silh, palmar psoriasis of workers grinding or polishing metal or stone,
eczema caused by tar, cement, cyanic compounds and the like.
4. Cramp, convulsion, laceration, inflammation of the tendon
heaths, arthritis, or hernia occasioned by work.
3 . Co~ijunctivilisor any other eye disease occasioned either by
handling highly heated objects or by irritative gases or substances.
6. Erysipelas, anthrax, pest, or smallpox contracted in handling
rags. hides or hair of animals, or other old things.
7 . Any other diseases than those enumerated above which can
be regarded as occupational diseases.

Since n o other list of occupational diseases has been issued
by the Government, it may he inferred that the list applies alike
to the cases of diseases of factory workers and of miners i n
determining the responsibility of the employer for compensation.
The absence of a special list of the occupational diseases to which
miners are particularly liable has, however, given rise to difficulties i n practice, and it is significant that n o statistics of compensation for the occupational diseases of miners are available.
As regards workers i n private factories the statistical enquiry
into sickness among factory workers in 1926, which furnished
the information given i n the first part of this chapter, showed that
17,236 men and women workers received compensation for
diseases arising out of the performance of work, the total amount
of compensation paid being 71,349 yen. These figures are low
when compared with the 227,660 cases of injury for which compensation amounting to 2,733,975 yen was paid. It will be noted
that by far the largest number of the sickness cases giving rise to
compensation occurred i n textile mills, and that i n the great
majority of these cases women were affected. The following table
gives the figures for the main industrial groups :
-.

-

-

Instruction No. 6887 of tlrc former Depnrlnwnt of Agrirulturc and
Corn~rlcrre.dated 9 Allg. 1916.

TABLl.: LXXII.

251

OF M ORKRRS

HEALTH AND SAFETI-

- OCC ir PATION& 1)ISJMSES I N FAC'L'ORLES
500 WORKERS A h D AMOI ATS

k:iVPI,OlIi\G MORE TIJ4N

Xurnbcr of cases
I. actorirs
-

1

I

-

Textile

1

Machine and tools

Money paid

Men
-

- -

1

--

compensation

-

Yen

1.312

15,627

39,212

'

534

,551

11,885

Chemical

1

310

861

Food and drink

I

I

Gas, electricity and smelting
Miscellaneous
Total
1

15,806

I

I1-__.

1

116

121

43

45

25
5

4

I
dl. h6j6 hantolirz SenpE, ID26, pp.

1

2,846

1

945

3 1-1

655

--

14.691

1'7,2:lli

Ti39
--

--

190-192

More than half the amount of money paid out in compensation
was to cover the cost of treatment, and the next largest item
was payment during the absence from work caused by the sickness. The next most considerable item consisted of payments to
the families of workers who died from occupational diseases. The
detailed items of the paymrnts were as follows :
YCll

Cost of treatment : . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Absence allowances : . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Permanently incapacitated . . . . . . . . . . . .
Incapacited from resuming former work or women wounded
Permanently injured but able to reslime former nark . .
Survi~ors'allowances . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Funeral allowances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fir~:tl (aid-terminating) nllowances . . . . . . . . .

. . . 38,240
.
. 25,299
. . .
752
on fare

. . .
. . .
. . .

. . .

1,353
67
4,210
660
862

Total . . . 71,349

'She occupational disease which accounts for the largest number of cases is psoriasis of the hand or finger, a disease which
mainly affects women workers in silk filatures, In the prefecturr
of Yagano, which is the centre of the silk industry, 1,363 factory
girls were reported during 1926 as having been absent from work
on account of this disease. The aggregate number of days lost
for treatment was 8,733, an average of 6.4 days per worker.
The maximum number of days lost by a worker was 129 days, a n d

one mill reported as many as 85 cases of the disease during the
year. The factory inspection authorities estimated ', on the basis
of the report of the prefecture of Nagano, that the total number
of factory workers suffering from this disease was 4,377,
involving an aggregate loss of 28,045 working days, Translated
into terms of production, this would mean a loss of 2,804,300
kan ' or 312 bales of silk.
!nother skin diseasc which is regarded as an occupational
disease is the eczema affecting the fingers of workers in artificial
silk manufactories. A factory in the prefecture of Hiroshima
r e p o r l d during March-December 1926 the cases of 6 men and
9 women workers who were absent from work for 23 and 56 days
respectively on account of this disease.
Conjunctivitis and keratitis of the eye are also common ill
artificial silk manufactories. A factory in Hiroshima reported
as many as 210 cases of workers in 1926 who were absent from
work for threc days or more, losing 2,747 days in the aggregate,
and requiring 3,013 days of treatment. The same factory reported
137 cases in the following year, 1927, with 1,429 days of absence
and 2,209 days of treatment. Another artificial silk factory i n
tht. prefecture of hliye reported that in 1927 more than 10 per cent.
of the workers were suffering from conjunctivitis every day in the
year ; most of these cases were slight, requiring only a few days
of treatment, but some lasted weeks or months. The disease is
stated t c hc caused by the pa5 emitted by the viscose as it forms
the artificial silk thread running through a fluid containin:: 10
per cent. sulphuric acid and chlorine compounds. Mechanical
dwices for ventilation and removal of the noxious gas exist, hut
wheneyer they fail lo function properly scores of workers' e?es
are affected.
A few cases of phosphorus poisoning are reported occasionally
from phoqphorus refineries. The use of the mask is strictly
enforced and any case of dental trouble is stated to be carefully
dealt with so as to reduce the risk of phosphorus poisoning to
an absolute minimum. Poisoning from yellow phosphorus in
match factories is no longer reported since the prohibition of the
use of this poisonous material has been legally enforced. A few
cases of anthrax arc reported occasionally in the trades involving

the haoclling of the hides and lm~lcsof animals. 'The cases occur
mostly in tanneries arrd the ma~lufactorics of writing brushes
(fucle')'.
Healtl~legislation. - Inability to afford the loss of wages
involved by sick leave and the fear of losing his employment
if his absence from work is prolonged often induce the sick
worker to continue to work, thereby endangering not only his
own health but sometimes also that of his fellow-workers. It
also happens that employers, more particularly if there are urgent
orders to be executed, bring pressure to bear on sick workers to
remain at work. Obviously, so long as these conditions persist,
the reduction of the sickness rate is rendered more difficult to
achieve. Japanese legislation has, therefore, begun to make
absence from work compulsory in certain cases of sickness.
The Factory Act authorises the Minister of the Interior to
restrict or prohibit the employment of sick persons both for the
purpose of protecting the sick worker himself and of safeguarding
the health of his fellow-workers. Thc Minister of Commerce and
Industry and, under him, the Chiefs of Mining Inspection Bureaux
have similar powers in the case of mines '. 'The Health Insurance
Act has reinforced the earlier legislation by providing by statute
means for facilitating the treatment and recovery of sick workers.
Any person suffering from an infectious disease is of course
debarred from employment in a factory or mine3. In Japanese
Cf. K d j B K a n t o k u Nenp6, 1927, pp. 196-200.
"'The provisions in question are as follows :
Factory Act of 1923, section 12 : " The competent Minister may issue
regulations restricting or prohibiting the employment of sick persons, or
of women before and after chiltlbirlh or while they are nursing their
children. "
Mining Act of 1905, section 71 : " Any police matter, as set out below,
relating to mining is administered by the Minister of Commerce and
Industry and the chiefs of Mining Inspection Rureaim in accordance with
Ordinances :
( a ) ...... . .. .. .... .... ...... ... .
( b ) Protertiorl of life and hggielte.
(C'I

Prevention of accidents nncl safeguarding of public welf;~r.r

W e r t a i n infectious diseases are governed by the general Art for the
pre~entionof infectious diseases under which any person suffering from
cholera, dysentery, typhus, paratyphus, erupting typhus, smallpox, scarlet
fever, diphtheria, cerebro-spinal meningitis or pest is disallowed from engaging in work which is liable to spread the disease among others. If
deemed necessary bv the authorities, the patient may hc detained in an
isolation hospital.

law a sick person is not only anyone who actually has the
symptoms of any given disease, but, also anyone who has not
recovered health even after the synlptoms have disappeared, and,
according to the present factory' and mining laws', no
employer may engage for work a worker suffering from any of
the following diseases :
lnsanit~;
Leprosy, tuberculosis, laryngeal tuberculosis;
Erysipelas, recurrent fever, measles, epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis and other similar acute fevers;
Syphilis, itch and other infectious skin diseases;
(hjunctivitis, blennorrhoea, trachoma (of the verj infectious
type) and other similar infectious eye diseases;
l'lcut.isy, heart disease. beri-beri, arthritis, inflammation of the
tendon sheaths. acute diseases of the urogenital organs or
,my other illness likelv to be aggravated by work.
Jn order to ensure that sick people shall be eliminated from
the workplaces, the Factory 4ct has authorised the inspectors of
factories to " inspect a factory or its annexes, or medically examine
any worker or apprentice suspected of a disease which entails
prohihitimi of employment or is infectious ". Under the Mining
Act "he mining authorities have similar powers. The regulations
of a number of prefectures require that workers should be
medirally examined either periodically or at the time of engagement, hut this has not yet been introduced into national
legislation.
Moreover, both the factory and mining laws require that the
employer should call in a doctor to make a diagnosis or postmortem examination without delay whenever any worker is
injured, taken ill or dies when at work, either in a workshop or
in any building attached thereto4. Strict observance of this
requirement is ensured by further legal provisions obliging the
employer to make a report to the prefectural governor of any cases
of death, and of acute poisoning, asphyxia or injury of workers
requiring at least three days of medical treatment or of absence from
Cf. Legislalive Series, 1926, Jap. 1 (C) : Regulations for the Administration of the Factory Act, section 8 ; also Legislative Series, 1926,
Jap. 2 : Regulations for the employment and relief of miners, section 14.
Cf. Leaislative
Series. 1923, Tan. 1 ; Amended Factory Act, 1923,
"
section 14.
Section 71 of the Minine Act of 1905. amended 1924.
k the administration of the
Section 14 of the ~etailGd~ e ~ u l a t i o nfor
Factory Act. Sections 30 and 34 of the Regulations for the employment
and relief of miners.

HEALTH A h D SAk'E'I'1 O F W O R K E R S
--

255

-

work for recover). Failure to cause the illness of a sick worker
to be diagnosed or an injured, poisoned or asphyxiated worker
to be medically examined, and negligence i n the matter of postmortem examination or of making a report to the authorities, are
punist~ablewith iincs. JII respect of factories where at least
fifty operatives arc normally employed, there is an additional
obligation imposed : the employer must make a monthly report
on the sickness, injury and death of workers, on the f o r m 1
provided for the purpose. 111 mines, the requirement is still more
stringent than i n factories. Monthly reports on the sickness,
injury and death of miners must be made to the mining authorities from all mines irrespective of the number of miners engaged
in the mine.
Dormitory regulatioizs. - Aparl from and irr addition to the
provisions of the factory and mining laws for the prevention of
sickness, i t was necessary in Japan to deal with the dangers
arising from the special method of housing large numbers of
workers in dormitories. The importance of the problem will be
obvious when it is realised that approximately 15,000 factories
have dormitory sheds attached to them, and that 634,000 workers
live in these dormitories. The following is a summary of the
health provisions contained in the Regulations for dormitories
attached to factories which w e w issued in 1927' :
The occupants of dormitories must be exanlined medically at least
twice a pear and health record^ must be preserved during a period of
three years.
The minimum sire of roorw is legally fixed. Bedrooms, dining
rooms, sick rooms and other rooms used for living purposes must not
be less than 6
feet in height. All bedrooms must have ceilings and
the windows must either be of glass and covered with curtains or must
be provided with sh6ji (sliding paper screen) and outer shutters.
Redrooms must have floor space conforming to law '. No sleeping
room may have more than sixteen occupants. The names of the occupants
must be posted a t the entrance to their bedrooms.
When the occupants of a dormitory belong to separate shifts with
different sleeping hours, each shift must have its own hedrooms.
Shift and non-shift workers must not he put together.
"/,

Cf. Detailed Regulations for the administration of the Fnrtory Act, sections 24-25 : Regulations for the employment and relief of m'ners, sections
-74,37bis, 38 ; Mining Police Regulations, sections 73, 74. 79.
' CX. lr~dustrialand Labour Information. 30 Ma\ 1027, 1,. ,367 ; also
Legislative Series, 1927, Jap. 3.
The minimum floor space required is approximately 6 x 4.5 ft.
(0.76t m b o . Tsubo = 3.95 sq. yards)

256

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR

IS JAPAN

The factory owner must supply a set of quilts and sheets sufficient
for the sole use of each worker. Bedding must not be used by another
worker until it has first been washed, and it must be kept clean and
exl~osedto the sun from time to time.
Earth floors are not allowed in dining rooms and kitchens. Dining
rooms must be provided with stools or chairs unless mats are used.
All bowls, dishes, chopsticks, etc., must be kept clean and disinfected
occasionally.
Persons of unsound mind must not be employed in dormitories.
All dormitories must be provided with an adequate number of
spittoons containing liquid and the contents of these must not be
thrown away until they have first been disinfected. Towels for common use are not allowed. Wash basins used by operatives suffering
from trachoma must not be used by other operatives and each wash
basin must be connected with the drainage system. Bedding and other
materials used by patients suffering from the contagious or infectious
diseases listed in the Regulations for the administration of the Factory
Act must not be used by other persons unless disinfected. The same
rule applies lo bedrooms occupied by tuberculous patients.
Dormitories must he provided with an adequate number of closets
and washing basins.
If in the opinion of the prefectural governor the sleeping rooms of
a dormitory are a menace to the health or safety of the occupants, the
factory owner may be required to remedy the deficiency, or may be
ordered to close the whole or part of the dormitory.
Special protection of young workers. - Provisions i n t h e
factory a n d m i n i n g laws prohibit t h e employment of workers
under sixteen years of age in processes considered particularly
injurious t o health, such as the handling of deleterious o r poisonous substances and w o r k in places where t h e air is heavily
charged with dust '.

Development of safety regulations.- Rules for t h e prevention
of accidents i n mines are first found, i n a very elementary f o r m ,
i n t h e Japan Mines Act of 1873. It w a s not, however, until 1890,
w h e n the m i n i n g police service w a s established, t h a t provision
w a s made for detailed health a n d safety regulations. These provisions, contained in t h e Mining Police Regulations of 1892, w e r e
t h e basis of the existing regulations, having been elaborated a n d
improved by amendments i n 1905, 1916 and 1929.
The first factory regulations containing safety. clauses were
issued i n Osaka, one of t h e first important centres t o be indusCf. Detailed Regulations for the administration of the Factory Act.
section 6 : Recl~lationsfor the emplo\ment and relief of miners, section 13.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

OF 1%
ORKERS

257

trialised in Japan, as early as 1887, and were followed by similar
regulations in Tokyo in 1891. Other regulations to ensure safety
and hygiene in works using steam boilers, manufactories of
fire-works or matches and the like, were issued from time to time
during the following years in various prefectures. It was not,
h o w ever, until 1911 that national regulations were provided for,
alltl in the absence of standard national legislation the small
factories, which were spreading by hundreds and thousands,
tlepentled on the discretion of local authorities or the initiative
and goodwill of enlightened employers for such safety and health
regulations as llwv 11nii.
The Factor) Act of 1911 did not, however, contain detailed
regulations, but laid down in section 13 thnl if the administrative
authorities consider "that a factory, or the premises or equipment
thereof, is likely to prove dangerous or detrimental to health,
morality or other public interests, they may instruct the occupier
of such factory, in accordance with regulations to be issued by
order, to take such measures as may be necessary to prevent or
reduce the dangers in question. . . " The regulations provided for
i l l this section were not, in fact, issued by Ordinance until
1929 I .
Safety regulations for jactories. - Issued in June 1929, these
Regulations were applied in September of the same year, with
delayed application for periods of one or two years i n the case of
some requirements which involve either the rebuilding of parts
of factories or c.onsidcrahle change of their equipment. An
analysis of the Regulations is given below :
Safety nzerrsures. - Dangerous [)arts of a troto or or power transrnission apparatus must be fenced or covered. Power transmission
belts must be moved from fixed pulleys to loose pulleys or vice versa
I,! nreaiis of a belt-shifting de~icewith an automatic stopper. If there
i q danger ill oiling the power transmission apparatus used, a safe oiling
arvangemeut must be substituted. When several machines are driven
by the same motor, earl1 rrrachine must be equipped with a device
wl~ereb?its individual ~notiorl(-an be stopped immediately in case of
danger. 4 proper signal lr\nst ha given to all persons concerned when
n motor or power transmission apparatus is set in motion. Persons
who are in danger of ha\ing their hair or clothing caught by machinery
K6j6-Kigni Yob6 oyobi Bisei liisoku (Regulatiom concerning Hygiene
Accident Prevention in Factories). No. 24 of the Ordinances of t h ~
Department of the Interior, promulgated 20 Tune 1929.
Some health measures are mentioned here because they are coin
1)ined with important prmisions for accident prevention.

and

258

-

IhDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

in notion must wear appropriate caps or working clothes. All dangerous places, such as entrances to lifts, elevated runwajs, etc., nus st
be guarded with a fcnce, railing or cover. Signs must be placed in
all dangerous places. Ladders must have safety rungs.
Prevention of and escape from fire. - Prefectural Governors may
regulate the places where explosi~es, inflammable or combustible
substances are niarlufactured, handled or stored, or where gas, power
or dust of explosi>e nature is generated. In such placcs, signs must be
provided prohibiting snioking or the unnecessary use of fire. In factories where ten or more persons are regularly employed on the second
floor or floors higher than the second (counting the ground floor as
the first), a t leaht three s t a i r w a ? ~properly arrangcd and giving access
to a place of safety must be provided on each floor. If the number of
persons exceeds fifty, these stairways must be built in accordance with
legal requireinents.
Preventive measures and safeg~lards.- In places where gas, power
or dust is generated and there is danger of explosion or injury to health,
some arrangement such as exhaustion or confinement must be made.
Signs must be placed prohibiting the entrance of unauthorised persons
into places where wbstances dangerous or injurious to health are
manufactured, stored or handled. Suitable protective equipment must
be worn by persons in danger of being hit by flying objects, persons
engaged in the manufacture or handling of substances at high ternl)eratures, poisons or powerful drups. pcrsons exposed to injurious r a j s
and person< who work in places nhere injurious substances are produced In worhplaces where injurious or dangerous substances are
produccd or manufactured, a dining room, a dressing room, waqh
basins. bathrooms and gargling accommodation must be provided.
Each factory nrwt keep a supply of first-aid equipment. Separate
dressing-rooms and bathrooms must be provided for the exclusive m e
of men and women respectively If in the opinion of a prefectural
governor a ractorv or its equipment is dangerous or detrimental to
health, morality or other publir interests, he may order the occupier
of the factory to take such meas-rlres as may be necessary to remove the
dangers. Persons who remove or make ineffective any accident prevention apparatus, or who smoke qr emplov fire unnecessarily in dnngerous place\. are liahle to a finc.
P c n c d t i ~ s .- The violation of these regulations is punishable with
the same penalty as cases of contravention of the Factory Act itself. The
maximum penalty, as laid down in the Fartory 4rt. is n fine of
1.000 ven (sedion 20).

Safaty repdations for mines.-The Mining Police Regulations
deal w i t h accident prevention i n m i n e s i n great detail, a n d c o n s i ~ t
of 83 sections w i t h additional provisions a n d supplementary
appendices added by a series of a m e n d m e n t s since t h e Regulations
w e r e first issued nearly forty years ago. T h e following is a
s u m m a r y of thecie Regulations :
Safety inspection. - Mine owners (holders of mining rights)
must appoint safety and health inspectors (deputies) who should

HEALTH ARD SAFETY 01: ~ O R K E R S

259

~t
111spect the pit several times every day. rhese inspectors must v ~ s all
passages, workplaces, workers' houses and dangerous places. Mmes
conta~niriggas must be visited before the miners enter them. If danger
is found to exist the work must be stopped, the passage blocked, or
other suitable measures taken. Work can be resumed only after the
iuspecting e~lgineer has inspected and verified the removal ok the
danger. Mine owners must also appoint machine inspectors to inspect
machines at least once a day and to see to the proper functioning of
the machinery. The inspectors must keep daily records of salety,
health or machinery inspections.
Emergency exits. - Where fifty or more miners are engaged in
underground work, two or more easily accessible entrances at a proper
distance from each other and connected below must be provided. I'he
same requirement of escapes may be imposed upon mines with less
than fifty miners when deemed necessary by the authorities.
Props and fences. - Suitable props must be placed where there
is danger of falls of gallery roofs. Fences, barriers, etc., must be put
up at the entrance to shafts, wells and adits of 40 degrees or more. In
digging mines suitable measures must be taken to prevent the falling
i i ~ of stones, sand, etc.
Disused shafts and adits of more than
40 degrees declivity must be filled in or barred with strong fences.
Motors, power transmission apparatus and part or the whole of tlnngerous machines must be properly fenced.
Ventilation ', air pressure and temperature. - The amount of air
necessary for health and for the prevention ol dangers must be pumped
into the pit. When the presence of gas is discovered in a mine, it
itlust be reporled at once to the Mining Bureau. A steam gauge and
thermometer must be placed at the pithead and inspected daily in
mines employing fifty or more miners. The ventilation plan (airways, etc.) must be shown on the general plan of the mine. The safety
inspector must verify the safety of ventilation and steam pressure, using
air-gauges, safety lamps or other necessary apparatus. Hydraulic
gauges musl he used in mines using fans for ventilation and the safety
inspeclor must record hi.; observations every day.
Ladder and winding apparatus. - Ladders used for passage in
shafts or in wells should he placed at less than 80 degrees. At tach
30 feet at least a landing place should be provided. The upper end of
the ladder must project at least 2 feet above the landing place. When
a winch is installed in a shaft for the miners' use a ladder should
also be placed unless another entrance is provided which is easily
accessible at any time. (In such a case the ladder should be separated
from the winding rope with planks or other proper arrangement.)
The winding apparatus should be provided with a brake as well as an
indicator of the depth and so equipped as to prevent accidents. The
winding rope and the winding machine should be so constructed as
to bear a weight ten times heavier than the maximum load to be lifted

' \'entilation in Tapanese mines depends in most cases on the natural
verililation produced by the air conditions as they exist in the shafts and
adits. In order to supplement the deficiencies of the natural ventilation
large fans are fixed at the mouth of the ventilating shaft. There is a l w a y s
3 man in charge to regulate the air conditions in mines.

260

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IRI J A P A N

by the machine. Spliced ropes rnust not be used on a winding
machine. There are detailed requirements regarding signals in shafts.
Dangers of gas; use of explosii~es.- In mines where danger of
gas exists no light except electric or safety lamps may be used and
smoking is strictly prohibited except in srlioking cabins specially provided for the purpose. Smoking or carrying unprotected lights,
matches, etc., ' within 6 ken %f oil deposits or the pit-head of a petroleum well is prohibited. There are detailed rules as to the use of safety
l a n q ~ sand the handling of explosives of all kinds.
Preventive nleasaws and safeguards. - Provision for the prevention of injury or poisoning must be made where sulphuric, nitric or
hydrochloric acid, or caustic potash or soda or any other strong or
poisonous substances are handled in large quantities. In processes of
ore-dressing, calcination (kiln) or tempering causing much dust, the
rules regarding ventilation and cleanliness of the workplace must be
strictly observed. Milie owners must h a \ c t h e necessary provision for
first-aid in case of sickness or injurj.
Penalties. - The penalty for the violation of the regulations used
to be light, being a fine of only 100 yen at most. This has been rectified by the amended regulations of 1029, so that at present those who
contravene the regulations or resist the action taken by the authorities
in accordance with the regulations are liable to imprisonment of
three months or less in addition to a fine not exceeding 100 yen.
Special safety regulations f o r coal mines. - Apart f r o m t h e
Mining Police Regulations, there is another Ordinance : Regulations for t h e Control of Explosions i n Coal Mines 3. These Regulations were first promulgated i n 1915 b u t w e r e amended i n 1929
a t t h e same t i m e as the Police Regulations ; they c a m e i n t o force
i n J a n u a r y 1930. T h e following is a s u m m a r y of these
Regulations :
The anlourit of air p u n ~ p r d irito the mine is calculated at the
mouth of the airway on the basis of the largest number of miners entering during the day. The amount must be at least 100 cubic shaku per
worker per minute. The speed of the ventilation must not exceed
1,500 shaku per minute. Only in shafts and special airways the speed
may be increased u p to 2,000 shaku per minute. In pits having 2 per
cent. or more of gas, the work must be stopped. With 3 per cent. or
more of gas. passage must he prohibited
The examination for the

' In the main shafts or adits of mines, electric lights are used, and
in branch galleries either carbide lamps or Wolf's safety lamps. In cod
mines, there is of late an increasing use of Edison's head light in order
to tninimise dangers, since defective illumination is a factor affecting the
accident rate. The more effective lighting also improve? efficiency.
Ken = 6 shaku = 6 x .994 ft.
S ~ k i t a r t k 6Rakuhatsu Torishimari Kisoku (R~gulatiomfor the Control
of Explosions in Coal Mines). No. 25 of the Ordinances of the nepartment
of Agriculture and Commerce 1915, revised on 16 Dcr 1929 1n Ordinance
No. 22 of the Department of Commerce and Indiistr?.

HEALTH AND SAFETY OF WORKERS

261
-

presence of gas n ~ u s be
t done by the saEety inspector (fireman) within
three hours at least before the men enter. There are other detailed
rules, especially in regard lo Lhe use of dynamite and of safety lamps,
smoking, etc. A safety inspector may not be responsible for more than
seventy miners '. The Regulations require also the formation of groups
for emergency aid. Apart from fines violation of the Regulations may be
punished by imprisonment of three months.
Snjety regulations f o r dormitories. - An amendment
concerned w i t h fire escapes was made i n 1929 to t h e Regulations
for dormitories attached to factories, first issued i n 1927. Owing
to t h e frequent occurrence of fires, earthquake a n d other disasters
i n J a p a n the enforcement of the s a f d y rules in the dormitory
sheds is particularly important. 'i'hv main points of the safety
Regulations are as follows :
'The dorrliitorj 11iust be placed at a safe distance fro111 the factory
or adequate precautions taken against risk to life or health of the
workers if any dangerous or unhealthy process is carried on in the
factory. The processes considered as dangerous or unhealthy are inrlicated in the Regulations.
When the dorrnitoi> bnildings are not fire-proof no rooms above
the third floor (counting the ground floor as the first) may be used as
sleepiug quarters. All doors leading from the building must be
arranged so as to open outwards, or so that they may be drawn sideways. Easy outlets for escape must he provided. In factories where
more than fifteen workers regularly reside on the floors higher than
the second (counting the ground floor as the first), at least three stairways which are suitably arranged and easily lead to a safe place must
be provided on each floor. If the n u n ~ b e rof occupants exceeds fifty, the
.;lairways must be constructed in accordanrc with legal i~eq~iiren~ents
'.

Special lwotection of ruornen a i d young pcJrsons. - The
occupier of a factory must not allow p e r s o n s u n d e r sixteen years
of age, o r w o m e n , to clean, oil, examine, o r repair the dangerous
parts of a n y machinery o r transmission apparatus i n motion, o r t o
p u t on o r take off t h e driving belts o r ropes of a n y machinery o r
transmission apparatus i n motion o r to perform a n y dangerous
w o r k ? I n addition, it is prohibited in mincq to employ women

' I11

exceptional c~ise5the irumher may be i~rcm~~setl
to 100
Each step must he more than 7 inches wide. more than 7 inches
high and more than 3 feet 5 inches in inside length Stairways n u s t he
placed at an angle of less than 40 degrees from the floor. If a sldirwav
exceeds 12 feet in height a landing must be pro\ided for every 12 f ~ e l
Circular stairways must be avoided. Railings morc than 2 feet 7 inches
high must be provided along the sides of the stairwa~s There m w t br
no obstacle within 5 feet 8 inches n h o v ~e,~c11 step
Cf F n c t n r ~ \ c l of 192.1. wction 9

262

I ~ D U S T R I A L LABOUR IR J A P A ~

or young persons i n the processes mentioned in the Miners'
Rcgulations1. These processes include work such as stoking a
boiler or opening or shutting the feed water valve or the stopvalve, handling an electric generator or rheostat, switching high
tension lines, handling a winch, coupling or uncoupling trucks
in motion, the excavation of minerals or sliovelling of rock,
placing or firing shots, feeding furnaces with ore, fuel, etc. In
addition the handling of volatile oil, carbon bisulphide and other
similar explosive or inflammable substances is forbidden to
young mincrs under sixteen years of ape.

These movements are of recent origin in Japan 7 The first
national "Safety First" campaign was launched in 1916 by
Mr. Kakichi Uchida, who brought back the idea from the United
States. The Safety First Association (Anzen Dai-ichi Kyokni) was
founded in 1917 Y The Association did not confine its activities
to industry but was interested in the prevention of fire, in
increasing safety in traffic and so on. The Association popularised the slogan "Safety First ", and carried out propaganda in
all parts of the country ; it also co-opcrated with the Department
of Education in organising a Safety Exhibition in June 1919 in
Tokyo, and later a "Safety week" for Tokyo and its vicinity,
which was a new experience in Japan. Public interest was aroused
by the work of the Association, and a large number of ephemeral
safety societies were formed ; safety days and safety weeks also
became the fashion. The movement was, however, not placed
on a sound footing until the formation of the semi-official
Industrial Welfare Association (Sangyo Fukuri K y o k ~ i ) ~ .
This Asociation was set up by the Bureau of Social Affairs
in 1925 as a central body to co-ordinate the many local societies
founded by cmployws with the object of fnrthering the prevention
--

-

Cf. Regulations for the eniployment d ~ r c trelief of ~ ~ l i n e r section
s,
12
Cf. BURFAIT
o r S O C I ~AFFAIRS
I
: U'aqnliuni ni olcercr SnngyG Saigoi
Yoh5 no Gaikyii (General situation of industrial accident prevention in
J a p a n ) , pp. 17-67 ; Nihon ni o k ~ r uSaigai B6shi Und6 oyobi IC6gy6 (5isei
(Movement for accident prelention and industrial health i n Tapan),
pp. 1-162.
With Mr. Kakichi IJchida, formerly Vice-Ministpr of Communications
ant1 Delegate of the 1apmre.e Go\ernment a t the Tntcrnationnl Lahour
Confrrence, Genoa, 1920, its President.
There were " Fire P r e w ~ r t i o n V o l n l r t r ~ r",~ " Fire Prevrntion Tea
Partiw " ant1 t h r lihc
1

HEALTH AND SAFETY

017

\\ORKERS

263

of industrial accidents, improvement of industrial hygiene, etc.
With but few exceptions these local societies had been foundcd
by factory inspectors und were managed by them in their private
capacity ; the establishment of the Industrial Welfare Association
was due to the Chief Factory Inspector1 and other leading members of the inspectorate.
'I'he factory owners' and mine owners' societies welcomcd
the establishment of the Association. At first it was financed
wholly by contributions of the affiliated bodies, but the State
'I'wasury suhsidisetl it from 1927 onwardsz. The Association has
a monthly publication, Industrial Welfare, and innumerable
pamphlets and leaflets dealing with industrial health and safety
from various angles are sold at cost price or distributed free.
Illustrations of safety apparatus and devices have been found lo
be of great value to factory owners and managers. Prize
posters are a special feature of the Association's work ; every
month considerable sums of money are offered as prizes for
posters judged to be the most striking and effective in calling the
attention of workers to the dangers of accident or of injury to
health arising out of employment. The prizes have stirred the
interest of the workers themselves, who compcte with posters of
their own design. The activities of this Association comprise
conferences, wireless lectures, exhibits, films and lantern slides,
lecture courses, and prizes offered for short stories or dramas
bearing on safety or hygiene, as well as to inventors of effective
safety devices or to those who have prevented the occurrence of
accidents by courageous acts.
The Association has also stimulated the organisation of
" Safety weeks " and " Safety days ". These are organised much
on the same lines as in other countries, but their frequency and
the keenness of the people about them may perhaps be regarded
as more or less peculiar to Japan. They are organised for a
definite period, which may be a day, three days, a week or ten
days ; they may be limited to only one factory or mine, or they
cover all the factories in a prefecture. Encouraged by the success
of a " Safety week " in 1927 which covered half of Japan including
the cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the three most indusThen Mr. Shunzo Yoshisaka, now Japanese Go\ernrneni Representst i \ r on the Governing Body of the International Labour Office.
The Government attaches considerable importance to this ~ r a t i o r ~ ; ~ l
effort for safety ; the Minister of t h e Tnterior i 4 its Honorary President.

264

INDUSTRIAL LABOGR IN JAPAN

P.

trialised urban prefectures, and twenty-one other local prefectures
and the island of Hokkaido, the scale has been enlarged so a*
finally to cover the whole country '. " Safety weeks " organised
in July 1928 and in October 1929 covered both Korea and Formosa, the Navy Department assisting the work by conducting
intensive safety campaigns in the factories and mines in thc
colonial areas. The most recent "Safety week " was held in July
1931, and covered the whole of Japan proper.
Most of the safety weeks are launched by factory owners'
associations, factory sections or police divisions of local prefectures, etc. Very careful preparation by experts precedes these
events ; the officers in charge are previously given detailed
instructions, and some practical training or drill is provided in
many cases. Conferences arc arranged in the most important
industrial centres, films and coloured posters are shown, men
or vehicles carrying signs parade through the streets, plays arc.
staged, wireless and other modern inventions are extensively usetl
to stir popular interest. Safety badges or ribbons are worn by all
the operatives. Most of these things are in no way peculiar 10
Japan, but among a number of arrangements made for the
workers may be found things which are interesting cxamplcs
of racial customs. In the mining districts of K j u s h u Z , on the
" Safcty days " organised in 1928, chrysanthemums were arranged
at the entrance of every shaft or adit. Flowers, and more especially the chrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan', hawe
a peculiar charm for the Japanese people, " producing the psgchological effect of calmness of spirit and clearness of brain " .
Still another practice which will have but few parallels in the
West is the setting up for the duration of the "Safety days " of a
miniature shrine of the "mountain god " at the entrance of the
mine, with offerings and with a little lamp before it. The
mining workers make their devotional gesture before beginning
their work, and are given a talisman to protect their liwes. They
purify themselves by sprinkling a handful of salt over their bodies
and eat some of the rice, sea-weed or other things offered to thc
god. The true value of these rites can be understood only by
Cf. J . KITAOKA: " Amen Shiikan ni tsuite " (On Safety Weeks) in
Sangyo Fukuri, Nov. 1929, pp. 1-9.
2,Kyushu is the large island in the south \\here the coal minine
industry is most de\doped.
Report of the Mining Inspection Bureau of Fukuoka, in Sangyo
Fukuri (Industrial Welfare) .June '1928, pp. 52-60.

265

HEALTH AND S A F E T Y O F WORKERS

--

those who appreciate the profound effect of age-long traditions
which are still powerful among these ancient races. The official
report states that " the safety movement has been found to be most
effective when based on the faith of the people ".
In addition to the means taken to arouse the workers' attention to dangers, the safety days or weeks are a time of actual
inspection of machines and tools, boilers and engines, working
clothes, signal installation, lighting, ventilation, alleys and passages, stairways and doors, dormitories, housing, kitchens, fireplaces, baths, lavatories, and all other equipment related either
to safety or to health ; the injurious effects of lack of sleep, excessive drinking, etc., may be pointed out to the workers.
By way of illustration figures reported by the prefectures of
'Tokyo and Hyogo in respect of sickness or injuries sustained by
workers in the weeks hefore, during and after the safety week in
October 1927 are given :
TABLE
("

LXXIII. - l\I.:DITCTION
Sajety w e e k "

-

OF INJURIES I N TOKYO PREFECTURE

Seven days from 2 to 8 October 1927)
-Number
ojured during
preceding
merk

Injuries
--

I

Obliged to be absent
by injury

910

Able to continue work
in spite of inj~wy

66 1

Killed

-

Obliged to bc absent
by injury
Able to continuc work
in spite o f injury
--

I

Number
njurrd durinl
following
week

--

Killed

I

Number
injured
during safrty
werk

21
Xti

-

Total number of workers investigated :

Men

Precediug
wwk

--

81,342

1

I

Women
Number of factories investigated

L

-

- -

--- --

N m m l oa SOCIAL
.\lwuns.

Wagakuni ni okeru Sangy6 Saigai Yoho no Gniliyo, p. .&I.

266

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

TABLE LXXIV.

--

REDUCTION O F SICKNESS AND INJCRIES

I N HYOGO PREFECTURE

'

("Safety week" - Seven days from 2 to 8 October 1927)

I

Injuries

1

Number
Number
injured during
injured
preceding
during safety
week
week

Number
njured during
following
week

I

Men
99

Sick and absent

1

956

Obliged to be absent
by injury

127
I

3,

Women
f,

9,

Able to continue work
in spite of injury
Sick and absent

,

334
1,237

Obliged to be absent
by injury

23

Able to continue work
in spite of injury

$2

Total number of workers investigated :
Men

. . . . . . . . . .

Women

. . . . . . . . .

Number of factories investigated :

. .

1 Ibid., p. 43. Hyogo is the prefecture in which the city of HoLw is located, hence \er:
important industrially.

As sickness does not declare itself at once when provoked
by a process or exposure to unhealthy conditions, the effect of
safety days or weeks on sickness cannot be accurately estimated.
But, in addition to the figures reported by the Hyogo Prefecture
above, there are other reports from various prefectures ' which
confirm the view that certain sickness may be effectively prevented and the number of sickness cases may be appreciably
reduced by efforts which follow on such a campaign as a safety
week. The reduction of injuries reported after the safety week
The prefectures of Miyagi, Wakayama, Okayama, Gifu, etc. reported
after the safety week in October 1927 on the results, and the reports
indicated that there was a reduction of at least 15 per cent. in sickness on
the average in respect of 227,858 workers investigated.

267

HEALTH A ~ D
SAFETY OF WORKERS

throughout the country in July 1928 was not so striking on this
occasion. Statistics of deaths, "serious injuries " requiring two
weeks or more of treatment, " slight injuries " requiring between
three days and two weeks of treatment, and "very slight injurics "
which either required less than three days of treatment arid
absence from work of less than three days or no absence at all,
were collected in respect of 3,128 factories employing at least
50 workers. There were in all 1,000,045 workers (419,164 men
and 580,881 women) engaged in these factories and the results
reported were as follows :

T A B 1 3 LXXV. - REDUCTION O F INJURIES THROUGHOUT J A P A N

(" Safety u w k

" - Six

days from 2
-

Deaths

Week before

Serious
injuries

to 7 July 1998)
--

--

---

Slight
injuries

Very
slight
injuries

Totals

Men
Women

1,725
1,383
342

Men
Wornrn

1,333
1,072
261

en
Women

1,719
1,363
356

During the week

Week after
$1

- --

1

Cf. Sangyo Fzllirrri, Seltt. 1929, p. 16

Safety weeks are usually followed by the appointment of
a " safety deputy " ' or " safety committees ", or both, to supervisc
safety in the factory concerned '. The safety deputy may be a
trained engineer or a worker with some technical training ; the
safety committees are usually composed of technical staff and
workers. According to the following table some 422 safety
committees were set up between 1911 and 1928 :
A n z m Kaliari in Japanese, meaning a man in charge of safety.
The Miners Regulations require the appointment of safety inspectors
in mines.

268

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

Date of
founding

- - -

1

1913

Factories

Date of
founding

Mines

1!Y22
19'23
1924
1925
1926
1927
1W 8

1
3
2
2
7
19
2

Factories

-.

1
1
1

2
I
I

7

5

6

i

(till
l.'el)runry)

' C f . BUREAUO F SOCIALAPIAIRS. Anzen Zinkai oyobi Shitkan
(Enquir? into Safety Conimitlecr and Safety Weeks), 1,p. 2 and 3.

36
18
45
232
6

ni

I

I
h'ansur~t Chdsn

'She committees i ~ ~ c l u d ein
d lhis tablc are all permanent
institutions. The men1t)er.s are nominated usually for a year or
six months by the employer, though there are also cases of election of thc committee members by the workers from amongst
themselves. Some of these committees are asked to perform
wider functions than mere prevention of accidents. 'They deal
often with the general question of workers' welfare as well as the
relations with the employer. In these cases they may approximate
to works committees. There are some which are nothing more
than fire-brigades, the question of fire prevention being extremely
serious in Japanese cities, especially when they are densely
populated. Over 600 fires are reported every year from the fifty
thousand factories coming under factory law. There are a few
instances of advanced factories organising their workers in units,
each unit h a ~ i r t gi t q qafet? cwmmitter, 1)nt this type of organisation
IS rare.

CHAPTER VI

S O U A L INSUHASCE

The Japanese Health Insura11c.e Act originated in the work
of the Labour Section of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, which was set up by an Imperial Ordinance in 1920' and
charged with investigating the question of social insurance with
a view to legislation '. Within a year the Section had drafted a
Health Insurance Bill, and another Imperial Ordinance created
a special Commission to examine the Bill. This Commission
was composed of some thirty members, Government officials and
non-official experts under the chairmanship of the Vice-Minister
of Agriculture and Commerce ; the Minister of Agriculture and
Commerce supervised its labours. The result of the Commission's work was the Health Insurance Bill, which was submitted
to the Imperial Diet in 1922 at its spring session and passed by
the Lower House almost without discussion. The Rill had an
equally good reception in (lie House of Peers, which when voting
it, recommended that the scope of insurance should be gradually
extended to include more classes of workers, and that invalidity
and seamen's insurance should be introduced at an early date.
The Act was promulgated in April 1922, and was to have
been enforced in two years' time. However, the earthquake
of 1923 caused the enforcement to be deferred until 1 July 1926,
when part of the Act was applied, the whole scheme coming

' No.

291 of August 1920.
The investigation inbolbed not 0111) documentary and actuarial
studies, but the despatch of officials to European and American countrieq
to observe the actual working of varions existing systems and to compnrc
their merits and shortcomings.

270

ISDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IR JAPAN
--

- -

into operation on 1 January 1927. Before the Act came into
force, the Bureau of Social Affairs organised lectures in the more
important industrial and mining centres to familiarise both employers and workers with the principles of the Act.
T h e Provisions of tl-rc Health Insurance Act '

The Act makes insurance compulsory for all persons working in mines and factories to which the mining and factory
legislation applies2. Provision is also made for the extension of
the scheme to undertakings in the building, transport, engineering, and some other trades, and in factories not covered by the
factory legislation, provided the employer obtains the previous
consent of more than half the persons to be insured. Administrative employees whose salaries exceed 1,200 yen a year, workers
of foreign nationality and temporary workers are excluded.
The insurance carriers are the State and health insurance
societies (Kenk6 Hoken Kumiai) which may be set up compulsorily by the Minister of the Interior or voluntarily with his permission. h voluntary society may be set u p in an undertaking
where not less than 300 but fewer than 500 insurable workers
are employed and the consent of the majority of the workers
has been obtained. Several employers, each employing less than
300 insurable workers, may combine to form a society the membership of which must not be less than 300, and in that case the
combined employers may impose health insurance on the
whole body of workers provided that the consent of the majority
of the workers in each undertaking has been obtained, and with
the permission of the Minister in respect oE each undertaking.
When 500 or more workers are employed the formation of a
society is obligatory. In any case before a society begins to
apply the scheme its rules must be approved by the authorities.
A society is composed of the employer and all insured persons
in his undertaking together with such of his former employees
who were and still desire to remain insured. A board of directors

' Cf. L e g i s l a t i ~ l e Series, 1922, .Tap. 3 ; 1926, Tap. 4 ; 1927, Jap. 4 ;
1928, Jap. 3 ; 1929, Tap. 2 ; and Internntional Labour R e v i e w , Dec. 1926,
pp. 861-871.
Agriculture, commerce, transport and small indmtrial undertakings
are not covered.

SOCIAL INSURANCE

271

and a delegate meeting manages the society, employers and
workers being equally represented on each body. The function
of the State is confined to securing compliance with the regulations and payment of the subsidy.
The State acts directly as the insurance carrier in respect of
all insurable workers who are not covered by health insurance
societies. The machinery consists of fifty health insurance offices
(one in each of the forty-six prefectures and four in Hokkaido),
for these offices work on a territorial basis while the societies
operate by establishments. The Government offices are administered by civil servants and without representation of employers
and workers. 'The Insurance Division of the Bureau of Social
Affairs is the central supervisory authority ; locally the offices are
supervised by the prefectural Governors.
The risks covered by the Health Insurance Act are sickness,
injury, maternity and death. Benefits may be withheld in cases
of self-inflicted injury or other fraudulent acts, or when there is
obviously no need of benefit.
In cases of sickness or injury benefit is granted in the form
of medical attendance and cash payments. Medical attendance
includes medical advice and medicines, surgical operations and
dental treatment, home nursing, hospital care, and conveyance
in an ambulance when necessary. The cash benefit is reduced
when hospital treatment is given, taking into account the family
conditions of the worker.
Medical treatment begins from the day of the occurrence of
the injury or sickness and continues for a maximum of 180 days
in respect of the same illness or injury, or for a total of 180 days '
in the course of a year in respect of several illnesses and injuries.
Cases of illness which last more than 180 days are considered 9s
being outside the scope of sickness insurance and coming within
a scheme of invalidity insurance. In the case, however, of an
illness or injury arising from an industrial cause, the limitation
of 180 days does not apply. In addition to medical attendance,
the sick or injured worker receives a cash benefit of 60 per cent.
of his or her daily wages. The benefit is granted from the first
day of the occurrence of injury or sickness if it is of industrial

' The period has been limited to 180 days because health insurance is
n , statistics
intended to give relief to sickness or injury of short d ~ ~ m t i o and
have confirmed that 98 per rent. of caseq of incapacity of .Japancw workers
recover within 780 days.

origin ; otherwise the grant of the benefit begins only on the
fourth day.
The workmen's conlpensation provisions of the factory and
mining legislation' are linked up with the sickness and injury
benefits granted under the Health Insurance Act. For the first
180 days within a year the insurance institution is responsible
in case of sickness or injury of the insured worker. On the
expiration of the maximum period of 180 days, if the worker still
needs treatment, the employer becomes responsible for it provided
that the sickness or injury has resulted from the employment. Tn
this case the employer must pay, in accordance with the workmen's compensation provisions of the Factory Act or of the Mines
Regulations, an " absence allowance " of 40 per cent. of wages and
continue the medical treatment until the recovery of the worker,
or for a period of three years from the date when he was incapacitated. If there is permanent incapacity, a lump sum varying
from 40 to 540 days' wages is paid in proportion to its degree.
Should the injury result in death a lump sum of at least 360 days'
wages must be awarded to the ~urvivirigrelations.
In the matter of maternity hemfit, the health insurance
scheme has been devised so as to supplemenf the provisions of
the factory and mining laws. The amended Regulations for the
enforcement of the Factory Act of 1923 and the amended Mines
Regulations of 1926 prescribed for women who desired it a
period of four w-eeks' suspension of work before confinement and
an obligatory suspension of six weeks after confinement. By the
grant of maternity benefit amounting to 60 per cent. of the daily
wapes of the women during these periods of suspension of work,
thc Health Insurance 4ct has facilitated the enforcement of the
factory and mining regulations. ln order to prevent a woman
from taking u p insurance for a short time with the sole object of
obtaining benefit, the Act requires that in order to receive the
benefit she must have heerr inwred for at least 180 day$ hefore
her confinement.
Apart from this maternity benefit which varies in amount in
proportion to the wages, the insurance srheme provides for a
furtiler benefit of a lump sum of 20 yen as " confinement benefit "
The object of this is to defray the expenses actually incurred on
account of the confinement. As a rule the maternity and conCf. Part I\-, Chapter IV. plr 229-234,

and Chapter V, pp. 248-250.

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SOCIAL INSURANCE

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273

finement benefits are paid in cash, but if necessary the woman
nlay be treated at a hospital, or by a doctor or midwife. In such
cases. the insurance institution is entitled to reduce the amount
of the cash maternity or confinement benefit. The confinement
benefit is granted even after the woman has ceased to be insured,
provided that the confinement takes place within 180 days after
she has ceased to be insured.
In the case of the death of an insured worker, a funeral benefit
amounting to thirty days' wages but not less than YO yen is paid
to the surviving relatives or former dependants of the deceased
worker to defray the funeral expenses incurred. It can be paid
even in the case of the death of a worker who had ceased to be
insured if death takes place within ninety days of the date when
he ceased to be insured.
The financial resources for the provision of benefits and for
their administration are contributions from the employer and the
worker, together with a State subsidy.
The State subsidy represents 10 per cent. of the expenditure
on benefits incurred by each insurance institution ; it is designed
to cover approximately the total cost of administration and it is
specially laid down that the liability of the State shall not exceed
2 yen a year per insured person.
The contributions of the employer and of the worker are in
principle oS equal amounts, and the amount varies with the wages
of the worker. For the purpose of calculating contributions the
workers are divided into sixteen wage classes, to the lowest of
which the basic wage of 0.30 yen per day is attributed and to the
highest a wage of 4 yen. The principle of equal contributions for
the employer and the worker is waived in the case of workers
receiving wages amounting to less than 55 sen a day. I n such
cases of very low wages, the employer's share is calculated on a
basic wage of 60 sen a day while the worker's share is not
increased. In specially tlangerous trades the employer may be
required to pay two-thirds of the contribution, but the worker's
share of contribution may in no case exceed 3 per cent. of his
wages. Moreover, during the period that the insured worker is
receiving cash benefits either for sickness, injury or in maternity
cases the worker's contrihution must not he collected.
It is incumbent upon the employer to make the payments of
the contributions both for the workers and for himself. The
employer is authorisetl to deduct the amount of the worker's

274

IhDUSTR14L LABOUR I N JAPAR

contribution from his wages. If the employer fails to make the
payment, he is liable to penalties '.
Complaints regarding benefits are dealt with by the Health
Insurance Enquiry Boards of First and Secoud Instance. Any
person who is not satisfied with the decisions of these Boards may
in the last resort bring an action in a court of justice, or if he
is dissatisfied with the assessment or collection of insurance contributions or other moneys he may appeal to the Minister of the
Interior or may bring an action in the administrative court.
The Working of the Health Insurance Act
Insurance institutions. - 'The total number of insured workers at the end of each year since the bealth insurance scheme
was put into operation has been as follows 7
TABLF S,YTIlS.

Year

1927
1929

- NTTMBER

nsured at healtl
insurancr
offices

O F WORKERS COVllRED I31 TIRALTH

naured in heallhl
insurance
societies

ISSURAhCE,

insured in
~nutual-aid

societies

1,140,866
1,115,221
1,160,953
t ,032,380
1,079,228

-I

Rslimalr : this affefrrlc tho accuracy 01 the total figures f o r the yen!

At the end of 1930, the total number of workers in Japanese
factories and mines was 2,301,867 ', so that over 81 per cent. of
the total factory and mining population of Japan were covered
by the health insurance scheme.
The most important insurance institutions are the health
The workers employed in various undertakings of the State, such
as the Railways, Monopoly Bureau, Iron-foundry, Arsenals, etc., are for the
most part covered by the mutual-aid societies of which the benefits are
at least equal to those granted under the health insurance scheme. In the
case of these mutual-aid societies in State undertakings, the Minister
of the Interior controls their rules, while their actual operation is supervised by the various Departments concerned. (Cf. Part IV, Chapter IV.)
Figures extracted from Kenk5 Hoken Jih6, Monthly Bulletin of
Health Insurance, published hy the Insurance Division of the Rurearl of
Social Affairs.
3 R8& Jih6. March 1931.

insurance offices. To ensure a more effective working of those
offices, they were transferred in August 1929 to the local prefectural Governments. The number of administrative officials,
secretaries, clerks and other employees engaged in health
insurance administration in the central and local prefectural
Government offices exceeds 2,000. Some local offices deal with
large numbers of insured workers : the prefecture of Osaka has
some 123,000 workers insured within its territory, Tokyo about
127,000, and Nagano 107,000.
There were 319 health insurance societies in the first year
(1926) but they had increased in September 1931 to 344, classified
as follows ' :
T4BLE

LXXVIII. - IIJ341,TII

Textile factories . . . . . 137
Machine and tool factories . 58
Chemical factories . . . . 38
Food and drink factories . . 12
Electricity,
gas,
smelting
works. . . . . . . .
3
Miscellaneous mills . . . . 13

INSURAKCE SOCIETIES.

1931

Coal mines
. . . . . .
Metal industry works . . .
Metal refining works . . .
Non-metal industry works .
Other works . . . . . .
Total

51
19
3
1

9

--

. 344

There are ten mutual-aid societies carrying on the function of
health insurance institutions with the sanction of the Minister of
the Interior, all for workers in State enterprises and set up in
accordance with Imperial Decrees '.
Organisation of medical benefit. - 'The orpanisation of medical benefit differs somewhat in the case of health insurance offices
and in that of health insurance societies, but, generally speaking,
it can be said that the system in force is that of free choice from
a panel of doctors, dentists and pharmacists.
In the case of the health insurance offices, the Japan Medical
Association, the State or public hospitals, and hospitals established
by municipal bodies are responsible for all medical services
except dentistry. The Japan Medical Association has entered into
a contract with the Government and all the members of the AssoThe figures given are for September 1931 (cf. Kenk6 Woken Jihii,
Jan. 1932).
The mutual-aid societies in State enterprises are : (1) in the
Printing Bureau of the Cabinet, (2) Monopoly Bureau, (3) Mint, (4) Military Arsenal, (5) Naval Arsenals, (6) Forestry work, (7) Iron-foundry,
(8) .Railways, (9) Postal, telephone and telegraph services, and (10) Civil
engmeering works.

276

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INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN
.

.-

-

ciation are "insurance doctors " for the purposes of the Health
Insurance Act. The total number of " insurance doctors " is
approximately 32,000. representing 80 per cent. of all doctors
licensed to practise in Japan proper.
Remuneration of the doctors' services is based on a system
of "points ", which vary in number according to the nature 04
the treatment and in value according to the total number of cases
treated in each prefecture '. The number of points varies in proportion to the nature of the treatment, whereas the remunerative
value of a point xaries in inverse ratio within fixed limits,
because the total sum which the insurance system can pay within
any period is fixed, while the number of cases may rise almost
indefinitely in the event, for cxample, of an epidemic. Clearly
the doctor who has treated thc largest number of cases would
receive the largest amount of remuneration, but the remunerative
value of a point falls when there are a large number of cases '.
Payment is made by the Government to the Japan Medical
Association according to the contract, which fixed a standard
rate of remuneration payable to the Aesociation. The standard
rate was originally fixed after careful statistical estimates of the
number of days of illness of Japanese workers and the estimate?
cost of their treatment (including diagnosis, supply of drugs and
appliances, treatment, operations and medical services generally ".
2 t present the standard rate agreed on by the contract is 7.754 yen
for a factory worker and 9.754 yen for a miner.
The Bureau of Social Affairs pays monthly to the Japan
Medical Association one-twelfth of the standard rate figure multi-

-

' For

example, a visit to a patient's home within 1'1, miles o r a
consultation at a doctor's surgery are given 3 points each, a n X-ray examination 15-30 points, extraction of a tooth 12 points, removal of tonsils
80 points, removal of appendix 250 points, etc.
X f . l n d ~ s t r i r r la n d Laholzr I n f o r m a t i o n , 18 J111) 1927, pp. 96-98.
The average number of dlvs of sickness of Tapanese workers per
year, according to a11 investisation specially made for the purpose of
legislation, was 11.5. It was expected, however, that this number would
increase \+hen rnedical service became free. Accordingly it was raised bv
50 per cent to 17.3 days per year Then it was asslimed that the cost of
all medical and dental treatment +\oultl be 0 50 yen per day or 8 65 ven
per year Deductions \?ere then made for probable costs of nursing and
transport, payable directly hy the health insurance offices, and for the
treatment of insured workers in State or rrn~nicipalhospitals, etc. Modifications were made i n the contract by the discovery of inaccuracies in
the estimates after some time of actual experience. (For details, cf
1)r TAICHIKITASHIMA: Medical Aspect of t h e l l c n l f h l n s u r a n c e S y s t e m of
Japun, Tokyo, 1929.)
The his11 nccirlrnt rate in mines accounts for thiq f i q l ~ r r

--

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--

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SOCIAL INSURANCE
-- -- - --- -

--

--

277

- --

plied by thc number of insured persons in that month. The
Association distributes to the branches in each prefecture a sum
divided in proportion to the number of insured persons reported
b y each branch. The prefectural branch office of the Association,
in making the payment, divides the sum of money received from
the central office by the total number of points claimed by all the
insurance doctors and establishes thereby the value of a unit for
the month, and finally the doctor receives the remuneration from
lhe branch office according to the number of points of treatment
he has reported. 'The value of a poinl varies from month to
month and from one prefecture to another ; in some prefectures a
point is worth over 20 sen, in others it falls below 10 sen.
111addition to the contract with the Japan Medical Associalion
for general medical treatment, the Government has entered into
contracts with the State or public hospitals. Some fourteen State
hospitals and thirtj-one public hospitals are concerned and the
total payments made to these hospitals For the treatment of the
insured workers represent an amount equivalent to 70 or 80 per
cent. of the fees paid by uninsured persons generally.
At the outset the Government made a contract with the Japan
Dentists' Association for dental treatment on the same basis as
with the Japan Medical Association, the standard rate for
remuneration per person per year having been fixed at a little over
68 sen. The experience of a few years, however, showed that
the general contract was not satisfactory and at present the Covernment has a separate contract for cvcry dentist, only leaving
with the Japan Dentists' Association the responsibility of supervision of the insurance dentists, payment of remuneration for
dental treatment, etc. Payment is made according to fixed rates.
There are approximately 8,200 insurance dentists under this
s y ~ t e mrepresenting
,
some 80 per cent. of all the dentists in Japan.
In Japan the separation of the medical profession from pharmacy has not developed to such an evtent as is the case i n many
foreign countries. It is iisually the doctor himaelf who supplies
the drugs and pharmaceutic appliances to the patient. The contract between the Government and the Japan Pharmacists' Association only covers the supply of drugs on a doctor's prescription,
'The rate of payment by the Government to the Japan Pharmacists'
Association is fixed to cover the cost of the drugs and of the
containing bottles or other vessels, plus a small commission.
4 large majority, or nearly Ihree-fiFthq, of the existing health

278

p
.p
p
p
p
-

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

insurance societies have concluded contracts with national or prefectural medical and dentists' associations on more or less similar
lines to the Go~crnxnent'scontracts. A little over a fifth have
made contracts with medical or dentists' associations, but also
utilisc the hospitals or medical services attached to the factor)
or mine whcre the heallh insurance society has been set up.
Rather less than a fifth depend mainly on the hospitals or medical
services of the factories or mines concerned, o r of the society
itself ; only about half a dozen societies have appointed their own
doctors.
The m o ~ timportant difference between the health insurance
offices and the hraith insurance societies with regard to the
orgunisation of medical benefit is that, generally speaking, the
societies pa3 much higher remuneration to the doctors and dent i s t ~khan the insurance offices. A small section of the societies
(about a fifth) has adopted the same system of a standard rate of
remuneration per insured person as the health insurance offices.
With these societies the standard rate varies between 7.42 and
16.30 yen. In the societies which depend on the medical services
existing in the factories or mines concerned for the treatment of
insured persons, the remuneration is usually low.
About a fifth of the existing societies have concluded contracts with dentists' associations (either national or prefectural)
to pay dentists by various standard rates. Actually these rates
vary between 0.61 and 2.20 yen per insured person per year.
There is no difference between the offices and societies in
regard to pharmaceutic benefits.
li'inance. - Thc Iinancial resources of health insurance
consist of the contributions of the employer and insured persons
and the State subsidy. The rates of contribution may vary
according to the risk^ iilvolved in different industries, and in
dangerous occupations the employer may he required to pay
higher amounts than thc insured persons. 'She health insurance
offices charge S per cent. of the daily wages of the worker in
the case of mines, the rate of contributiorl for the employer being
5 per cent. as against 3 per cent. for the miner. 111 respect of 711
other workers, the offices charge 4 per rent., the cmployer and
the insured person both paying equally 2 per cent. of the worker's
wage '. The rates of the health insurance societies vary consider--

-

A t the end 01 Februarg 1930, there were 33,936 insurcd persons in
the health insurance societies for whom the contrihntion was 8 per cent.
and 1,075,897 for whom the contribution was 4 pcr cent.

SOCIAL INSURANCE

279

ably. At the end of 1927, in 202 out of 339 societies the employers'
share was equal to that of the worker, in 49 societies 60 per cent.
or less, in 38 societies 70 per cenl. or less, in 44 societies 80 per
cent or less, i n 1 society 90 per cent., and in 5 societies more
than 90 per cent. up to the whole amount of contribution.
Detailed figures of receipts and expenditure of health
insurance institutions are given in 'Fable LXXIX ( A ) and (B)'.
Preventive mtmures and supervision. - Table LXXIX (B)
setting out the expenditure of insurance institutions, shows by the
sums of money expended on health measures the importance
attached to prevention. Recent information on the methods of
propaganda adopted is not available, but some of the activities of
health insurance offices in 1926 and 1927 are worth mention.
During 1927 over 980 lectures and cinematographic shows were
given, and were attended by about 558,800 people ; 58 health exhibitior~swere organised in working-class centres, attended by over
232,600 people ; vaccination and other measures to prevent infectious diseases were widely adopted ; educational posters and placards wcre shown in large numbers; swimming pools, playgroulids, etc., were provided for the use of insured workers.
In March 1927, 276 i n s p e d o r s 9 a d been appointed by the
Health Insurance Offices in order to investigate claims for benefits, the adequacy of the medical treatment given and the accuracy
of the employers' reports, and to give guidance to insured persons and others in regard to carrying out the formalities required
under the Health Jnsurance Act.
Attitude of employers, workers and doctors. -. As in other
countries where health insurance has been introduced, the Japanese system gave rise to many complaints during the first year
or two after the Act came into force. Some employers desired to
restrict the scope of the insurance or to abolish it, while some
workers thought that the employer should bear the whole contribution. " Insurance strikes " broke out as a result of disputes

' Some details have already been given ahove in regard to mutual-aid
societies carrying out tho function of health insurance institutions in
accordance with the Health Insurance Act. The annual recei~tsof the ten
societies exceed 41,000,000 yen and their annual disburserneLts in benefits
16,000,000 ven
' This number has since been very much increased, but the exact
figt~reis not available.

280

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

- -.

I?,
r- o m 0 1 3 m
W?I -r X l - m m 01
'C: b ? 0, ~",'3,1%0! il
j a mo
,m
trl~h
t- * m ~ m
*
m.3
t--?lm q

d
-

17
.e

SOCIAL INSURANCE

281

between employers and workers on the question of insurance
contributions. The doctors also were no less dissatisfied with the
system than the employers or workers on account of the unexp e c t e d ~overwhelming number of insurance cases ; they felt they
had made a bad bargain.
Large employers' organisations such as the Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of Tokyo and Osaka, the Japan Industrial
Club, the Cotton Spinners' Association and the Mine Owners'
Federation began a movement for the amendment of the Act.
They proposed, inter alia, that the contribution of the State should
be increased, that injuries and sickness of industrial origin be
excluded from health insurance and dealt with under the compensation provisions of the factory and mining laws, that Government supervision over the health insurance societies should be
relaxed, and that benefits should be withheld in cases of venereal disease and chronic or endemic diseases which are difficult
to cure. Some employers held that the risks were already sufficientl? covered by the compensation provisions of the existing
factory or mining laws and they advocated on this ground the
repeal ol the Health Insurance Act.
On the whole, Japanese workers recognised that the principle
of compulsory insurance was sound, but there was a wide difference of opinion between the Right and Left Wing workers'
unions as to the manner in which it should be financed ; some
unions of the Left Wing maintained the view that the employer
should bear the entire hurden of insurance contributions. The
workers generally desired that the system of medical treatment
should be improved and the scope of insurance extended, regardless of budgetary considerations. There was also a demand made
by the Social Democratic Party that health insurance societies
should be administered solely by the workers.
The working of the insurance system in the first year or
two was unfavourable to the doctors because of the unexpected
number of insured patients who presented themselves for treatmen t , suffering mostly from slight ailments and hardly needing
medical attention. The contract which the Japan Medical Association had signed with the Government was based on an estimate
that the average number of days' illness of an insured person
would be seventeen and a third days a year, and on this estimate
the value of a unit of treatment would be 0.20 yen. Contrary to
this expectation, the number of days of treatment was larger by

282

IADUSTRIAI, LABOUR IN JAPAN
-

-

70 per cent. than the estimated number, although a 60 per cent.
increase over the average number of days' illness had been
allowed for in the light of the experience of the mutual-aid
societies. In consequence of the unexpected increase of the number of cases, the remunerative value of a point fell much below
the original estimate, falling steadily from 0.094 yen in March to
0.087 yen in May 1927. In this situation, some doctors began to
demand the cancellation of the contract, and in some cases they
went so far as to refuse to treat patients, giving rise to the complaint by insured persons that the doctors discriminated between
them and ordinary patients and that the treatment given them
was inferior.
With a view to meeting these complaints, the Government1
consulted the Commission for the investigation of social insurance;
a sub-committee of the Commission was set up in July 1927 which
took evidence from all parties concerned, and in October the
Commission made a series of recommendations, some to be dealt
with by amendment of the Health Insurance Act and others by
administrative measures. Although the amending Act did not
carry out all the recommendations of the Commission3, some
legislative reforms were effected. The amending Act slightly
modified the legal procedure for the enforcement of the payment
of contributions, raised the rate of funeral benefit and deprived
insured persons of their right to benefit when the sickness or
injury is due to misconduct. To check the abuse of medical
benefit by insured persons and to secure adequate treatment by
doctors, various administrative measures were taken. Among
these were the appointment of insurance inspectors and
discouragement of insured persons from unnecessarily consulting
insurance doctors. 'The effect of the measures taken to improve
the situation was progressively to raise the remunerative value of
the "point" until, in February 1928, it was little short of the
estimated value of 0.20 yen.
On the whole, the Japanese health insurance system has been
a success, taking into account the fact that it was an entirely new
experiment. The storm of criticism that arose in the beginning
Cf. Induslrial and Laborrr Inforfnatiorz, 26 Dec. 1927, pp. 424-425.
Promulgated in March 1929.
' The Bureau of Social Affairs desired to have further experience of
the working of the health insurance system before any important alterntions wrre attempted.
'

has gradually subsided. Control exercised by admirhlrative
measures has reduced the applications for medical treatment to
reasonable limits., The contracts with doctors have been modified
in some cases and in others supplementary remuneration has been
granted to doctors' and dentists' associations in order to meet
circumstances unforeseen when the Act was drafted.
Seamen's Insurance
While a system of insurance has been in contemplation for
some years, the relief of Japanese seamen in case of sickness or
injury is still governed by the I'ollowing provision of the Cornmercial Code (section 578) :
If a seamen during the time of his senice without any excess or
gross fault of his own falls sick or is hurt, the shipo\vner shall bear the
cost of his medical treatinent and attention for a period not exceeding
three months.
tinder the foregoing praglapll a searuaii shall he entitled to his
wages lor the time during which he shall have rendered service. He
shall he entitled to his whole wages if sickness or injury arises out of
the performance of his duties.

The inadequacy of these provisions has been officially
recognised, and for several years the Department of Communications made studies with a view to presenting a Seamen's
Insurance Bill at the same time that the Health Insurance Bill was
introduced. It was not, however, considered opportune to present a Bill in 1922 ; and the earthquake of 1923 and the financial
crisis which followed it prevented the question being carried any
further during the next few years. Meanwhile, the Bureau of
Social Affairs had been set up ; and, in Jilly 1927, the Bureau
began, with the help of the prefectural Governors, to collect from
owners of vessels exceeding 500 tons information on seamen's
wages, years of service, ages, number of members in seamen's
families, number of days on which medical treatment was given
and of absence from work on account of sickness, number of
cases of death or invalidity, etc. On the basis of the information
thus collecled a draft Rill was prepared which would have insured
about 66,000 seamen and requiretl a State subsidy of approximately 1,000,000 yen annually.
The Bill as originally drafted provided for compulsory
insurance against sickness, injury. invalidity, old ape and death,

284

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

- --

-- --

---- .

including survivors' pensions. It covered all seamen in sea-going
vessels (excepting some small vessels specified) and ships' officers
with an annual salary not exceeding 1,800 yen.
In regard Lo sickness and injury benefit it followed very
much the same lines as the health insurance scheme : medical
aid until recovery if the sickness or injury arose out of the
seaman's employment, and in other cases for a period not exceeding 180 days ; a daily cash benefit of 60 per cent. of wages during
temporary incapacity for work, to be paid so long as the seaman
was under treatment and subject to a waiting period of three days
if the incapacity did not arise out of the employment ; for permanent incapacity reducing earning power by two-thirds or morea pension from 25 to 3 8 4 per cent. of wages, or if the incapacity
was less than two-thirds but more than one-third of earning
power a lump sum of 100 to 200 per cent. of annual wages according to the degree of incapacity, with a 50 per cent. increase in both
cases if the incapacity arose out of the employment,. 'She scheme
also provided for an old-age pension at sixty years of 33 $ per
cent. of the seaman's annual wages on condition that the minimum period of insurance had been completed, and for survivors'
pensions on a scale of 10 per cent. of wages to a maximum of
lG$ per cent. of wages according to the number of dependants.
The contribution was to be 40 per cent. from seamen and $hipowners respectivelj, 20 per cent. from the State.
The Bill was submitted for observations to a meeting of the
Counsellors of the Bureau of Social Affairs and the Com~nission
Eor the investigation of insurance, and also to the leading organisations of shipowners and seamen. The shipowners opposed it
vigorously and industrial employers objected to the inclusion in
a seamen's insurance scheme of provisions for old-age, invalidity
and survivors' pensions. The seamen themselves were not
altogether favourable to the draft, on the ground that the seaman's
contribution was too high. Nor were the Government's advisers
unanimously in favour of the scheme. A committee of Government representatives, shipowners and seamen was therefore
appointed to amend the original draft, and after meeting more
than twenty times this committee submitted a new plan.
Briefly summed up, the main alterations made were as follows :
all pensions were replaced by temporary allowances ; compulsory
insurance for ships' officers was to be limited to those with

SOCIAL INSURANCE

285

salaries not exceeding 1,400 yen ; the rate of insurance contribution of insured seamen was reduced from 8 to 5 per cent. of
daily earnings ; maternity benefit for women employed at sea
was added.
In this amended form, the Government introduced the Bill
into Parliament at its winter session of 1930-1931, but the Diet
rose before lhe Bill was adopted and it has not been re-introduced.
Posl Office Insurance and Annuities

While Post Office insurance is not social insurance, it should
be mentioned in this chapter because, pending the introduction
of social insurance for all workers, it serves a useful purpose as
it is simple and accessible to the poorest class of people.
When ordinary life insurance business was first introduced
into Japan in 1881 it was too costly for the working people. About
twelve years later a few companies began to issue special life
insurance policies for small amounts, but the scheme was found
to be unsatisfactory and the Government put an end to It.
Meanwhile, the Departments of Communications and of Agriculture and Commerce looked into the possibilities of a simplc
insurance scheme. The outcome of this investigation was the
Simple Life Insurance Act enacted early in 1916 and brought into
operation in October of the same ?ear. Under this Act insurance
business was transacted at all post offices (now some 8,000 in
all) and twelve months later Ordinances were issued permitting
the reserves of the insurance fund to be loaned at low rates of
interest for purposes of public welfare, and setting u p a commission of enquiry to deal with complaints or disputes regarding
this insurance. In Septemlxr 1917, in addition to the simple life
insurance, a scheme of old-age insurance based on endowment
policies was launched. A special Bureau wTasset up in September
1920 to deal with Post Office i n ~ u r a n c eand
,
"health consultatioi~
stations " were established two years later in all large towns at
which simple cases of sickness and injury of insured persons are
treated. In view of the popularity of the system, it has been
extended from Japan proper to Formosa, Korea, Kwnntunp Province and the South Sea Islands.
Under this scheme policies are divided into two classes :
whole-life and endowment policies. Endowment policies are for
ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five or forty years,
and are divided into classes according to the dmation of the

period during which premium is paid. Whole-life policies
consist of ordinary policies, and limited payment policies in
which the payments are for periods of ten, fifteen or twenty years.
In the case of endowment policies, the premiums may be paid
during the whole insurance term for each policy but for policies
maturing after 20 years, arrangements may be made to pay
premiums during ten years only, while for policies maturing
after thirty years payment during ten or twenty years may be
arranged. Persons between twelve and sixty years of age are
entitled to be insured under the system. 'The rates of premium are
worked out on the following hasis :
(1) The mortality table is computed by adding 20 per cent.
to the mortality rates of the Japanese population
(compiled by the Statistical Bureau of the Cabinet from
the data of the years 1898-1904).
(2) Interest at the rate of 3.5 per cent. per year. The
valuation is effected annually on the same basis by the
net premium method.
Policies are issued only for multiples of 10 sen of monthly
premium, and are limited to amounts between 20 yen and
450 yen; two or more insurances may be effected on any one life
provided that the aggregate sum insured in no case exceeds 450
yen. No medical examination is required, but in all cases the
applicant must have a personal interview with an official of the
Post Office. In order to prevent persons in poor health from
taking up insurance, the full sums insured are not paid if the
insured person dies within two years from the date of issue of the
policy. Instead, if death occurs within one year the premiums
paid to the time of death are returned, and if within two years
one-half of the sum insured is paid. If the insured person dies
through an accident or of an infectious disease the full insurance is
paid. Premiums are payable monthly, and are collected by postmen or may be paid at the Post Office. Seamen, farmers, emigrants and others who have difficulty in paying regularly may
pay lump sums in advance. In case of serious disability
resulting from an accident (such as the loss of sight, amputation
of one or more limbs, etc.) the insured person may be exempted
form further payment of the premium.
Measures are taken to provide against the lapsing of policies :
in order to facilitate the prolongation of the validity of policies,

SOCIAL INSURANCE
.-

.
.-

..-

.

--- --

287

-

two months' grace is allowed after the lapse of one month during
which t>hepremium must normally be paid. A life policy can be
converted into an endowment policy, the period of payment of
premium may be shortened, or the amount of premium reduced.
A policy holder may also benefit by loans from the insurance
system at specially low rates of interest (4.8 per cent.). In case
of the surrender or lapsing of a policy, a sum equivalent to between 80 per cent. and 98 per cent. of the reserve accumulated for
the insured person may be refunded provided that one year has
elapsed since the contract came into force.
The whole business of the Post Office life insurance is
conducted by the Rureau of Post Office Life Insurance in the
Department of Communications. A special account is kept,
separated from the general account oi the Treasury. All expenses
of the business are defrayed out of its own income. Deficits are
made up by subsidies from the Treasury. The insurance fund is
placed under the control of the Minister of Communications, who
on the advice of a special investments commission makes loans
to enterprises aiming at social welfare. To avoid the complicated
and expensive procedure of action in the law courts, the Post
Office Life Insurance Committee of Enquiry gives legal assistance
without charge to the policy-holder '.
Post Office insurance was a success from the outset, and it
has continued to flourish. At the end of 1929 there were some
14,275.000 policy-holders insured for a total sum of 1,895,884,000
yen ; 4,129,000 were life insurances, while the rest were endowments or old-age insurances ; the total amount of life insurance
was 558,290,000 yen. The sums insured varied greatly, but the
largest number of insurance policies were for sums below 100 yen.
In 1929 there were upwards of 75,300 deaths among the insured
persons throughout Japan, which involved the payment of
approximately 10,158,000 yen out of the insurance fund.
The insurance fund has continued to grow, until it reached
the sum of 358,850,000 yen in 1929. From the beginning the
policy of the Government has been to utilise the fund for loans
either to insured persons !at an interest rate of 4.8 per cent.) or
to purchase bonds of public or municipal bodies. Every year
about 10 per cent. of the funds are invested in Slate or municipa1
bonds.

' Beneficiaries or policy-holders are req~~ircdto s ~ l h n ~ any
i t complaints
first to this Committee before they bring an action in a court of justice.

288

--

--- -

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

Post Office deferred life or immediate life annuities are also
purchasable '. They became popular at once and statistics show
a steady growth year by year. At the end of 1929 there were
191,549 annuities with 13,741,326 yen invested. The maximum
amount of annuity purchasable on the life of any one person
is 2,400 yen, while the minimum is 120 yen if the premiums
are paid in instalments and 12 yen if the premium is paid in one
sum. The average amount of the annuities in 1929 was 71.6 yen'

Post Office Annuities Ordinance (Imperial Ordinance No. 281, dated
1 0 August 1926).
"Nihorz Teikoku T6kei Nenkan. 1931 edition. p. 60.

PAR'F V

UNEMPLOYMENT AND MIGRATION

CHAPTER I

UNEMPLOYMENT

Eztent of Unemployment
Seasonal unemployment and unemployment due to cyclical
fluctuations of trade have been known in Japan since the early
days of industrialisation, but widespread unemployment, the
effects of which become increasingly severe in proportion to its
degree of permanence, has only been a serious social question
during the last ten years or so.
The geographical situation of Japan permitted her industries
to expand enormously during the war period, and this expansion
led to over-industrialisation. The result was that "the armistice
was the signal for a catastrophic collapse of many undertakings
that had sprung up as a result of the war, and in the first few
years after the war Japanese industry passed through a critical
period of depression " '. Many workers lost their employment as
the result of the closing clown of factories. Small businesses,
with insecure financial resources, were the first affected ; but the
crisis was felt even by State undertakings and in January and
April 1921 the State Railway Department was obliged to dismiss
a considerable number of its
Thc decisions of the Disarmament Conference at Washington
i n the same year aggravated the situation, for t l ~ creduction in

' Cf.

I. F.

~ Y I I S ~ W: AIndustrinl

Conditions nrtd Lubotrr T,c~~jislaliortin

J n p n l ~ ,p. 61.
I S l l i S S l l I 4 l . 1.2801111 IN JAPAN

20

2 90

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR I& J A P A K

1922 of naval armaments in pursuance of the Washington
Agreement caused the discontinuance of work in a number of
private shipbuilding firms, and in some instances the works were
closet1 down altogether. This deprived many workers of their
employment, and it was followed in March 1923 by a considerable discharge of workers from the army and navy arsenals,
docks, etc. In April, ihc same fate overtook the salaried staff in
the employ of the Army and Navy Departments.
Then came the disastrous earthquake of September 1923,
which destroyed hundreds of factories and ruined some of the
richest and most prosperous cities and towns of Japan. Unemploymcnt increased to an alarming extent, for " workers who had
escaped death fonnd thcm~clveswithout shelter, without food and
without work " '. According to an official report at this time
lhere were "in and around the city of Tokyo 96,103 unemployed
workers " (36.6 per 1,000 persons), and " 29,143 workers were
without work in Yokohama and its vicinity " ? Clearly this was
an abnormal situation and the reconstruction of the areas
devastated hy the earthquake and fire provided work for many
unemployed workers ; but this did not by any means solve,
even ten~poraril>,the prob!em of unemploymrnt, for financial
stringency continued.
'So the earlier tlischarges of workers from the Army and Navy
Departments came, i n 1924, the dismissal of a large number
of employees by the State Treasury, so that, if the short period
immediately following the earthquake is excepted, there had
never before in the history of Japan been so many skilled workers
unemployed. Finally, the gravity of the situation was intensified
in the winter of 1924 by the dismissal of some 20,000 public servants as a measure of administrative reform (in Japanese gyosci
seiri) and to rcduce the burden of the budget. Even before this,
non-manual workers had been faced with increasing difficulties
in finding employment, and another mass of discharged Slate servants added to their ranks created a disquieting situation.
'I'hc post-war unemployment problem was made more serious
by thc increasing tendency for the urban industrial population
to lose touch with the land. Before the war, workers from the
country came into the towns when there was an unusuaI pressure
I
this pressure was relieved, or when
of industrial work, ~ I I when
I

[bid.,p. 61.

: Riidii

TBlici YCirott, 1921 edition, 1,. 1 3 4 .

a delinitely slack season ~ e in,
t a large proportion of the displaced
workers wcre able to return to agricultural work. 'This mobility
of the labour force greatly facilitated the adjustment of the labour
market when trade slackened. 'I'he rapid industrial expansion
during the war )cars, however, resulted in a big increase in the
permanen1 industrial population of the towns, and, when the
slump came, many workers had been too long absent from their
villages to have a home in the country to which they could
return The industrialisation of the rural districts, which was
stimulated by the war, was little help to them, for the groups of
factories which had sprung up in the country were themselves
in diffiwlties and could no longer absorb evcn the local labour.
Vufional I/ncrnployn~cntC r n s u s . - It was at this period that

a beginnirrg was made with he collection of such unemployment

statistics as exist in Japan. As part of the interim National Census
of' 192.5, an " Unemployment Census " was taken. A similar
census was taken in 19:JO on the occasion of the last full National
Census, and its results will he used, together with the monthly
estimates of the Burcal~ of Social Iffairs, as the basis of the
information on the extent of unemployment, given in this
chapter '.
The " ITnemployn~e~~t
(:ensus"' of 192.5 comprisctl the investigation of twenty-six industrial arid mining centres. Employees
earning less than 200 yen a month and wage earners in agriculture, fishing, mining, manufacturing industries, commerce,
transport, Government employment and domestic service were
covered, a s well aq workers engaged on labour contracts of
varyinq length, including casual workers. Any worker in these
occupations having the physical capacity and the will to work but
unable to find employment was considered as unemployed for the
purposes of the investigation. Casual or day labourers wen.
regarded as unemployed if they had no work on the day previous
to the day of the investigation.
'I'he Unemployment Census of 1930 was carried out on a
national scale covering IIokkaido and all the forty-six prefectures
of Japan proper. The basis af regards occupations of workers and

' For a fuller account of the sources of information on the extent of
wemployment, cf. S. IDEI: "Unemployment in Japan ", in International
Labour Review, Oct. 1930.
The order for this census was given by Imperial Decree and a special
rrectit of 150,000 yen was voted for the purpose by the Diet.

292

IhDUSTRI4L I.ABOIJR I N J A P A R
--

the definition of unemployment was the same as in 1925. The
1930 census showed that the total number of workers actually
unemployed on 1 October 1930 throughout Japan was 322,527.
The greater number were concentrated in big cities such as
Osaka. with 30,190 unemployed workers, '1'oli)-o 22,878, Yokohama 12,683, Kobe 9,958, Nagoya 8,458, Kyoto 4,201, etc. The
total number of the unemployed i l l cities was 151,225 representing
46.9 per cent. of the unemplojed workers for the whole country.
An accurate comparison of the 1925 and 1930 figures is
possible only in respect of the twenty-six industrial centres and
mining districts which were covered by the original enquiry.
The comparison shows that in these districts there was an increase
of unemployment by 49,963 workers, or 47.3 per cent. of the total,
the actual number having risen from 105,612 in 1925 to 155,575
in 1930. Further details are given in the following table :
TABLE LXXX.

- UNEMPLOYMEhT

I N T H E MORE IMPORTART I%I)t;SI'RIAL

OR MIXING CENTRES IN
Districts

Tokyo and neiphbourhood . .
Osaka and neighbourhood . .
Yokohama and neighbourhood
Kobe and neighbourhood . .
Nagoya and neighbourhood .
Kyoto and neighbourhood . .
Hiroshima and neighhourhood
Moji alone . . . . . . .
Nagasaki and neighhourhood .
. . . . . . . . .
Kure
. . . . . . . .
Tawata
1

2

text.

.
.
.
.
.

39,117
18,382
9,044
8,116

. . . . . .

3,038
2,197
1,379

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

1926

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

1925 m n 1930'

.
.
.
.
.

Slmkugy6 SI~dkaihrihci, 1)ec. 1930, p. 14.
The number of unemployed in the City of Tokyo alone
Thc numlwr. ciicn hew includes those in the vicinity.

.
.
.
.
.

4,963

2,762
2,325
2,428

w ~ 22,878
s
a-

1930

61,024 '
30,473
12,633
10,068
8,849
5,614
2,652
2.245
2,323
1,977
1.946
rncntionr~l i l l the

Monthly estimates of unemployment. - There is no national
system of unemployment insurance in Japan and the trade unions
are not sufficiently well organised to provide reliable information
at regular intervals, so that no accurate information is available
as to the number of unemployed at a given moment. The Bureau
of Social Affairs has attempted to meet the situation by publishing
monthly estimates ' of unemployment, covering very much the
same occupations as the unemployment census. These estimates
have been issued since September 1929 and arc based on the reports
of the local Governors.
For each month some i.000,000 workers are i n v e s t i p ~ t ~ from
d
all
parts of .Tapan proper to mnltr the e s t i m ~ t e .

UNEMPLOYMERT

----

293

Table LXXXI gives the monthly figures of unemployment
from October 1930 to September 1931 as shown by the estimates
of the Bureau of Social Affairs.
TABLE LXXXI.

- MONTHLY

OCTOBER

ES'TIMATSS O F UNEMPLOYMENT,
1930-SEPTEMBER
1931 '
Total number
unemployed

Average
percentage of
unemployed

1930 October
November
December

374,140
350,265
362,060

5A
5.1
5.3

1931 January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September

371,802
387,460
396,828
394,625
401,415
371,421
406,923
418,596
425,526

5.4
5.6
5.8
5.7
5.8
5.6
5.8
6.0
6.0

Month

Total number
investigated

Legislative and Other Measures to Deal
with UrzemploymenL
Unemployment relie). - Belore 1924 Goverl~mentmeasures
to deal with unemployment were confined to the establishment
of free public employment exchanges all over the country after the
ratification of the Convention concerning unemployment adopted
at the First Session of the international Labour Conference, in
1919 The necessity of providing immediate relief measures to
meet unemployment was brought home to the Government by the
carthqi~akc,and ur~der this stimulus subsidies were given to
victims of the disaskr who, being unemployed, desired to migrate
to South America '. The first step towards the granting of State
subsitlies for the relief of unemployment was taken when the
employment exchange boards were set up by special legislation '.
In 1925, with the exchange value of the yen falling, employers
and workers alike were in difficulties caused by the high prices
of commodities and of rice in particular. Thew was a general

' After 1024 all classes of workers (whether unemployed or not) were
assisted to emigrate abroad or to miprate to the Island of Kokknido.
Cf. Legislative S e r i f s , 1925, lap. I.

awakening to the g r . 1 ~
ity ol' lhv urremplojment situation, and
concultation betweell the Ililrister\ of the Interior and Finance
in or near the six
resulled in public. works 1)cing c~~ltlertake~t
largwl cities ' of Japan as being the chief centres of unemployI
.
'I'he;e relief \\arks were tlrsigrietl in parlicular to providc
employment for casual labourers. 'I'he Gowernment authori~ed
I!IO local authoriticc to raiw loans to finance t h e v works, and
furlher grarrtctl a sul).;id> from the State Treasury to meet half the
lahnur cost of any scl~emc.in which the cost of unskilled labour
was al least 30 per wrrl. of the total cost of Ihe scheme, and thr,
cost of skilled labolli less Illan 1.3 per cent.' U p to then tlrc
Goverrrmcirt had rrcwclr permitted thc raising of loans by local
authorities, so this slep was of considerable importance. Governrneilt facilitated the raising ol' these loans, low rates of interest
bc~i!rcaccepted by !he Po<\ Office Savings Bank. The new policy
wa\ pursued i l l suctw~lingyears ; works were begun in December
and carried on until the end of March, and the time might bc
extended i f for bad weather or other causes they were not
completed i n Ilarch, when thc financial year came to an end. The
task of supervision was entrusted to the employment exchanges.
Importntrl recommendations for the organisation of measures
to (leal with iinemplo~mentwere made hy llle Commission 0x1
Focd ant1 Populalioil Prol-blenls >el I I in~ July 1927. 'I'he Chairman of this Commission was the Primc Minister, with the Ministers ( i f the Tnterior nlld of \qricullure and Forestry as ViceChairmen. and the Coinmi~sion coi~tinued in cxislence until
19?0. It.; ~wommendaiionsrelated to l l r ~l'ollowil~gpoints :
I ) 1. u~lhel ilc~eloj)ii~rnt
and u ~ ~ ~ \ e ~ d t s aoft i thc
o r ~system of
free emplovme~it c\t lianges, and eventuall\ realisation of the State
rnan<qer~~ent
of the svqtern.
Establi.;hr~~ent
of unernplo~rnentfunds by public bodies
(2)
( 3 ) Adju.hrent of the woxh.; llndeitaken b\ the Government or
muilicipal bodies so a.; to give ~ o r kto the ~memployedarid encouragerllent of all works designed to relieve rlnernployment.
(1) Furtlrcr de\elopnwnt of sclle~r~c>
of rr~ritual aid againsl
~~nerilplo~li~cn
1
( 5 ) ( ( 1 ) De\elol~~~~crit
of tlrc pi8atLicc of gikir~g discharge
allowa~jcc~
of I he c.tnhli~l~rner~t
of une~~~plo\rnent
( 1 El\(oura~cn~elri
resrr k c funds
Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohnrna, Kobe, Kvoto.
This \\as increased to 20 per cent. i t 1 1927

(fj j Setting up of \ Y O ~ks coni~ilittecs, \L it11 ttic objects of the
raising of efficient? and prevention of u~lernplo?~~rent.
(7) Teaching of manual work to enable t11c worker to supplement
his earnings in his spare time.
(8) Vocatio~lal guidance lor young workers ; re-education of
unemployed I\ orlrers.
(9) ( a ) Urgent ritra>ures to deal with the urie~nployment of
mu-nianual workers.
( 0 ) Tlelorrtr ol' the s!steut arid ol' 1)olicies of higher
education.
(10) Sctli~ig111) of ~onmiittecswith the object of organising
ri~ethodsof relief ant1 irevcrltioll of unemployment.

So far, with the e\ceplion of t 1 ) arld (5) ( n 1 , IPW of these
measures have been developed to any considerable cutenl. A
beginning had been made with vocational guidance schemes
some years before, when local Governors and the Director of the
Central Employment Exchange Board were instructed to promotc
co-operation between school authorities and employment excllangcs. Moreover, after the change of Government in Jul? 1929,
public works were extended to other areas lhan thc large towns
and their vicinity, and other bodies than prefectural or municipal
authorities were authnrised to undertake them ; also they were
l ~ o tnecessarily limited to the winter months but might be carried

---

-

/

Total cost
ot the works

W a g e s paid
t o the \\ orkcrs I

1
--

-

1,785,684
1,323,826
1,500,928
1,148,596
2,400,762
13,489,669
6,783,522

1

I,

-

-

Aggregate
number of
workers
employed

N u n ~ l ~ of
er
worker*
employed
per day

Stnte
wbsid?
--

---

-

Yen

892,842
618,469
721,241
.569,415
1,103,531
3,949,234
1,518,186

1 CI. .I. K~~cmrsru
: " \Iragakuni Gcn6a no Shitsng,yo Tai~aku" (Presenl Rleasurc~ fol. the
Pre~ention of Uncrr~ploynient in Japm), in Shakai Seisaku J ~ l r o , Feh. 1931, pp. 6-17. 'l'hc
Apures for 1930 and 1931 are estimates.

out at other seasons. The quasi-limitalion of relief work to the
assistance of casual 1ahour.er.s was withdrawn. It was also
provided that a given proportion of the materials used on relief
works should be produced in Japan. A worker's booklet (R6d6
Tech61 was introduced and was found useful as a means of

296

INDUSTRIAL LABOUB I N J A P A N

identifying unemployed workers. The Commission for the
Adjustment of Works (Jigy5 Clzbsetsu Iinkai), later linked with
the Commission for the Prevention of Unemployment (Shitsugy6
B6shi Iinliai) , took in hand not only the organisation of the works
so as to absorb the greatest number of workers but also the task
of studying the relationship between unemployment and public
works.
The extent of unemployment relief since 1925 is shown in
table LXXXII (page 295) covering the seven years 1925-1931.
Unemployment relief for seamen. - Until 1931 no measures
for the relief of unemployment among seamen had been taken,
but the increasing unemployment, due to the prevailing shipping
depression, led the seamen's organisations in the latter part of
1930 to ask for the introduction of such measures. A credit of
450,000 yen was voted by the Diet for these purposes and became
available from 1 April 1931. The scheme provided for relief
work for unemployed seamen in six special institutions managed
by the Japan Seamen's Union ; the work consisted mainly in the
manufacture of rope, swabs, brooms, etc., and the remuneration
was estimated at from 0.80 to 1.10 yen per person per day, of
which the Government grant was 0.60 yen. Relief work for
unemployed officers was also provided for in Tokyo and six other
main centres, under the control of the Joint Maritime Board. In
this case, the work consisted mainly in the collection of data for
the Board, Government Departments and seamen's organisations,
the remuneration being estimated at from 0.80 to 1.60 yen per
person per day, of which the Government grant was also 0.60 yen.
It was estimated that this scheme would provide relief work
for 1,800 persons daily, or about 38 per cent. of the total number
of seamen unemployed at the end of F e b r u a r ~1931 ; in all about
600,000 days' work would be provided during the fiscal year
1931 '.
Public employment exchanges. - Public employment
exchanges were set up in Japan under the Employment Exchange
Act of April 1921 and the Seamen's Employment Exchange Act of
April 1922, which were passed to carry out the provisions of
Article 2 of the Washington Convention concerning unemployment and the provisions of the Genoa Convention for establishing
Cf. Industrial and Laborrr Info!maliort, 20 .Tr~l;v 1931

297

UNEMPLOYMENT

facilities for finding e m p l o ~ m e n tfor seamen '. Two years after
the Employment Exchange Act was promulgated the creation of
employment offices was expedited by an Imperial Decree providing that the Minister of the Interior might compel any town of
more than 30,000 inhabitants to set up a free employment
exchange. At the same time it was made known that a State
subsidy up to one-sixth of the initial expenditure in building and
organising the work of an exchange could be obtained.
There are now (early in 1932) 421 exchanges under the
jurisdiction of seven local exchange boards, 100 of these having
been set up during 1931. The Central Employment Exchange
Board, in Tokyo, supervises and controls the local boards and
is itself responsible to the Bureau of Social Affairs. The ctistribution of the exchanges is shown below :

No. of exchanqes

1 . Tokyo Local Employment Exchange Board
. . . . . . . .
10 Prefectures)
2. Osaka Local Employment Exchange Board
14 Prefectures)
. . . . . . . .
3. Nagoya Local Emplojment Exchange Board
7 Prefectures) . . . . . . . . .
4. Fukuolca Local Employment Exchange
(covers 9 Prefertures) . . . . . .
5. Awomori Local Employment Exchange
(covers 7 Prefectures) . . . . . .
6. Nagan0 Local Ernploymenl b:hchange
. . . . .
(covers 5 Prefectures)
7 . Okayamd Local Employment Eurhsnge
(rovers 7 Prefectures) . . . . . .

(covers

. . .

91

(covers

. . .

59

(covers

. . .

43

Board

. . .

55

Board

. .

67

Board

. . .

54

Board

. . .

52

'The exchanges are free and public, and are an a national
scale. and the work is assisted by the Employment Exchange
Commission, which was created under an 'Imperial Ordinance * ;
prominent representatives of the employers and workers are
included in an advisory capacity to control the working of the
exchanges. Local employment exchange commissions have been
set up in connection with all the local employment exchange
hoards.
'I'hc worli of Ihc exchanges is PO-ordinatedby local exchange

T f . L ~ g i s l a t i tSeries,
~
1921, .lap. 1-4, and 1922, Jnp. 2.
(:f. I , e { g i s l a f i ~ l ~
Series, 1924, Tap. 1.

boards' composed of officials ; these boards receive regularly (at
intervals of ten days, a month, and three months) reports from
the heads of exchanges showing the tlumber of applicants for
work. requests to be supplied with workers and placing of applicarits etc. Mayors of towns must send in reports on the state of
the labour market. Wireless is being extensively used to inform
thc public of Ihc unemployment situation and has also been
fourrtl of great valr~cl in r~otifyirrg vacancies and in placing
workers.
The e\charrges are becoming mow useful since they have
I)WII ahlc to spcrialisc in their work, i.e. since special cxchariges
ha\(. been set u p for particular classes oE workers. Workers use
the cwhanges increasingly; in 1930 aud 1931 the numbers of
applicants rose suddenly, and now over 1,000,000 general workers
antl 5,000,000 casual labourers apply in the course of a year.
En~ployersare learning to make more use of the exchanges ; in
1930 thrrc were notified 900,000 vacaricies for general workers
antl 5,000,000 for c.asual labourers, representing a 30 to 40 per
celrt increafc ober the figures for the prcvious year.
Owi rip to c~onoinicdeprrssiorl, however, the proportion of
gcb~~cral
workers placed fell suddenly in 1925 and the persistence
of had busincss has hcpt the proportion deplorably low in the
last fix year<. Casual labourers do better than general workers ;
ovcr 80 per cent. of the former are always placed, but since 1925
barely 30 J M Y cent. of the latter have hcc.11 placed in any jear as
against over 46 per rent. lxfore 1925. Son-manual workers are
in an even worse case ; in recent years work could only be fonnd
for 10 per cent. as against 36 per cent. ten years ago.
Table LXXXIV i A and B) gives figures of the placing of
gcnmal workers and casual labourers (see page 299).
Workers who arc. placed by the exchanges are given tickets
entitling them to a 50 per cent. reduction of the fare on the trains
and ferry-boats of the State Railways !Moreover, the employment
exchanges are authorised to advance the workers' travelling
expenses to the place of employment to which they are going

' Cf

T,t7qi$lafrt*rh r i i e s . 1826. 1,rp 1
RJotific,rtion No 769 of the Department of the Interior dated
24 \o\eml)er 1921 The wine pri\ilepe is ~tccnrtlcd to maritime workers
bv Votificntion No 1827 of the Department of Con~rnunications
For euan~idein
? As jet this privilege is not 11sed to n greal ?\tent
Deteruber 1930 there were onlv 233 \iorkers \ t h o borrowed f r o r ~ ~Ihc
enrployrr~t~nt
euch,rngc offices 608 yen in all 11ridt.r this provi~ion These
fncilitirs \ \ w e 0111~ 11w~lin Tokjo
?

- WORK O F

TABLE 1,XXXIV.

THE EMPLOYMENT l<XClIANGES,

1920-1930 '

( A ) Placing of General Workers

-

-

Year

I

1

Number
of workers
denlanded

Number of
workers applyin!
for work

Nurriber of
worker6 placed

Percentage
plarcd

-

1920
1921
1O22
1'323
I924
1925
1926
1927
I928
2929
1930
-

(B) Placing oj Casual Labourers
Year
-

Number
of workers
demxnrletl

--

-

1!420
1921
2922
1923
1921
1925
I926
1927
1928
1929
3 930

Nuntbrr
of workers
placed

Number of
vorhers applyi
for nork

139,274
360,635
772,790
1,318,648
1,53.5,496
1,680,438
2,793,381
2,732,643
3,373,871
3,473,237
6.1 74,973

-

--

1'erc~entag.c~
placed

1

I

95,789
316,360
697,617
l,O91,047
1,263,712
I,ZO,.ji8
2,477,746
2,371,471
2,973,212
3,010,280
5,lt?l,l ! 0

-

'I'o protect day labourers employed through Ihe intermediary
of public employment exchanges, the exchange offices are
empowered by an Imperial Ordinance ' to advance daily wages to
the day labourers placed by them to work at private establishments. The importance of this provision lies in the fact that the
day labourer in Japan does not usually receive his daily wages
directly from his employer, but in most cases from his "boss ",
the labour contractor (or oya b u n ) , who generally deducts from
tlrc wage a commission varying from 10 to even 45 per cent. of

'

Imperial Ordinance issued on 27 l u n e 1925.

300

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAP.4N

the amount due1. The pay-days in most establishments come
only once or twice a month and the day labourer, who is unable
to live without money during the long interval, seeks help from
the middleman, who charges him a heavy commission. The
Ordinance authorises th.e employment offices to draw money from
municipal sources and advance it to day labourers, thereby freeing
them from uneconomical dependence upon the " boss ". 'The
money paid out by employment exchanges throughout Japan in
the form of advances amounts every month to considerable sums.
An idea of the amount advanced in one month may be gained
from the following table :

Tokyo
Yokohama
Kobe
Nagoya
Shizuoka
Sapporo
Asahikawa
Kushiro
Total

/

Number of
exchan~es
reporting

Name of city

Number of labourers
to whom advances
were made

-

Amount advanced
--

Yen

294,012
166,789
36,421
18,229
1,573

1

2
I

I

8,458

1
I
.
-

-

i
-

-.

-

9,008
1,885
536,375

S e a m e n ' s einployrncnt exchanges. - Until 1922, when the
Seamen's Employment Exchange Act was promulgated, there
were no less than 270 private agcncies conducted entirely for the
purpose of making a profit out of finding engagements for maritime workers. They were for the most part seamen's lodging
houses which had carried on this business for years and, although
it was conth~ctetlunder the supervision of the local authorities
(since they had to obtain a licence from the prefectural Govcrnment), they were by no means free from the abuses of ordinary
profit-making employment agenciec. Beside these private agencies
there was another fee-charging agency of a semi-public characler
known as the Japanese Seamen's Relief Society (Nihor~Kaiin
Ekisai Kai) which engaged i n the work of placing the seamen,
and which reccived a Stab subsidy. There was no really free
employment exchange for seamen in Japan.

After the promulgation of the Seamen's Employment
Exchanges Act, the Government continued to grant a subsidy to
the Seamen's Relief Society on the ground that the Society was
acting as "deputy" for the State in carrying out the work of
employment exchanges. This gave rise to a representation in
the terms of Article 409 of the Peace Treaty being made by the
seamen's organisations, which held the said practice to be contrary to the spirit of the Convention which the Government had
ratified '. Complaints were made first at the International Labour
Conference i n 1926 by the Japanese seamen's delegate, Mr. Itaro
Narasaki, and finally a formal representation was made by the
organised .Japanese seamen to the Governing Body of the International Labour Office2. Tt was found unnecessary for the Governing Body to take the action on the representation which is
provided lor in Article 409, as the Japanese Government, in order
to remove the grounds of complaint, gave instructions in September 1926 that a Joint Maritime Board should be formed of
representatives of the Japan Shipowners' Association and of the
Japan Seamen's Union and the Mercantile Marine Officers' Association. The Board waa entrusted, among other duties laid upon
it, with the task of carrying on the public employment exchanges
for seamen in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.
Ever since the work of employment exchanges was handed
over to this Board, the system has steadily gained ground. At
present there are free employment offices in sixteen important
ports of Japan where every month more than 2,000 seamen apply
for work. Table LXXXVI shows the present extent of the work of
seamen's employment exchanges.

' Article 4 of tlic C o n \ e ~ ~ t i o ior
n establishing facilities for find in^
employment for searnerk reads i n part as follo\~s:
" Each Memlwr which ratifies this Convention agrees t h a t there
shall he o~ganised and ~ n a i n t a i n e da n efficient and adequate system
of puhlic employment offices for finding employment for seamen
without c hnrqe. Such system may be organised and maintained,
either . (1) hv representative associations of shipowners and seamen
jointly under the control of n central authority, or ( 2 ) , i n the absence
of such joint action, h) the State itself. "
Article 409 of the Treat) of Versnilles reads as follows
" I n the e\ent of any representation being made to the International Lahom Office 113 a n indi~slrial association of employers or of
l ~ o r k e r sthat any of the Members has failed to secure in any respect
the effective o b s e r \ w w ~\I ithin its juriscliction of any convention to
\\hich i t is a part), the Cro\erninp 13od) mag communicate this
representation to the Government agoinst which it is made and mav
invite that Government to nlahe c ~ l c h\ t ; ~ t e m ~ non
t t h e suhject as 6
mag think fit "

302

---

<

INDUSTRIAL LABOCR I ~ XJAPAN

---

-

Xnmbrr of seamen
demanded

Month
--

- -

-

-.-

Yunlber of seamen
srrking
employment

Nurnher of seame
placed

-

-

1930 November
1)eccmber
1931 January
February
March
April
May
June
J u!y

-

6,436
6,580
2,075
2,073
2,152
2,876
2.913
2,482

1,131
1,068
1,199
1,469
2,152
1,935
1,732
1,390

2,322
2,381
3,383

1,690
1,552
I , 28,C

-

A11gusl

September
October

ready been given ' of the Regulations promulgated in 1925 "or
the control of fee-charging agencies. These Regulations came
into force in January 1927, and the result of their operation has
been that the number of such agencies declined from 8,679
in 1921 to 3,054 in 1931. 'The volume of their work has, however, remained fairly constant, as will be seen in table L X X W J I .
TADLE I X S S k 11.

Yrar

1
1

- WORK

O F FEE-CHARGIhG ERIPLOYMENT AGEYClES,
--

Number of
workrrs
wanted

Xumher of
workers
placed

Number of
workers
s r r k i n g work

I

-

--

I
I

Percentage of
workers
placrd

1
/

-

Number of
agencies o n
31 necember

I

-

This tahle refers to the v,ork of the fee-charging employment agencies for " general
aorkers" on land only. I h r i n g the past few years these agencies have also dealt each month
with from 2,000 to 5,000 day labourers seeking work, and f r o ~ n30 to 45 per cent,. Of them
ha\e hcrn placed hy the agencies. Some 200 to 300 maritime workers seek nork each month
at the lee-charging rnrployment agrncies and from 30 to 60 per cent. of them are placed. The
monthly publication of lhc Central Employment Exchange Board give5 more dctailcrl R,nwer
regardim I l r t w norkera.
1

---

--

Cf. Part IV, Chapter I, pp. 164-165.
' Cf. Legislalive Series, 1925. Tap. 1 (C'i
I

It was shown in a previous chapter how the autarchic'
policy of seclusion decreed by the Shogunate in 1637 led to the
decline of seafaring and pul an rnd to freedom of movement
in and out of Japan. 4lthoug11, in the latter days of the Shogunate exceptions \\ ere permitted in the case of individual Japanese
subjects who wished to go abroad for the purpose of studying
medicine, there was no emigration in the proper sense of ihe
term nntil after the Restoration in 1868.
'I'hr first emigranls - 1 . 3 in all - left Japan in 1869 for
the sugar plantations o f Hawaii under a contract made by the
Japanese Government with the Hawaiian authorities, and it has
been characteri~ticof Japanese emigration ever since that it has
depended rather or1 Government action than on individual initiative. It has bec11 suggested that this lack of individual initiative
is the result upon the miod of ttrc people of having for "so many
\.ears been subject to the prohibitive policy of thr feudal Government ilr the matter of emigratioil " '.
After the first llawaiiall rvperimenl - which was not very
succe.;sful as wme forty of the emigrants, discouraged by the
langungc difficulty and alien customs, returned home within a
year - there was no further emigration until lS85. In this and
sl~l)scqrienlyears, as a reqult of treaties between Japan and Hawaii
The Iiisloricd slll\e, of I~~p;~rrese
c,rtiigration is based chiefl\ oti
informirtio~~supplied by the Department of Owrwns {"fairs of the
Japanese Government, in an drticle . " The Ernie? 1tio11,Co!onisation and
Overseas Acthities of the Tapanese within the Last 'Tcrr 7rni-7 ", in Nihon
Keizai no Saikin Jicz N P (Last
~
Ten Years of T,~~x~nesc,
I:~orrorn\1 published
1)y the National Federation for Economic R e v irch. 1)17 1513-1591
"f
S I X H ~T D F ~ . " .Inpail's Errtirrrilicin I'rohl~~~r
"
i l l It~lrrnntionul
Labour R ~ v i ~ u Dec
l,
1930.

301

INDUSTRIAL L.4BOIJB I N JAPAE

on navigation and emigration, a large number of persons, chiefly
wage earners, went to the islands to work on the sugar and
pineapple plantations under Government-controlled emigration
schemes. Some 29,000 emigrants had been transferred to Hawaii
in this way between 1885 and 1894, when the Government handed
over both recruiting and placing of emigrants in the Hawaiian
Islands to private companies.
In 1896, the Emigrants' Protection Act was enacted as a
result of the increased interest in overseas activities, and a great
many private emigration companies were formed. In 1898, however, Hawaii was annexed by the United States, and within two
years the American law prohibiting the immigration of labourers
under contract had come into force, checking the flow of immigration and causing the failure of many of the Japanese companies A large number of Japanese emigrant labourers were
sent by the companies to the Hawaiian Islands in 1899 ', just in
time to escape the operation of the prohibitory legislation, but
after that year such companies as continued in being had to seek
other nutlets : the Philippines, Peru, Mexico, etc.
The refusal of the United States to admit contract labour to
any territory under its jurisdiction stimulated free emigration,
and from 1904 on Japanese emigrants flocked to North America
in increasing numbers both from Japan itself and - attracted
by the higher remuneration on the mainland - from the Japanese settlements in Hawaii. On the Pacific coast the number
of Japanese settlers increased with great rapidity - from 3,000
in 1902 to 91,000 in 1910. The American coast population, however, soon came to regard this continued influx of Japanese
workers with disfavour, and in 1907 President Roosevelt negotiated with Tokyo the so-called " Gentlemen's Agreement " whereby Japan bound herself to stop the emigration of workers to the
United States by withholding passports Y Under this Agreement
all Japanese immigration into the United States came to an end,
with the exception of the re-entry of persons who had been previously domiciled in the United States and the entry of wives and
children of Japanese alrcady in the country.
The Agreement did not, however, allay llle agitation, and
111 1898, 10,000 euiigrants n e ~ l tto Haw,\ii, 1,000 to Canada, 1,000
to Australia : in 1899, 23,000 to H,twnii, 3,000 to the United States, 1,700
to Canada, 790 to Peru, the first lapanrse to go to South America
' Cf K r ~ oSuc Ibrrr : T h e 1lnsol~ic.d P r o b l ~ m01 f l ~ c Pacific,
.
pp. 174175.

measures were adopted denying to Japanese the right to own or
lease land and imposing other restrictions. The effect of these
measures was lo cause the movement from the Hawaiian Islands
to fall to a few thousands in 1908 and 1909 and thereafter to cease
almost altogether. Finally, the United States passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which placed definite legal barriers, in place
of the Gentlemeu's Agreement, against the entry of Japanese
labour into the territory of the United States.
From 1894 to 1907 Canada had attracted Japanese workers ;
in the first instance they went under a contract of employment,
later as free immigrants. But the pressure of public opinion
brought about restrictive legislation, and the Canadian Immigration Act of 1910, amended in 1924, empowers the GovernorGeneral-in-Council either to prohibit or limit the landing of immigrants of a specified class or nationality, thus providing a
means of closing Canadian ports to immigrants of any particular
country l .
The Australian Federal Immigration Restriction Act of 1901
practically debars the Japanese worker from entering Australia,
for the requirement that the immigrant should be able to write
from dictation " a passage of fifty words in a prescribed language" can be applied in such a manner that the provision has
as much prohibitive force in the case of an Asiatic as it had
before the Australian Federal Government replaced the word
6
European " qualifying " lauguage " by " prescribed " on the representations of the Japanese Government.
A definite policy of restriction of emigration to all countries
was adopted by the Japanese Government after 1907. Local
authorities only issued passports to emigranis possessing qualification for the particular work they proposed to take up and only
after it had been ascertained from the receiving countries that
the applicant would be welcome. The outflow of emigrants declined markedly in response to this policy ; while previously
the number of emigrants had averaged over 10,000 yearly, on
one occasion reaching the maximum figure of 32,000, it fell to
something like 4,000 in 1908 and 1909.
After 1907, Japanese emigration was directed mainly to South
America, and in 1908 the first body of 800 emigrants went to
L

Under ;I Gentlemen's Agreement of the same date as that with the
United States (1907) as modified in 102.3, I I to
~ 150 Iapanese citbens m a y
be admitted in any one year.

306

ISDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

Brazil, the country which has since become the most important
objective of Japanese emigration. The policy of restriction was
continued, but after 1911 the numbers emigrating yearly increased
until in 1913 they numbered over 20,000. A gradual but definite
change took place in emigration policy, the tendency becoming
to encourage rather than restrict.
The year 1915 was marked by the formation of societies for
the promotion of emigration. These societies, which were called
Kaigai Kyokai (overseas societies), were first organised in the
prefectures of Hiroshima and Kumamoto, and were followed
in 1918 by similar societies in other prefectures. In 1917, the
private emigration companies, at the instigation of the Government, formed a company known as Kaigai KSgyo Kaisha (Overseas Development Company), which now conducts a large part
of the business of recruiting Japanese emigrants for Brazil and
other countries.
The Government's policy had now definitely changed to one
of encouraging emigration, and a State subsidy was given to the
Overseas Development Company in 1921, to be devoted to the
popularisation of emigration and to providing facilities for the education and protection of emigrants. The Government also paid
the passage of over 100 emigrants to Brazil after the earthquake
of 1923, and this led to the adoption of assisted emigration in 1924.
Up to 1923 emigrants had been charged fees by the emigration
companies but one of the conditions of the subventions granted
to the companies was that they should make no charge for their
services to emigrants. The new policy of the Government led
to a considerable development of overseas societies and private
companies, many of which bought large tracts of land in Brazil
on which the emigrants are provided with employment.
In 1927 the Overseas Emigration Societies Act ' was promulgated, the object being to assist the emigration of persons who
possess a little capital which they can invest in land in the country
of immigration. A number of new overseas emigration societies
were formed in prefectural areas under this Act, and a federation
of these societies was organised later in the year 1927. It was
also in 1927 that the Government established at Kobe the National
Emigrants' Station, where emigrants are lodged without cost to
themselves for ten days before embarking for the purpose of
Cf. Legislaticv .Series, 1927, .Tap. 1

medical examination, inoculations, some preliminary training, etc.
Finally, an independent Ministry, the Department of Overseas
Affairs, was created in 1929, as the central authority dealing with
all matters concerning emigration and colonisation.
Legislative and Other Measures for thc
Encouragement of Emigration
The legal provisions dealing specifically with emigration
are contained in two Acts : the Emigrants' Protection Act ' of 1896
and the Overseas Emigration Societies Act of 1927.
The main object of the earlier legislation is to protect emigrants from exploitation by agencies. The law requires that the
intending emigrant must obtain from the authorities a permit
which expires six months from the date of issue and must name
two persons who may be called upon to assist the emigrant if he
is in distress or must be repatriated.
The business of emigration agents is subject to strict administrative control. A minimum security of 10,000 yen must be
deposited with the authorities before the agent receives official
sanction to engage in the business. The agent is held responsible
during a period of ten years, reckoned from the date when the
emigrant left Japan, for his repatriation. Emigrants may only
be sent to places where the agent has a representative permanently
stationed.
The emigrant ship, or any vessel transporting emigrants, is
also under administrative control. Ships carrying at least fifty
emigrants on board and bound for the countries specified by the
authorities are subject to the application of the law as "emigrant
ships " within the meaning of the Act '.
The Overseas Emigration Societies Acts was passed to remedy
the disadvantages experienced in connection with the emigration
of unskilled labourers without financial resources. The Act provides for the formation of societies of a co-operative character
to aid their members, and the families of members, to emigrate.
Each of these societies is a body corporate with legal personality,
and is known as Kaigai Ijii Kurniai (Overseas Emigration
Society). To ensure their co-operative character, the principal

*

lmin Hogo H 6 , Act No. 70 of April 1896.
Japan ratified the Convention concerning the simplification of the
inspection of emigrants on board ship in 1928.
Act Yo. 25 of March 1927 (cf. Legislative Series, 1927, Jap. 1).
a

308

-

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAX

provisions of the Co-operative Societies Act1 are applied mutatis
mutandis to overseas emigration societies, which enjoy the same
privileges and immunities in law as co-operative societies and
are subject to the same administrative control.
Shares in an overseas emigration society may not exceed fifty
yen. The objects of such societies are (1) to advance the funds
necessary for emigration to members ; (2) to help members who
emigrate by acquiring or leasing land, buildings, etc., and by
ceding or leasing the same to members ; (3) to set u p and manage
for the members ~chools,hospitals, warehouses, etc., in the
country of immigration.
Since this Act came into effect, overseas emigration societies
have been formed in eighteen prefectures, and there is a National
Federation of these societies, with headquarters in Tokyo. The
total number of members of these societies in 1931 reached nearly
10,000 : in one prosperous society alone the membership exceeded
1,900. The country to which emigrants are sent by these societies
is Brazil, and in 1931 they had acquired over 644,350 acres of
land. The National Federation has established shops, warehouses and dwelling houses, a saw-mill, a brick factory and a hospital in Brazil. The building of new roads and bridges, survey of
new and unexplored tracts of land, etc., is also undertaken hy
the National Federation.
Other measures for the encouragement of emigration include
publicity, transport facilities and subsidies to private emigration
companies.
Since 1923 the Government has yearly provided for " emigration publicity" in the Budget, and Japanese legations and consulates have been instructed to furnish information which will
permit the Government to form an accurate estimate of the openings which different countries can offer the Japanese settler. The
cinema is extensively used to suppIement propaganda by pamphlets. Lecturers are sent out by the central Government to
meetings organised in the prefectures; the number of lectures
given in a year rose from 27 in 1923 to 267 in 1930.
The State assists emigrants by reducing their railway fare
(third class) and the cost of the transport of their luggage by
50 per cent. Grants to defray the whole expense of the sea
voyage, from the home port to the port of destination are made

' For the details of the Co-operatile Societies Act, cf. Part VI, Chapter 111, pp. 351-352.

to families emigrating with their children '. By the end of 1936
the number of persons who had benefited by the State subsidy
had attained 53,409 - the sum expended being 9,158,634 yen.
4t first orrly a few emigrants applied for the grant - in 1923 it
was gi\en to 110 persons - but in 1924 the figures ran into
thousands, reaching close on 9,000 in 1927, and in 1929 there
were 14,923 emigrants who received free passages ? The number
fell to 8,292 in 1930
'The bulk of the Japanese emigrant traffic is handled by
Knigai li5gyo Kaisha (the Overseas Development Company). This
company was launched in 1917, incorporating fifty-four other
agencies already existing, with a capital of 9,000,000 yen. As time
went on other small companies were absorbed and it is now
virtually the sole emigration agency in Japan. Its headquarters
are in Tokyo, but it has a shipping office in Kobe, a branch office
in Brazil and has agents stationed at various points important for
emigration in Japan, Australia and the South Sea Islands. Some
forty agents of the company are occupied in emigration propaganda and in the recruitment of emigrants in the prefectures.
By the end of 1930, ovcr 96,000 emigrants had been carried in
the ships of this company since it was founded; among the countries which have received emigrants travelling under its auspices
are Brazil (72,984), the Philippines (14,024), Peru (2,993), Australia (1,220); small numbers were also sent to Cuba and other
coimtries.
The company combines colonisation enterprise with its
agency business, managing a settlement of 609 families (3,561
persons) connected with its plantation of 154,350 acres at IguapP,
in Brazil ; there is another settlement managed by this company
in the State of Sao Paolo with some forty Japanese families working
on a plantation of 3,000 acres. Schools, as well as the warehouses, saw-mills, etc., necessary for business purposes, have
been established by the company in connection with both these
colonies.

' Under certain conditions married rouples without children and
single persons may receive the grant.
' If all other means of encouragement of emigration by the Government are reckoned, the State spent in seven years (1922-1929\, over
I2,000,000 yen excluding the suhvention granted to the shipping
companies.
These figures have heen taken from Takumu Y 6 m n , 1931, pp. 560,
M6.

310

IKDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

Lately other colonisatior~companies have been founded in
Japan ; their names suggest their activities ; the South American
Colonisation Company, Amazon Development Company and the
Japan-Argentine Colonisation Company. The first two came into
being in 1928 and the third in 1929.

Extent of Emigration
In spite of these measures the net balance of Japanese enugration remains verj small. Table LXXXVIII shows the yearly
number of emigrants leaving and returning to Japan every year
during the last ten years. Until 1926, the number returning
exceeded the number of new emigrants, and since 1926 the net
increase of new emigrants over returning emigrants is a few
thousands a year only.
Table LXXXIX shows the principal direction of emigration
from 1925 to 1930.
The small extent of Japanese emigration becomes even more
apparent when the total number of Japanese living abroad is
considered. On 10 October 1930, this number was 634,913, distributed as follows : 194,129 in China (of whom 116,052 were in
Kwantung alone), 127,605 in North America (99,600 in U.S.A.,
20,838 in Canada), 142,276 in South America, 124,861 in Oceania 1120,909 in Hawaii), 3,463 in Europe and 69 in Africa'. In
the previous year, 1929, the net increase of the Japanese population was 837,5017 Thus, after sixty years of effort to increase
emigration, the total number of Japanese living abroad is less
than the annual natural increase of population.
Many reasons have been advanced to account for this situati011 : the sentimental disinclination of the Japanese to leave their
own country3, the psychological effects of the long policy of
seclusion, the small-holding system which binds the Japanese
to their nati+e soil, the climatic and economic hardships of emigration, the disappointing experiences of cmigrants to Mexico
and Peru, and the discouraging effect of the stoppage of emigration to North 4merica'which was economically the most attrac--a Cf. Nihon T6kei Nenknn, p. 65 (figures of the interim report of the
National Census of 1930).
lbid., p 2.
Dr. INAZO
NITOBE: '' The Question of Food and Population i n Tapan ".
i n Il'orld Outlook, April 1927, p. 29.
Professor TAKAOKA,
of Hokkaido Imperial University, quoted by
S Tnrr, Inferr~nfionnlLabour Rec'iew, Dec. 1930.

tive objective of Japanese emigration. But whatever the causes of
the relatively small volume of Japanese emigration may be, it is
apparent from the figures given above that emigration is playing
only a minor part in the solution of the population problem to
which reference was made in Part I, Chapter I.
T4BLZ

IXXXVIII. --

NUMBER

AND RETIJRNIKG

O F EMIGRANTS SAILING FROM

TO JAPAN,

1921-1930

Number of emigrants
leaving J a p a n

Year

Number of emigrants
returning to J a p a n

Yihon Teihokn T d k e i Nenlca!~, 1931 edition, p. 63.

TABLE

LXXXIX. -

Countries

Brazil
Philippines
(including Guam)
Peru
Canada
Siberia
United States
Hawaii
Straits Settlements
and Malay States
Mexico
Argentina
Dutch East Indies
Australia
Cuba
( thers
Total

1

1

R I X E N T EMIGHkTION CLASSIFIEI) BE

1925

1

19%

4,908

8,599

1,635
922
979
108
289
485

3,197
1,250

1,009
531
344
636

437
102
160
336
121
182
169
226
250
139
117
127
106 216 10,696 16,184 18,041

11

Cf. Nihon Teikoku T6kei Nenkan, 1926-1931. The figures include both the emigranls who
arc emigrating for the first time and those who are only returning to the countries to
which they had previously emigrated, a9 \\ell as the wives or children of emigrants. It shonld
be understood that the emigrants to Canada consist largely of the latter category nhile tho*
to I I a \ r a i ~ and the IJnited States are cntircly of that category.

312

IXDUSTRIAL

LABOLR IN JAPAN

At present the country outside Asia which absorbs the largest
number of Japanese emigrants is Brazil. Emigration to Brazil,
however, is carried out under great difficulties on account of the
enormous distance, which involves at once considerable expense
and an inevitable feeling of uncertainty. It is no easy task to
overcome these material and psychological obstacles against
oversea emigration, especially since the Japanese are essentially
a " stay at home" people. As regards Manchuria, where there are
over 200,000 Japanese already, similar difficulties are not
encountered on account of its nearness to Japan. But whether
or no that country will prove to be a suitable field for Japanese
emigration cannot be judged as yet because of factors other than
economic which must be taken into account.

Internal Migration and Colonial Setllement
The results of internal migration and colonial settlement do
not appear to be much more satisfactory than those of foreign
emigration. Migration within the Japanese Empire dates from
the early years of the Meiji era. The colonisation of the Islands
of Wokkaido and Saghalien was encouraged, and privileges were
accorded to intending colonists to induce them to settle in the
islands. No systematic colonisation, however, was carried out
before 1903. After the southern part of Saghalien was ceded to
Japan at the close of the Russo-Japanese war, the Government
of Japan actively assisted migration by granting free passages,
the leasing of land without rent, granting subsidies for the purchase of agricultural implements, cattle, seed, etc., and making
provision for the education and well-being of colonists. In 1923
it ceded standing timber to the settlers, and two years later increased the subvention for general facilities. From 1928 to the
present time the colonial Government of Saghalien has made great
efforts to attract migrants, especially by means of grants for housing. Rut these efforts have not succeeded ; when emigration generally was at its maximum, in 1923 and 1924, the number of Japanese who went to Saghalien never reached 10,000 in a year and
has steadily declined since then '.

' Migration

to Saghalien :

Cf. Nihon Keizai no S a i k i n J i u n e n , p. 1554

-

MIGRATION

--

313

Hokkaido is still relatively undeveloped and is sparsely populated. For the last twenty-five years the Japanese Government
has taken measures' to stimulate popular interest in migration
to the island, but with little success. Moreover, the tales of
Kangoku-Beya (or prison cells)" term used to describe the methods of contract labour in forests, railways and plantations in
remote parts of Hokkaido have disposed Japanese workers to regard the recruiting agents with suspicion.
Japanese agricultural workers have gone to Korea only in
small numbers. In 1928 the Government sought to encourage
the colonisation of the undeveloped parts of the country by subventions and low-interest loans to settlers for purchase of land,
irrigation, building, purchase of agricultural implements, etc.,
but so far only some hundred persons have taken advantage of the
inducements offered. A private society Tijyij Takushoku Knisha
(Oriental Colonisation Company) had already sent nearly 4,000
farmers' families to Korea between 1910 and 1927, but this company's activities ceased after 1928 as Japanese migration to areas
already developed was disco~itinuedin view of the hardships to
the Koreans which it involved.
Some 500,000 Japanese who have come from Japan proper
are permanently resident in Korea, but they are chiefly merchants or officials living in cities ; the native Korean population
was 19,685,000 in 1930. The situation is stated to be much the
same in Formosa where, out of 4,679,000 inhabitants, there are
232,000 who have come from Japan proper '.
'The problem of internal migration within the Japanese Empire
is complicated, from the Japanese point of view, by the increasing tendency of Koreans to enter Japan proper. In 1922, some
years after Korea became Japanese, restrictions which formerly
existed were abolished, but the stream of workers was so persistent that a form of control was called for and restrictive regulations were again applied in 1925. Nevertheless, a large number
of Korean workers are still able to enter Japan, and it is estimated
Ordinance of the former Department of Overseas Affairs, No. 3 of
1897, and Notification of the Department of the Interior, No. 31 of 1927.
Proceedings of t h e Jnternational Labour Confevence, 1929, Twelfth
Session, Vol. I, p. 56.
The population of Korea in 1930 \\as : Japanese, 501,867 ; Koreans,
19,685,587 ; foreigners, 69,109 ; total, 20,256,563. The population of Formosa was : Japanese, 232,299 ; Formosans, 4,313,922 ; aborigines,
86,154 ; foreigners, 40,671 ; total, 4,679.060 (Cf. T a k u m u - S h 6 TBkei GaiyB,
1932, pp. 2-5.)

314

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

that from 1917 to 1929, 1,186,310 Koreans were admitted, while
only 847,777 returned ' to Korea. An influx of this magnitude
cannot fail to influence the problems both of over-population and
of unemployment.

Unofficial figures as reported in Osaka Mainichi, 2 Feb. 1931.
Official figures of the Bureau of Police show that during the years 19171927, the number of Koreans who crossed the strait from Fusan to
Shimonoseki alone totalled 768,958 and the number of those who returned
to Korea by the same channel 574,126, leaving a total of 194,832 who
may be considered to have settled in .Japan.

WORKERS' WELFARE, EDUCATION AND
CO-OPERATION

CHAPTER I

WELFARE

So attempt has been made, for the purposes of this chapter,
to delimit " welfare " institutions and arrangements on the basis
of a theoretical definition of "welfare " work. The welfare work
here described conlprises the arrangements and activities which
are considered in Japan to belong to the category of "welfare ",
and the wideness of its scope is a characteristic of Japanese
industrial organisation.
'l'he importance attached to welfare work in Japan derives
in the first place from the long tradition of paternalism, which,
as has been shown in previous chapters, remains a powerful
influence in Japanese industry. The feeling of kinship between
employer and employed, which was so marked a feature of the
early industries of Japan, has persisted through the period of
development of large-scale modern industry more particularly in
the form of a heightened sense of responsibility on the part of the
employer for the well-being of the workers he employs. The
result has been that welfare institutions and arrangements are
considered to be an indispensable part of the orpanisation of every
Japanese factory '.
I A full description of the welfare work in Japanese industry is found
in Saikin n o Shakai Und6, published by the Kyocho Kai, pp. 909-940. In
addition, another publication of the Kyocho Kai, Honp6 Sangyo Fukari
Shisetsu Gaiy6 (Outline of Welfare Provisions in Japan) has been used.
This is the report of an enquiry carried out in 1921 in respect of 171 factories and mines each employing normallv a t least 300 operatives.

316

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

The impulsion given by paternalistic sentiment was. however,
strongly reinforced by the need for attracting and retaining industrial labour under the conditions of rapid developnlent of industry, particularly during the years of the Great War. The methods
adopted by employers varied from the granting of " bonuses " and
" allowances ", the institution of compulsory savings schemes
known as "security funds ", "trust funds ", "reserve funds ", etc.,
the provision of general and technical educational facilities in
addition to those required by law, to the improvement of conditions in and around the factories, the organisation of spare time,
and the establishment of welfare institutions on the basis of cooperation between employers and workers.
In the following pages welfare measures in and around the
faciory, in the form of bonuses, savings funds, etc., and welfare
funds will be successively described.
Welfare Measures in and around
the Factory

H y g i e n e a n d food. - Welfare measures taken in the factory
are considered to comprise, in thc first place, arrangements for
safeguarding the health of the workers by the provision of light
and air, of drinking water and washing facilities, and more
particularly of rest and dining rooms.
Generally speaking, Japanese factories are built so as to
secure as much natural light as possible. For this purpose the
windows are large and elevated. In many cases they are roof
windows, the roof itself being sometimes made of glass covered
with protective netting. Some of the more up-to-date factories have
stepped roofs with glass windows on the northern side so as to get
the best light. Electric light has been installed in these modern
factories on a system recomrnendcd by the Lighting Institute of
Japan. In mines, electric lighting has been installed in the main
shafts and adits, while carbide lamps or Wolf's safety lamps are
used in the branch tunnels ; in coal mines Edison head lamps are
being increasingly used.
The c h i ~ f meane of v e n t i l a t i o n in Japanese factories are
shuttered or revolving windows, ventilating shafts, etc. The
device of double roofing, either for the entire roof or on one side,
is also used, and mechanical ventilators, air pumps, motor ventilators and fans are installed in machine shops, chemical
works, etc., where special means of ventilation are required. In

WELFARE

317

cotton-spinning or silk-reeling and weaving mills, where the
regulation of light, air, humidity and temperature is of primary
importance as it affects the efficiency of the workers as well as
the quality of the products, sirocco-fans are frequently installed
to admit fresh air while exhaust fans on the ceiling eject the foul
air. Sprinkling of water or vaporisers, supply of humid air,
heating by means of coal, charcoal, steam, gas or electrical heaters and other methods are employed in the modern establishments.
llunicipal water supply systems have become common in
J a p m but artesian wells are also considerably used. Sometimes
the water drawn directly from the source is used after filtration,
but occasionally the drinking of unboiled water is prohibited in
order to prevent the spread of disease and in such cases boiled
water is supplied. Drinking water is often provided for in the
factory. In the hot weather, towels which have been dipped in
hot water arc supplied, and the bath room is often left open
during a fixed hour so as to allow the workers to wash and
refresh themselves.
IYaslz basins and bathing facilities arc provided in almost all
Japanese factories and mines. Rooms or closets for changing,
and shelves, cupboards and lockers for keeping clothes are also
provided. In textile mills employing a large number of women
workers, a rest room is usually arranged in a corner of the
workers' dormitory or of the infirmary belonging to the mill.
Special arrangements are also made for nursing mothers. The
baths are usually within the dormitory grounds in the case of the
textile mills and otlrcr factories in which a large ma-jority of the
workers are housed in the dormitory ; but where most of the
workers live out, the baths are installed within the factory premises. Factories sometimes have a special arrangement with the
pnhlic baths of the town in the neighbourhood of the factory or
mine, and tickets are supplied to the workers by the employeIn the case of mines, the baths are ordinarily situated either at
the cntrance to the mine or in its vicinity or near the company
honseq. Thc use of the baths is usually frce of charge, but if the
bath is actually outside the mine, there may be a nominal charge
not exceeding 1 sen per bath.
Modern sanitary arrangmncrtts are not yet common in
Japanese factories, and it is only in thc most advanced factories
that water closets with flush-water systems have been installed.

318

IADUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

In mines, latrines which can be treated chemically to prevent
infection are sometimes provided ; but such latrines are not yet
found in all mines, and even where they exist the changes in
the habits of the miners have not kept pace with sanitary improvements.
A great deal of attention has been concentrated on dining
rooms as a means of making life in the factories more attractive.
Most factories have a common dining hall for the workers who
live on the factory premises, while special dining rooms or rest
rooms with benches are provided for workers who live out and
who bring their mid-day meal to the factory. Occasionally the
dining hall belonging to the dormitory can be transformed into
a recreation or play-room or an auditorium, and some newlybuilt dining halls have space for a thousand people and can be
used for meetings. The halls are clean and attractive with proper
lighting and heating accommodation, pictures, hangings, wall
paintings, flowers, etc.
The supply and preparation of food is usually arranged by the
factory management, though occasionally it is left to a consumers' co-operative society or to a private contractor. The
principal foodstuff is usually a mixture of rice and barley, the
proportion being about 7 : 2. Recently, in order to combat beriberi, it has become more common to issue unpolished rice of
various qualities, and in some factories a special table is set aside
in the dining hall where u n h u l l ~ drice is served instead of the
ordinary polished rice and its consumption is encouraged by preparing it in a particdarly pa1atabIe way. The cost of a meal
varies between 7 sen and 15 sen '. When the foods is provided by
the management, the latter bears a part of the cost ; but where
the food is provided by contract, the contractor usually includes
the expenses of the materials, fuel, and overhead charges in the
cost of the meal and the management provides water, the
hall, etc., free.
Special attention has recently been given to diet by some of
the more progressive factories. Thus, a cotton-spinning company
has appointed a meals committee to prepare menus to suit the
special requirements of each season. The personnel management
of the factory examines and criticises the menu, with the aid of
a special service of experts in nutrition. At a silk-reeling mill
also, a meals committee was appointed in 1928. This committee
Cf. Soikin no Shakai l i r ~ d o p.
, 921.

WELFARE

319

ascertains the workers' tastes, and recommends special menus
which will be appreciated by the majority. Sweets, fruits, cake
and the like are served twice a month and the habit of eating
between meals is discouraged.
In the dining halls attached to some dormitories, articles for
table use, such as rice bowls, plates and other vessels, which can
be cleaned by steam or by boiling, are provided. At most dining
rooms, either mats or benches are provided so that the workers
need not stand while eating. In silk-reeling mills, which have
depended but little on modern machinery hitherto, it used to be
the custom, in order to reduce the time spent in eating meals to
the minimum, to cause the workers to take their meals standing ;
but this policy is now being abandoned.
The dormitory system. - The system of housing workers in
dormitories within the factory gates and under more or less strict
discipline is well-known to be a characteristic feature of Japanese
industry. Originally, the system arose out of the need, in face
of the rapid development of mechanical industry and the
exhaustion of the supply of labour in the vicinity of the factories, of recruiting workers from distant provinces and of
providing them with living accommodation. Further reasons
for the system were to protect the young women operatives against
moral dangers and also the employer against "crimping " or the
66
pirating " by other employers of labour recruited at considerable
cost.
Very divergent views are held regarding the desirability of
this system. On the one hand, and particularly in view of the
conditions of recruitment ', it is held to be unduly restrictive of
the liberty of the person. On the other hand, the supporters
of the system contend that it confers considerable economic
advantages on the workers, in addition to affording moral protection and security, especially in the case of young and unmarried
women. Moreover, it is held that the efforts made by some
employers to make dormitory life agreeable and helpful to the
inmates have been highly successf~~l'.
A number of descriptions of conditions in the dormitories
have been pnhlished, but unfortunately the official reports are

' Cf.

Part IV, Chapter I :

of Workers

".

" Recruitment,

Employmenl and Discharge

Committees, popularly elected, exist to bring about improvements.
and boxes are provided for the workers to make suggestions.

320

IADUSTRIAL

LABOUR IK JAPAN

not very recent ', while the accounts of private observers are i n
some cases vitiated by superficiality o r pre-conceived ideas, o r
were written too long ago to give a picture of t h e present
situation. However, a particularly detailed a n d objective account
of the dormitories was published i n 1929 by Mr. Arno S. Pearse
of the Master Cotton Spinners' Federation of Great BritainZ, and
may be considered to be a fair presentation of existing conditions.
This writer visited the dormitories of a n u m b e r of the larger
mills and formed the opinion that, " i n a11 the big combines, the
girls are better housed and fed than they would be at liorne "'. He
states that while smaller undertakings may not be able to spend
so m u c h o n the equipment a n d maintenance of t h e dormitories as
the larger firms, the opinions of other observers show that " there
is very little difference between these institutions of t h e large and
small mills. One small mill wllere 100 operatives were employed
was visited by the writer and the only difference h e found was
that the tidiness was not so marked as i n the larger places ".
Mr. Pearse gives lhe following description of t h e construction
of the dormitories and the accommodation provided :
-

-

" The houses built for the operatives (80 per cent. are single
girls) are really barracks of two storeys, entirely of wood, as is the
custon~in Japan of all private dwelling-houses of rich or poor. It has
been found by experience that such constr~ictionwithstands best the
earthquake shocks, which occur frequently. The writer has to criticise the use of wood in the building of these huge barracks, where at
times 3,000 girls are housed. on account of the grave danger by fire.
It is to be hoped that new dormitories will he erected on the very
recently discovered earthquake-proof system of building.
" The dormitories are constructed in sections to contain about
300 girls; rooms to hold eicht to ten girls are in each building. Each
l E.g. Ruir1<\17
O F Snc141. . \ I : F \ I I:~ SKOiG
n i nlic,rrr / i i , s / t ~ ~ 1 ~ 1 ~1 1~0 / 1 ~ 1
Genkyo ni Kansuro Ch6sa (Inquiry into actual contiitions i n dormitories
attached to factories), 1926 ; a ~ T~h rd Kanegafuchi Spinning Company Ltcl.:
Its Conslilufion, How it cares for. ils Employees and IVorkers, 1924.
Ansn S. PIIARSE
: Cotton Industry in Japan and China, 1929.

The following quotation may be given as summarising Mr. Pearse's
general c:onclusions : " The lifc of the girl mill opcrativcs may be said
to be n period of tlisciplinar? training, not 11111ike the years of military
senice of the inen, for I)csirlcs being taught regular 111anua1work the gir!s
attcud thc mill school, \\here such su1)jects as reodi~lg,xvriting, arithmetic,
desi~nirlg,cooking, se\ving, domestic management are taught, and physic;rl
drill is not left out of consideratiolr. The writer doubts whether mall?
girls in expelisive boarding schools ill Ellrope (pensionnat) are better cared
for or haw Inore freetiom than tht: girls of the Ijig mills visited. Thth
competition of getting a sufficicrrt supl)ly of girls is alone a guarantee for
their good treatment, a n d there has developed amongst the mill owners a
very praise\vorthy r:rcr i n enden\-or~rir~g
to oultln the other as regards welfare work ".

WELFARE

321

room has a space of 16 " mats " I . The floor is covered by mats made
of neatly woven straw. For the sake of cltmliness and in order not to
darnage the mats nobody, not even the wanaging director, is allowed
to walk on then1 in boots, and the girls must take their wooden slippers
off before they enter even the corridor.
" In Osaka, the city regulations prescribe that 1 '1, mat space
ruust be allowed for cach girl, but in practice they have much more.
When wages were low in Japan the mill owners employed more operatives than now per machine, and consequently, owing to recent rationalisation of the industry, there is wore room left for the girls than was
originally planned. "
I n accordance with Japanese custom, t h e girls d o n o t sleep
in bedsteads but on cushions on t h e floor, w h i c h are tidily put
away w h e n not i n usc. Each girl has her o w n cupboard for t h e
cushions and her o w n clothing. Whilst t h e girls a r e i n t h e mill
they wear a special uniform, different i n s u m m e r a n d winter ;
everyone wears a cap. 'The female overseers wear a sash over
the uniform. Each room in t h e dormitories is provided w i t h t h e
usual alcove, the most distinguished place i n every Japanese
room, in which will be found a little altar, books a n d w r i t i n g
materials. As is the custom there will h a n g a Japanese scrollpicture, o r thc portraits of the Emperor a n d Empress.

" Fresh flower drcoratio~~h
are placed in eke1.y rooltl Scrupulous
cleanliness and tidiness reign supreme in the dorntitories. The interior
of the rooms is simplicitg itsrlf, just as in all Japanese houses, which
creates a distinguished in~jmssion Every morning and night the
girls scrub the floors, not ordy of the rooms, but also of the seemingly
endless corridor<. (This scrubbing of floors is a national custorn in
111ost l~ouses.) ]:or this Imrpose the girls kneel down in a line and
scrub with their hands, n~ovingforward in a lint-, singing all the time.
" The Japanese as a nation enjoy the reputation of being very clean
in their houses and i n themselves, and daily baths are quite a regular
habit antongst a11 the operative\. Aniple bath accommodation is provided b\ the rttills. Day and night shift staff occupy different dormitories; the roorrls are well \nrtilatcd
4 strip of garden is generally
in front of each house
"
Discipline and order arc, of c-ourse, essential when one has to
deal wit11 thousands of young girls, a r ~ dthis means some restraint of
libertg, which most will agree is a good thing for. lhe girls at that age,
but this limitation of f r ~ e d o r tis~ no great I~ardshil)to the women of
as\ rlian\ ~)ri\iltye<
as in the West."
tltc Fait for lw-Ei h n (lo not r ~ ~ j o
To the advantages of the dormitory system w h i c h have been

described in these quotations from Mr. Pearse's report m a y be
added the facilities afforded by thc systcm for welfare w o r k of a

322

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

cultural, recreational and hygienic character. When the operatives live in their own houses, scattered about in a wide area, it
is obvious that these forms of welfare work cannot be so easily
orgarlised as in thc case of workers who dwell together in dormitories. The giving of supplementary education or vocational
training in classes, the organising of athletics, the care of children
of operatives- these and a large number of other welfare activities
have come to be characteristic features of life in the dormitories.
Moreover, the safety and hygiene of the dormitory houses have
been greatly improved by the enforcement of the Rqplations
coricerniug the dormitories attachccl to factories '.
On the other hand, however, as was uoted at the beginning
of this section, serious criticisms have heen directed against the
dormitory system, particularly on the ground of the restriction
of personal frcedom involved in tlic present melhods of its administratior~. 'l'radc unions, more especially, have objected to a
system which, I)y confining the operative within mill premises
usually surrountled I,;\ a high wootlcrr Ionce, makes communication difficult with the inmates of the dormitories, especially in
case of labour disputes. Quite apart from either the native shyness
or the unwillingness of the young women workers to join trade
unions, the practice of the employers of allowing them to leave
the mill premises only two or four times a month is alleged to
he a great obstacle iu the way of the spread of trade unionism.
l'hc case against the dormitories has been stated by another
foreign observer in a critical study of "Japan's cheap labour ".
'This writer declares :
" The tlonnilorg system has tren~el~dous
advarttages for the manufacturer. By this means he is certain of his labour force from day to
day; absenteeism and lateness are under check. It permits him practically to double his capital by operating the machinery night and day.
The leisure as \\ell as the working hours of the emplovees are under
. .
his control.
" But the dormitory system is also a two-edged weapon. It is a
breeder of discontent and labour turnover. It smacks of being a
prison. The workers chafe under their restricted freedom ; they rebel
against the institutional food. Every labour union in the country has
marked the dormiton spstenr for attack. Every strike is characterised
by conil)laints about the restriction of freedom and the poor quality
of food '. "

'

Cf. Part IV, Chapter V, I ' Health and Safety of Workers ".
Ci. ~ R O T I I Y .I. O R C H ~: D" An Analysis of lapan's Cheap Labour "
Polilicnl Sciencc Q u n r f c r l y , Vol. YLIV. No. 2, lunc 1929, 11. 232.

---

WELFARE
-

- -

323

--

I'his is not the place to attempt to weigh the pros and cons
of the dormitory system. Enough has been said to show that it
has many advantages, particularly from the point of view of
welfare work, but it appears equally true that, in its present
form, it involves considerable loss of personal freedom.
Finally, it may be mentioned that, in addition to the dormitories which accommodate a large number of operatives, many
factories provide houses for married employees and salaried staff.
'rhese houses are known as Sha-taku (company houses') and may
be free or rented at a nominal charge. The charges, if collected,
include the cost of electricity, gas, water, etc. As a rule, these
houses are built of wood, mostly of one storey, with two to three
rooms besides the kitchen, the size of the rooms varying from
9 feet x 6 feet to 12 feet x 9 feet. Very often these houses have
a small yard in front. Certain companies give facilities to the
occupants of the houses to buy them hy payments in easy
instalments '.
Mtdical treatment. --. Most large factories and mines in Japan
havc their own hospitals, with a staff of physicians, pharmacists,
nurses, midwives, etc. These hospitals are often extremely wellequipped, with special wards for bacteriological examination,
X-ray treatment, operations, dentistry, etc. Tn smaller undertakings private practitioners are commissioned to attend at the
factory or mine at regular hours, hut this system is reported to
be disappearing i n many places since the Health Insurance Act,
came into force and the orbanisation of medical treatment by the
Government and health insurance societies. Most cases of sickness and injury are treated in accordance with the provisions of
the Health Insurance Act, and the members of the workers' families, who do not come under the Health Insurance Act, receive
treatment at very reduced rates. Drugs prescribed by doctors
do not cost more than 5 sen or 10 sen per day, while hospital
charges for in-patients range from 60 sen to 1.50 yen per day.
In some cases both drugs and hospital treatment are given free
of charge or at half price. Some companies have their own sanatoria and farms for the supply of milk and other produce.
Workers are usually medically examined when engaged, and
in m o ~ tfactorieq and mines there are periodical medical exami-

324

IRDUSTRIAL L4BOUR I R J A P A N

nations either once or twice a year. It is considered probable that
this practice will be generalised now that the Regulations concerning dormitories attached to factories issued in 1927 require
that inmates should be medically examined.
Education and recreation. - Detailed reference has been
made elsewhere in this study ' to the facilities provided for general and vocational education, either in compliance with the law
or on the initiative of employers, workers or private organisations. In a variety of other ways, however, employers in Japan
promote education both for the workers they employ and for
their families. Thus in the larger factories are found day nurseries, kindergarten, etc., in charge of trained nurses or other
qualified women. Elementary education is sometimes providecl
in factory schools for workers' childrm~,as \vcll as for child
workers as required by thc Factory Act. Again, some factory or
mine managements undertake the necessary arrangements for
sending the workers' children to the public schools ; they encourage school attendance by providing transport facilities, give prizes
or scholarships, intervene for the re-arrangement of rchool hours
to suit the convenience of the parents, orpanise paren's' meetings,
give or lend school equipment, etc.
In addition to vocational training, factory managements
frequently organise classes for women in sewing, knitting, cooking, nursing, etc., and in such social accomplishments as flower
arrangement, music and the tea ceremony. Lectures, study
groups, reading circles, circulating libraries, factory newspapers
or magazines play a part in the life of many Japanese factories.
Certain fixed days in each month are set apart as festival
days dedicated to some shrine or temple of either the Buddhist
or Shintoist religion, erected in the premises of the factory or
mine or in the vicinity. Sometimes cerernn~iipsare performed
to appease the departed spirits of operatives kil!cJ by industrial
accidents or to celebrate the festival days of the deities held to be
patrons of the factory or mine. Such fdte days are usually made
holidays for rest and recreation.
A great deal of attention is given to theatrical and other
entertainments. Sports, such as football, baseball and tennis are
encouraged, and inter-factory matches and athletic meetings are
arranged. Other forms of recreation include walking parties and
Cf. Part IV. Chapter I , and Part 1.1, Chapter 11.

WELFARE

325

mountain climbing, cherry-blossom or maple-leaf picnics, mushroom gathering, etc., and are organised by the management
of factories as annual events. Interest i n fencing, wrestling
archery, jiu-jitsu and other recreations which have come down
from feudal days is also still very keen.

C o m p a n y shops. - 'The system of "company shops ", which
has been gradually abandoned in other industrial countries, is
still prevalent in Japan. General merchandise such as foodstuffs, dry goods, articles for the toilet and other daily necessaries
are usually sold at these shops to the workers at cost price whether
they live in or outside the dormitory belonging to the company ;
in consequence the workers are able to obtain their daily nccessaries at about 20 per cent. less than the market prices. In large
companies, articles necessary for work, such as aprons, caps,
stockings, scissors, overalls, etc., are often sold at much less than
cost price. In spite of the development of workers' co-operative
societies in recent years, the company shops are still the principal
cbannel of supply of daily necessaries to workers. In certain
cases the employer allows a local merchant to undertake the sale
on b ~ h a l fof the company, but these instances are rare.
Bonuses and Sovirzgs
Bonuses and allowances have been dealt with as supplementary forms of wages in the chapter on that subject, and if they are
referred to here it is because employers regard them as goodwill
payments, although they have in fact become both morally and
economically an obligation on employers. The voluntary character of the payments still remains marked in the variations in
amount - variations which are found to exist not ouly between
one industry and another, but also within the same industry.
Thc usual forms of bonus are those given for long srrvicc'

' The following are exanlples of t h e method of ralrulating t h e long
senice bonus : A spinning company in Osaka granted rr bonus when a
m a n had worked for five years or a u n m a n for three ]ears ; t h e s u m
granted was the equivalent of eight days' wages for each period of
six months, even if d u r i n g this period there had been as many as
thirty days' absence from b\ork. In another spinning company, a t Kura\hiki, the rule was to grant a sum equivalent from 7 per cent. to 9 per cent.
of thc )early earnings of the worker if t h e n o r k e r had been two years in
senice as a dormitory inmate. The same a ~ n o u n tmould be granted if a
m a n had been i n the service of the company for five or a woman for
three Scars, not living in the dormitory. The p r a c t i c ~of the Department
of R;lilu;tys is to give 1 )en for cach month of the period worked after

326

INDliSTI314L LABOUR 1R J A P A h

and annually'. Other forms of honus are those for regular
altendance2 or suggestions for technical or other improvements.
For many years the Japanese Government has made eysternatic efforts to encourage saving, and the movement has been
taken up in factories and mines" tliough a traditional prejudicr
against saving up money earned had to be overcome. Savings
systems may be either compulsory or optional. Enforcement of
compulsory saving by the rules either of employment or of unions
or societies to which the worker belongs is common, and thc
money saved, if deposited with the factory managcrnent, may be
paid into tllc working csapital"of the company 01. deposited with
five years of service, 2 jell for each month J t e r tell years and 3 )en aftel
fifteen years. A large number of cotton-spinning companies encourage
long service by special gifts upon the completion of a contract of work Tu
n mine annual or periodic increments in conjunction with small gifts were
paid on wages after twenty-five and se~enteenyears of service in the case
of surface and underground workers respecti\el)
The sums of moue) granter1 as annual bonus \ary greatly according
lo husiness conditions and various other considerations, the sums given to
clerical staff m d other sdlaried etnl)logees r m g c between 10 and 50 per cent
of the annual salary, whereas the bonus for factory operathes, miners, etc ,
is usually of a smaller amount. Very often presents either in cash or good5
are g h e n also in the summer, hut such semi-ml~lualbonus is, as a rule,
m w h less in amount than the bonus granted at the end of the year.
TO uorhcrs \\ ho hale worked dilipntly :rnd have not been ahsent
nor arri\rcl late nor ha\e left earl) for a fixed period of a week, a month,
six months or ;I ,em. pri7es lnay take the form of a medal or of money or
both Those who hale shonn diligence for seleral such periods may he
g i \ e r ~other special prilcs 4 hemp mill i n Osaka gn\e an equivalent of the
waues of :I (la, and a half for one nmnth'5 diligence and an additional
g1,1111of I )en for the diligence record of six months, 2 yen for twehc
months, etc. At one of the shipbuilding yards in Kobe the equivalent of
trio dajs'wapes was granted for one month's diligence If the diligencr
r ~ c o r d sare repeated ten tilnes, the worker rereites an additional omount
of 10 yen. A t a paper mill near Tokyo the prizes begin with the e q ~ ~ i v a l m l
of three days' wages for three months' diligence record and adding
one day's wages for rach additional monthly record. Another firm gme
I0 yen for six months' diligence record and 3 ye11 if absence occurred leqs
than three rl:l,s within a six-month period
These examples are taken
fro111the larger firm4 h ~ on
~ the
t
whole, the diligence record is I I S P ~rather
as the h a s i ~of calrl~ldtion for the c r m t of lone-senire I ~ I I I I Sthan f o ~
iinn~c(liaterecomperlw
that 4alings amounting to ober 61,000,000 ) e n
? Recent figures silo\\
nerc made 1)) 790,000 factor\ \I orkers
A large number of silk filatures ha\iltg fdilrtl to pay wages ~ h i c h
had been retained in the curtod\ of the emplo)er as savings, the compctent authorities in the Nngarro Prefecture adopted n new sgstem requirinu
enlplojers n h o mish to retain workers' wages as savings to produce a1
ledst three sureties jointl\ linhlr to the extent of 200 )en per worker
As this system proted sntisfnctorj, the Factory Inspectors' Conferrnce of
April 1930 decided to recommencl olher prefwtural authorities to introduce
it
Another recomme~ltlation of the same conference was designed ta
p ~ e \ r n ta h u w in caws n h r r r rmplmers d t y s i t the workers' savings in

WELFARE
--

3%
7

a bank or with the Post Office under the Post Office savings
scheme. Compulsory savings schemes are most common in
textile mills and mines, and generally where workers are bound
by a long contract and live together; in trades which are on
shorter or more indefinite terms of employment, the savings systems, if they exist, are generally optional.
Compulsory savings are usually deducted from wages and
placed to the worker's account either as genuine savings or sometimes under the name of " personal guarantees " '. If the worker
is paid on a day-wage basis, the deduction in most cases is one
day's wage per month; less frequently the amount is from two to
five days' wages. In the case of monthly salaries, the savings range
between 5 and 10 per cent. of salary ; exceptionally low savings
are from 2 to 4 per cent. and high savings from 15 to 30 per cent.
Differences are made between men and women, between workers
living in tlormitoriw and outsitlc, and between varying kinds of
work.
Optional savings vary greatly both in amount and in kind.
When the saving si,hemc is managed by private societies formed
by workers, the amounts saved generally range between 5 and
20 per cent. of the monthly wages. Members of such societies
sometimes take a voluntary engagement not to withdraw any of
the savings until they marry, buy land, build or repair their
houses, or are in urgent need of money owing to illness, etc.
Trt most cases, voluntary savings are deposited at the Post Office.
The employer, in these cases, usually gives facilities for the
saving scheme by, for example, asking the authorities to set up
a special post office within the factory premises.
Various devices are adopted to stimulate interest in savings :
lectures, pay roll envelopes with mottoes printed in colours, payment by the management (if the savings are deposited with
them) of interest at rates higher than the current rates2, etc. 4
characteristic institution is that of " Prayer-savings " (AJenhutsu
Chokin), introduced by a Buddhiqt priest : the workers who have
post offices or banks i n their own names and use t h e money in their
businesses. The ronference decided to urge employers to arrange for
representatives of post offices or banks to come to the factories and receike
the money directly from the workers, leaving only t h e deposit hooks in
t h e care of thr employers Indusfrinl and T,nholrr Ir~formation,Vol. XXXTY,
No. 9, p. 295.
' Mimolo HoshB Kin.
? The rate map be as hiqh as I sen per yen per montlt.

328

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

adopted this practice say a prayer every morning to Buddha,
turning towards the province where their parents dwell, and then
place a small coin in a little bag inscribed with a Buddhist prayer.

Kinds
of
factories

Textile
Machine and tools

luZkrNumber

postal

Salrings

ztisoworkers

savings

bank

Yen
1,157,225

Yrn

I

Yen

Yen

26,584,343 135,853

29,196,18!

56 1,537

IO,MB,69ll

48,290

13,r(86,14!

1,161,827

5,631,347

83,328

7,187,37.

Food and drink

221,286

2,957,741

52,545

3,393.68:

Electricity, gas, smelting

--sm0,&27

1,693,756

16,516

i,982,15I

Miscellaneous

265,068

Chemical

Total of private factories
State factories
Grand total

932,414

--

6,040

--

48,656,292 342,572
6,512,280

3,879

1,135.74'
-

-

-

%,091,59:
8,452,78

--

.%,168,572 346,151 65,544,37!

'The above table shows that as much as 83 per cent. of the
money saved by Japanese factory wwkers is kept by the msnagements. 'The money deposited being as a rule used as working
capital by the companies concerned, the authorities have recognised the risk of failure to repay savings in case of bankruptcy
and have now adopted the policy of giving permission to employers to retain savings on deposit only when security has been
deposited with the authorities or when proof has been furnished
that the concerns are sound financially '.
Arrangements for making loans to workers exist in many
undertakings, the loans being granted either by the employer or
by the unions or societies to which the workers belong. Loans
made by employers often bear no interest, but the maximum
amount of loan is sometimes limited to 50 yen, to be paid back
each month by deductions from wages. Sometimes the worker

' Cf. K6j6 Kantokrc AenpG for 1927, pp. 72-74. For example, the
prefecture of Gifu grants permission only to companies with a capit<tl of
10,000,000 yen or more. Companies with less capital must deposit t h e
money in banks or at the post office.

i

1

329

WELFARE

must agree to pay back as much as 20 per cent. of his wages
each month, but if he has been in the same employment for
many years the period of repayment may be from five to seven
months. Employers occasionally agree to repayment in the
middle or at the end of the year when the workers receive the
semi-annual or annual bonus.

Welfare F u n d s arid Societies
During the last decade there has been a tendency to place
welfare institutions on a more permanent and organised basis,
and instead of being left to the initiative and management of the
employer, they are becoming more and more joint undertakings
or are even due solely to the initiative of the workers.
The first developments in this direction were the setting up
of welfare funds whose accounts are kept wholly independent of
the general budgets of the undertakings concerned. These funds
have been created either by setting aside a part of the profits on
each settlement day, or by endowments.
The following table gives some examples of the welfare funds
set up by representative Japanese firms.

Name of firm

/

Kind d welfare fund

Kanegafuchi Cot. 1. Workers' Welfare Fund.
ton Spinning

Note

Created in 1920 by thc
Company.

r
2
J
.

2. Sickness, Injury, Old Age,
Retirement and Pension
Fund.
3. Workers' Hygiene Fund.
4. Workers' Relief Fund.
5. Children's Education anfl
Scholarship Fund.
6. Faithful Service, Profi- Endowed by the latt
ciency and
Inventions
Mr. Nakagamikawa
Encouragement Fund.
ex-manager of t h
Company.
7. Workers' Sanatorium
Created in memory o
Fund.
the late Mr. Asnbuki
ex-director of
th~
Company
3. Invel~
tions Encouragement Granted hy the Hihiyi
Fund.
family.
L t has not l r e n possible to ascertain in time for put~licationt.he actual amounts of money
approprialcd lor the funds shown in this list, \\hich is taken from Sailiin no Slmkai Undo, p. 911.

1

Kind of wrlfare fund

Fuji Cotton Spin
ning Co.

1 . Workers' Pension Fund.

2. Hygiene, Education
Relief Funds.
'3. Re~earchFund.

and

I. Surviving Farnily Helie!
Fund.
5. Workers' Scholarship
Fund.
6 . Funeral Fund.

Kurashilii Cottol
Spinning Co.

Workers Scholarship Fund

Note

Zreated by the Company.
Endowed by the late
Mr. Wada, President
of the Company.
hdowed by Mr. Hibiya,
Ex-Director.
Endowed by Mr. Kawasaki, former Director.
Endowed by Mr. Fujii.
Endowed by Mr. Ohara,
President of the Company in 1914.
Created in 1913 by the
Co~npany.
Created in 1927.

Mitsubishi S h i ~ Welfare Fund.
building Yards
Tokyo Electric Cc Old Aze, Retirement and Re.
lief Funds.
Wiiiji Paper Manu Retirement Allowance F I I I I ~ .Created in 1912.
facturing Co.
Asano Cement Cc Workers' Relief Fund.
3noda Cement Cc Retirement Allowance Fund.
Inventions and Proficient! Endowed by Mr. Fuku.
hara, former Presi.
Encouragement Fund.
dent of the Company
i n 1923.
4sahi Glass Manc Workers' Pension Fund.
facturing Co.
Japan Porcelain
Workers' Protection Fund
Co.
Created in 1918
Mitsubishi Minin Welfare Fund.
Workers' Retirement Allo\\
Co.
ance Fund.
Created in 1917.
Mitsui Mining Cc Miners' Relief Fund.
Created in 1928.
Hokkaidiii Minin Retirement Allowance Fund
and Steamship
Co.
Created in 1928
Japan Petroleum Ret irement Allowance Fund.
Co.
Endowed by Mr. Ku
Kuhara Mining
Workers' Welfare Fund.
hara, former Presi
Co.
dent, upon his retire
ment in 1928.

Mort characteristic of the new trend of welfare institutions
are the workers' toelfare societies. The object of a workers' wel-

fare society is to act as liaison between the employer and the
workers in contributing to the growth of the business, besides

promoting mutual aid among the workers, their cultural development and general welfare. The first of such societies was set
u p in 1917 as an autonomous organisation based on the principle
of co-operation under the name of the Shin A i Kai (Cordial Friendship Society), at the Sumitomo Copper Works in Osaka. In the
years between 1919 and 1923 a great many similar societies were
set up, some including the staff members of the firm, while others
consisted solely of workers' representatives. The number of
these societies increased after 1927, when many of the former
mutual-aid societies were disbanded as the result of the enforcement of the Health Insurance Act, the funds of the dissolved
societies being handed over to the welfare societies. A relatively
large number of lhese societies are found in mines ; other industries in which they have become popular are cotton spinning and
silk reeling, machine and tool shops and the food and drink
trades '.
In addition to the general objects mentioned above, these
societies include in their professed aims such items as the
promotion of good relations between their members, improvement of health, education, encouragement of frugal habits and
saving, mutual aid, common amusements and recreation, planning and carrying out or participation in the carrying out of
these and other welfare works.
Their funds are usually constituted by contributions from the
management or by moneys handed over to them when the old
mutual-aid societies went out of existence ; i n amount the funds
vary from 160,000 yen to 300,000 yen, the interest accruing from
the capital being used to meet running expenses. In other cases,
the funds are made up of the contributions of the members,
the amounts varying from 5 sen to 20 sen per month, and of
suhsidics hy the managernent to an amount which is often a l m o ~ t
equal to the total contributions of the members.
In most cases, the chairman of the society is either the president or the managing director of the employing company, or

' Among 1l1e names adopted are S h i n Yii Kai (or Intimate Friends'
Society), S h i n A i Kni (Cordial Friendship Society), O n K6 Kai (Warm
Friendship Society), Kwo Yii Kni (Mining Friends' Society), SILB Yri Kai
(Respectable Friends' Society), Kvo Ai Ifumini (Uniorr of Mutual Love), etc.,
which indicate that they stand for friendship ; or else they are called D6
Wa Kai (Common Unity Society), Isshin Kai (One Mind Society), S h i n
Wa Kai (True Unity Society), etc , denoting that they are founded o n
m u t u a l help and ro-operntion.

the workshop manager, while the vice-chairman o r vice-chairmen may be appointed by the chairman or be elected by the board
of councillors from amongst themselves. The executive body is
called committee, delegates' meeting, board of councillors, ctc.
In most cases half of the members are nominated by the chairman, the ortller half being elected from among the members.
Half of the executive secretaries of the society are usually
appointed by the chairman, the other half being elected from
among the delegates or councillors. In some cases all the officers
are elected by thc members.
Generally speaking, tlir work of the welfare societies is divided into sections dealing with mutual aid, education, sports,
health and hygiene, recreation, co-operative shop, etc. There are
sometimes special sections to ensurc the attendance at school of
children of school age, to grant scholarships, to visit homes,
make loans, and to give advice to members on legal, medical
and other technical matters, etc. In some cases the society
extends its activities to such matters as the improvement of the
standard of living. When there is a common meeting hall or
club house helonpit~gto the factory or mine, its management is
often in the hands of the society so as to facilitate the arrangement of cultural, rrcreational or other activities.

CHAPTER I1
WORKERS' EDUCATION

In Japan the term "workers' education " is employed in a
broad and comprehensive sense, covering all forms of education
that touch working men and women, and including those
which seek to "emancipate the working class " as well as thosc
that endeavour to give a general supplementary education
on social, industrial or cdtural subjects. This difference in
fundamental conception accounts for the existence of a variety
of institutions for workers' education in Japan '.
Among the various types of institutions, there are firstly
those conducted eithcr by the Government or semi-public bodies
as a part of the general programme of vocational, civic or social
education. Secondly, there are he institutions organiscd by
employers in factories, mines, etc., as a part of welfare work.
Thirdly, there are labour colleges or schools conducted either b j
public-spirited persons in the interest of the workers, or by trade
unions for the education of their own members.
While, however. the general system of education has
attained a high degree of development, special institutions for
workers' education have only begun to develop in recent years
as the realisation spread that all needs were not met by the Statc
sysf em.
In these circumstances some account of the general syslcrn
of education in Japan seems to be called for here to provide a
background for the understanding of the developments in
workers' education which have taken place within the last ten
years or so.
'This chapter is chiefly based on the iriformntion ghen in S a i k i n no
S h d n i U n d o (Part I, Chapter XIX. pp. 941-QGG). p h l i s h e d by the Kyocho

Koi, Tokyo. 1929.

331

INIIUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

-.

General Education
The Imperial Rescript on Education of 1872 ordered the
establishment of compulsory education in Japan, and a State
school system was prepared on the model of the French educational svstem. The scheme provided for the dikision of Japan
into eight districts, each of which was to have one university,
32 middle schools and 6,720 primary schools.
It was subsequently found necessary to modify this scheme,
hut it provided a basis for futurc development.
Elementary education was instituted by the Primary School
Ordinartce ' issued in 1900. This Ordinance requires all Japanese
children in normal physical and mental health to attend school
during the period of school age, which is defined as the period
from six to fourteen years of age" Attendance at the ordinary
elementary school is compulsory, the courses extending over a
period of six years, after which children may, at the option of
their parents, attend the higher elementary school, where the
courses extend over a period of either two or three years. Besides
ordinary subjects of study, the curriculum in the higher elementary schools in urban districts often includes English '. In principle, elementary education is free, but where local circurnstancrs jusiify it fees ma? be charzed for some branches of tuition
t q special permission of the authorities. The present development of primary education is shown in table XCII ( A ) .
There has been a big demand for higher education in Japan
since the early days of the Meiji era, when the few universitirs
in existence opened the door to the best posts in Government
service and to good business positions. This demand has led to
the development of higher education to an extent which, in the
opiniorl of some observers, exceeds the capacity of the country
to provide employment for educated men. In fact, a serious
social problem has arisen from the lack of opportunities for men
who have had uni\ersity or high school education and are without
means of livelihood. 111 spite of this situation, boys are still
-

'

-

Imperial Ordinance No. 34 of 1900.
In practice, children remain at school until they ha\e completed
the ordinary elementary course of six years, so that if a child goes to school
at the age of six years, he can normally leave school at the age of twelve.
For some years the proposal to extend the period of compulsory primary
school education has been discussed, but no decision has yet been taken.
Uniformity of instruction is secured by the compilation of the tertbooks by the State Department of Education.

WORKERS' EIIIJCATION

335

being sent to secondary schools, with the prospect of going later
to a university, in preference to going at once to schools giving
technical or business training with an early prospect of entry
into remunerative employment.
A boy who has obtained a secondary or middle school (ChG
Gakk6) certificate can become s junior clerk (official of the
Hannin rank) in the Government service without passing the
civil service examination, and any boy who has an ordinary
elementary school diploma may in principle be admitted to a
secondary school. In the last ten )ears, however, it has been
necessary to limit the number of admissions to secondary schools,
as the overwhelming number of applicants was entirely out of
proportion to the number of schools. Candidates were, therefore, obliged to pass a con~petitiveexamination in which often
only about 10 per cent. or less succeeded. The examination was
so severe that it became generally called Shilcen Jigoku (examination hell), and a year or two ago the Government replaced it
by a system of selection based on the candidates' previous record
at school. 'The pressure on girls' high schools ( K 6 t 6 Jo GakkTi)'
is also very great, the number of applicants for admission to
secondary schools far exceeding the accommodation available.
Approximately 1,800,000 children now leave thc primary
schools yearly arid of these about 150,000 are admitted to secondary schools. Most of the others go to work, but a relativelv large
number attend the Government continuation and technical
schools, which together far outnumber the secondary schools.
Continuation schools admit pupils who have finished the elementary school course and give a two years' preparatory course
and a two years' regular coursc for industry and commerce, or a
course of two or three years for agriculture and fisheries. 'The
courses of the " B " class technical schools correspond more or
less to the preparatory course of the continuation school, and
the " A " class technical school courses correspond to the regular
course of the continuation school. Both kinds of technical schools
are divided into industrial, agricultural, fishery, commercial and
nautical schools, hnt occasionally a school combines different
courses.

' The courses at a girls' high school in Japm ektcnd over four years
to which one more year may he added. Sometimes " supplementary
courses " of one or two years are given. At about ten girls' schools, a
higher course of three more years is added in order to allow the pupils
to pursue further study after obtaining the ordinary certificate.

336

IKDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

Table XCII ( A ) shows the numbers of the various grades of
schools and of the children attending them in 1928, and (B) the
State expenditure on technical education
TABLE XCII

( A ) .- PRIMARY,

SECONDARI.

AND LOW-GRADE T E C I f h I C A I , SCHOOLS,

Kinds of schools

1928 '

Number of echools

Children registered

Primary schools
Middle (boys') schools
High (girls') schools
Continuation schools
" B " class technical schools
" A " class technical schools
Total
1

50th Nihon Teikoktt TOkei Nenkan, pp. 251-275.

TABLE XCII

(B)

. -

STATE EXPEhDlTURE FOR POPIJLAR Rl)IICATIOX,

Actually spent

I

Estimate

1928

-

Subventions for technical
education
Technical education encouragement funds
Grants to pupils
Training of teachers
Training in navigation

Yen

550,000
26,000
180,000
115,000

-

Total
1 Cf. 50th Nihon Teikoku TOkei Nenkan, pp. 234.235, 344-345. (Schools of collegiate grade
are excluded from this table as they do not form part of norkern' education.)
2 In 1931, in addition to the above sums, the Government appropriated 2,352,000 Yen
for " social education ", including adult education, supplementary education, subsidy for
Young Men's Training Corps, etc. The municipal expenditure for technical education amounts
yearly to about 40,000,000 yen.

It is reported that a high rate of school attendance is maintained by strict enforcement of the compulsory education law
with the willing co-operation of parents. .4n investigation to
ascertain the extent of school attendance of workers in factories
and mines was carried out on a wide scale by the Statistical
Bureau of the Cabinet in 1924. l'able XCIII, relating to 1,326,289

.-

factory workers and 292,835 miners shows the results of the
enquiry.
T4l%LI<XCIil.

- K Y T E N T OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

01' WORKNRS.

Factory workers

-

-Number of
workers

97,697
14,530
36,9,5'7
423
474
209345
12,532
2,360
8,394
--

-- -

1

'ereen
tage

79,874

I

I

umber o
miners

58,439

Never attended school
Left the elementary school I)efolar
completing the cowse
Completed the coursr of the elrmentary school
Left the higher e l e n ~ r n t a r yschool
Iwfore completing the course
Com~)letedthe coursc of the higl~el.
elen~entaryschool
Left vocational continuation school
wilhout con~pletingthe course
(:orrrpleted the course of the vocational conlinuation school
Left middle school with0111 corn- i
plcting the course
Completed t hr course of ttw rrlidd lc
school
Others
Uncertain
Total

Percentage

--

1,326,289

1,907
c--

IIJ

5'2%
I ,237
--

292,835
-

R6d6 T6kei Y o r a n , 1931 edition, pp 388-297.

'L'a1)le XCIII shows that in 1924, 27 per cent. of the miners
covered by the enquiry had left the elementary school without
completing the course while 20 per cent. had never been to school
at all. For factory workers the percentage was lower : only
some 6 per cent. had never been to school, while 15 per cent.
had left the primary school before the end of the school attendance pcriod .
Social ccrld Adult Educatior~
Ilr 1905 the Stale Dcparlment of Education first instituted
lectures designed to raise the general intelligence of the people,
and during the acceleration of industrialisation which took place
in the later years of the World War it was realised that elementary
education must be supplemented by adult education. In 1922
a Social Education Scction (Shakni Kyijiku Kwn) was set u p in
the Department of Education, and courses of lectures were orga-

338

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

nised under the control of the Section but in close connection
with universities, colleges and other institutions of learning.
The courses covered scientific teaching of industrial subjects;
in addition, the programme included physical development (by
means of gymnastic exercises and sports), and instruction for
the betterment of living conditions and for raising the standard
of life. Urban prefectures such as Tokyo and Osaka and industrialised local prefectures such as Aichi and Okayama, also set
up social education sections ; in prefectures where no such sections were formed, measures were taken to organise and finance
schemes of adult education. In 1929, the importance of the work
of the Social Education Section was emphasised by its transformation into the Social Education Bureau of the Department of
Education. Under the auspices of the Bureau adult education is
developing in all parts of Japan ; schools, libraries, municipal
institutions and all kinds of educational bodies are co-operating
in the movement.
In addition to this "social education " movement there has
been since 1919 an adult education movement on a more modest
scale. kt first single lectures and courses of lectures were organised by educational institutions under the auspices of the Department of Education. Since 1923 definite courses of instruction
have been organised and although only a small number of
people took advantage of the courses in the early stages, the
results of the experiment were considered encouraging and the
facilities were increased. The results in the five years from
1923-1928 are shown below :
TABLE

XCIV. -

A D I l L T EDUCATION COLRSES ORGANISED

BY THE DEPARTMEKT
-- Year

EDVCATION,
1923-1928

--

Percentageof
persons
complet i n g the
courses

Number
rrlumbrrof Ynmhrrof Number o f o ~ ~ $ ~ of
& persons
O f
conrws
classes
honrr
completing
the colll'st%

N l ' ~ ~ , " ~

- --

OF

I

I

I

-

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

19'23
1924
1923
19%
1937
1938
--

I

1

I

I

The figures in brrckets indicate the number of nomen (cf. Saikin no Shakai I'ndb,
11. 943).
kdult education is provided in most cases for both men and women workers, but
thcre are a nnrnher of cour-es desi~ned specially for nornen, the chief example being those
piken by the Department of Finanre to its workers in collaboration with the Japan Adult
Education Association.
1

Tokyo leads in providing facilities for the education of
workers. Lectures and courses are given on holidays, on Sundays or in the evenings at such institutions as the Conlmercial
and Industrial Young People's Clubs and the Citizens' and
Workers' School. The university extension " citizens' courses ",
which began first in 1925, are perhaps the most popular. Special
courses are organised in the working-class quarters of the city,
each lasting from five to ten days. Some classes are modelled
on the tutorial classes of the British Workers' Educational Association.
The Commercial and Industrial Young Peoples' Clubs were
started in 1922, and are intended for employees in shops,
factories, etc. They had to be discontinued for a while after the
great earthquake of 1923, but have revived and now they are
conducted in four centres of Tokyo. The Citizens' and Workers'
School started by the City of Tokyo in 1934 is of a rather higher
standard. Two courses of instruction are given, the first of the
secondary school grade and the second corresponding to a college course ; classes are held on three evenings a week for a term
of from three to four months.
Another noteworthy experiment in adult education has been
made in the City of Kure, which is a naval port with a population of over 150,000 '. A workers' education course was started
in 1924 under the joint auspices of the Department of Education
and the city and with the support of the KaikSi Kai, a union of
the arsenal workers, and within two years the number of workers who had completed the course was over 3,800. Improvements have been made year by year in the organisation ; secondary and collegiate courses are now provided. The curriculum
includes philosophy, law, social problems,, economics, theory of
evolution, etc. The lectures are always given in the evening in
order to facilitate the attendance of the workers.
Workers' Education Organisecl by Private
Institutions or by Employers and V'orkers
Private institutions. - Of the permanent institutions for
workers' education under private auspices the most important is
the Tokyo K6gy6 Senshii Gakk6 (Special Industrial School) manThe workers employed in the arsenal at Kure number about 21,000,
and together with their families represent two-thirds of the population.

340

INDUSTRI41, LABOUR I N J A P A N

--

aged by the Kyoclzo Kai. 'The school owes its origin to the
initiative of Mr. Seiichi 'reshima, President of the Higher Industrial College of Tokyo, who founded it in 1899 as a continuation school for providing the workers with supplementary vocational training. Its management was handed over to the Kyocho
Kai in 1921. The school conducts its classes in the evening only,
and the whole course extends over seven years : two years of
elementary and intermediate courses respectively, one year of
preparation for the higher course, and two years of the higher
course. At the end of 1929, the number of workers on the
registers of the school was 1,850 and the total number of persons
who had taken the full course since the school started exceeded
10,000.
The Special Industrial School does not content itself with
vocational training on technical lines, although that is one of the
main objects ; it aims also at the building up of character and
raising of the social status of the workers, endeavouring to promote among the workers a real understanding of labour and
social problems. The scllool is meant for the workers in the
City of Tokyo, but the Kyocho Kai has also organised "workers'
study courses " (Rbmusha KGshii Kai) in the suburbs of Tokyo
since 1921. 'The special feature of these courses is that, during
the week or ten days that the course lasts, the teachers and worhers attending the course sleep, eat and work under the same
roof. A moral principle of the education given here is that "before becoming an employer, worker, Goverment official, teachcr,
or a member of a party, you must learn to be a man ". The basis
of R6musha KBshii Kai teaching is to arouse in the students "an
intense desire to live a life which is upright, just, strong and
truly worth living ". The popularity and the success of these
courses may be inferred from the fact that, by June 1929, the
number of courses organised by the Kyocho Kai alone reached
105. the participants exceeding 10,700 in all1. By degrees the
work done has attracted the interest of both employers and workers, and municipalitiee or private bodies have begun to organise
similar courses in other parts of Japan.
Besides these courses, the Kyocho
promote the spread of adult education,
towns of Yokosuka, Sasebo and Vaizuru
work done i n Yokosuka and in Osaka
schools (cf. helo\\, p. 346).

Kai has done n great deal to
especially a t the naval arsenal
and i n t h e City of Osaka. The
resulted in establishing labour

Employers. - Educational facilities are provided for workers
in Japanese factories and mines by the employers as a part of
welfare work1. A t the pamc time the rapid expansion of industries has necessitated a higher technical training of the operatives,
and there has been emulation among employers in the teaching
of the various processes of their respective industries to workers.
Provision for technical training of the operatives was made
by the employers early in the Meiji era in machine and tool shops
and in shipbuilding yards in order to give the necessary training to newly employed workers and apprentices. Education in
manual arts was given to women operatives so as to cultivate
their taste and also to train them for work at home after they
had left the factory or mine. Class-room instruction began to
be given widely in factory and mining establishments after the
enforcement in 1916 of the Factory Act, which required that
elementary instruction should be given to workers of school age
who had not finished the prescribed period of attendance at an
ordinary elementary school before being employed. The classes
were held mostly at night after the working hours, or, in the
case of the workers on the night shift, during the rest hours in
the daytime. Large numbers of lecture meetings and educational
training courses were organised by the employers when the interest in " social education " first began to spread. After the International Labour Conference of 1924, which recommended principles for the utilisation of workers' spare time, thc rate of
progress of the movement in Japan was accelerated.
In January 1927 the Kyocho Kcri called a conference of lhe
persons responsible for workers' education in factories and mines,
and the conference adopted a "programme for the promotion of
education in factories and mines" drafted by the liyocho Kni.
I t was a long document elaborating the following points :
(1) The hind of education to be provided for workers in factories
and nliries ; ( 2 ) hindrances to worliers' education arid how to remole
thcm ; ( 3 ) methods for obtaining Langible results fro~nthe schooling ;
( 4 ) rnethods for obtaining tangible results from the lectures and
training courses ; (5) relations with (he educational systems existing
outside the factory or mine ; ( 6 ) qroup dixipline ; (7) education
through recreation ; (8) co-opelation mith other factories and mincs.

Thc programme contained the guiding principles for workers' education, and its adoption by the conferenre was con-

342

IADUSTRIAL

LABOUR II\ J . ~ P Z A

---

sidered as laying down a standard for employers. The conference
also decided unanimously that a central body ought to be set
up for the co-ordination of worhers' education in Japanese factories and mines, and the Kyocho Kai was requested to undertake
the responsibility of giving effect to the resolution.
Among the employers' educational activities must also be
mentioned those designed mainly to supplement elementary
school education such as the Young Men's Night Schools, Supplementary Night Schools, Workers' Supplementary Schools, etc.
The subjects taught in the Supplementary Schools for men are
ethical principles, civics, the Japanese language, arithmetic, elementary sciences, etc., to which special subjects such as mechanical drawing, mechanics, engineering, etc., are added in the
schools set up in machine shops. The teaching in chemical
factories, breweries, mines, cotton-spinning mills, etc., aims at
increasing the workers' efficiency.
Schools for apprentices have existed since the Kanegafuchi
Cotton Spinning Company started an Operatives' School ( S h o k k ~
Gakkn) in 189.5. Schools or courses for apprentices recently established by employers are enumerated below :
Name

Ube Totei Gnkli.5
(Apprentice
School), 1914.
School of Drnughtsrnanship, 1915.
Mitsubishi
K5qy6 liydikri Kni
(Industrial Education Socirl>
1918.
ShokLI3 Yiisti CakliG (Operatives'
'l'mi~rinp Srhonl 1 . 1919.
Chikulrd li5:ni, Gnkk6 I Mining
Schoo!), 1919.
Y u b a r i K5g,yo G(rkh.6 (Engineering
Sc!iool) 1920.
Shoklid Iiy6iktr Sho (Operatives'
Trailring Scho::l), 1922.
Mitsubishi liO<gyo Gaklid (Engineering School), 1923.
Sho1il;ii J-a!gaku Kdsliii liui (Operativcs' Night Schoo!) , 1925.
YGnrnh.5 Gijitsu Ky5ik11sho ( Y O I I I I ~
Workers' Art School), 1926.
S h o k k d riy6ih.t~ KdshrL Kai (Operatites' T r a i ~ l i n zCollrse), 1926.
K d f u k'dsei S h o (Miners' Training
School), 1926.
G i j i f s u KyGgi Iiai i'rechnical Consr~ltationCourse), 1927.
G i j i t s ~ zKa (Technical Section for
Jlenj ill the Seishrr GtOirlirc
(\Vorlters' Pcilools~, 1927.

.

Place or company

t7he. Yamagnchi Prefectr~re
.l apan Porcelain Company, Nagoya.
hlitsubishi Shipbuilding Yards,
Kobe.
Tomakomirlii Works, Woji Paper
IIanufacturing Company.
(lhikrrh6 Coal Mining Company.
Hokkaido Coal Mining and Steamship Company.
T6g6 Cot ton Spinning Company.
S a p a ~ a h iSt~iphuildingYards.
Ikeda Works, Fuji Paper Manufacturing Company.
Yasukawn Electric Works.
Sumitomo Copper Works.
lapan Petroleum Company
Tapan Petroleum Company
Gunze Silk Filatures.

The training of foremen has recently been undertaken on
more systematic lines than formerly, both the development of industry and its rationalisation demanding more specialised supervision. Some particulars of the more representative training
courses are set out in table XCV Courses to complete the technical
education of men already holding the position of foremen have
also been organised by some of the larger companies. The duration of such courses varies from six months to two years, about
two hours' instruction beir~ggiven three times a week, generally
in the evening; the number of foremen attending varies from
40 to 120. Mining companies assisted by the Kyocho Kai have
organised foremen's courses in the prefecture of Fukuoka, and
more than 800 foremen in the mining industry have attended.
Libraries have been started by most of the leading companieq ; of the undertakings investigated in 1926 by the Kyocho
Kailover 60 per cent. had their own libraries. The companies
frequently make a substantial contribution for the purchase of
books if they are concerned with general education and culture.
The publication by the workers of weekly, monthly, or quarterly
journals is encouraged by the employers and scores of such
publications exist. Most of them are entirely financed by the
company, so that they are distributed free of charge. In the
few cases where these publications are sold, only a nominal charge
is made.
W o r k e r s . - The first step towards the founding of schools
specially for workers or by workers was taken in 1911, when
Mr. Bunji Suzuki organised periodical lectures for workers as a
branch of the social work department of the Unitarian Church in
Tokyo. At first lectures were given once a month ; admission
was free, but to workers only. The scope of the movement was,
however, enlarged with the increase of membership and influence of the Yuai Kai2, ,until in 1920 the courses were reorgani~sedunder the name of Labour Training School ( R d d 6 K?i!:hO
J o ) . The term was extended to cover six months, night classes
bring held three times a week. The curriculum included economics, social science, law, literature, history of trade unionism,
ctc. E ~ p e r t son labour questions and prominent scholars gave
All factories and mines employing 500 or more workers were investigated : 214 replied, and of these 130 had their own libraries.
Cf. Part I T , Chapter TIT, pp. 91-93.

344

IhDLSTRIAL I A B O b R I& J A P A R

-

-

-

their support to the new enterprise, and it gradually grew into
something equivalent to a university extension course '.
By September 1921, when the teaching staff had been sufficiently strengthened to deal with an increasing body of students,
the courses were put on a permanent basis and the Japan Lahour
School (Arihon ROd6 Gakkb) was founded, with Mr. Suzuki as
Director, at the headquarters of the General Federation of Labour;
branches were established in the suburbs of Tokyo. The curriculum was extended : logic, psychology, labour legislation, natural science and statistics being added to the regular course, while
there were special courses on such subjects as the agrarian problem, the arts, diplomacy, journalism, elocution and the English
language. The tuition fee is 1 yen per month with a registration
fee of 50 sen.
The success of the Japan Labour School encouraged other
trade unions to found similar schools : the Osaka Labour School,
founded by the social reformer, Kagawa, the Labour School at
Amagasaki, maintained by the Amagasaki branch of the Ceneral
Federation of Labour, and the Kanagawa Labour School in l i a a~
saki, managed by the Kanagawa Federation of Labour (affiliated
to the General Federation), are the best known of these schools.
Another well known labour school, the Ccl~lralLabour Institute (Chiio RGdb Gakuin), was not founded by a trade union
but grew out of the Japan Workers' Education Society organised
in 1919 by Mr. Tanizo Awano after the big strike at the 'Tokyo
Arsenal. At this Jnstitute the term lasts twelve months, and
instruction is given on four days a week ; by March 1929 the
Institutc had passed out 336 students. The Workers' Institute of
the Kyocho liai in Osaka, lllc Kolw Workers' School, maintained
by thc Workers' Cultural tZssociation (RGdii Rlxnka Kyiikai), the
Workers' Schools of the Imperial University Settlements at
Honjo, Tokyo, of the Commercial College of Tokyo, and of the
S.P.S. (Socittt des pcnsCes sociales) arc of the same lype as the
Institute.
From 1921 to 1924, this movement continued, stimulated in
various ways, but more particularly by the prospect of representation in Parliament as a result of the introduction of manhood suffrage. Now the tide has turned ; business depression
and the internal dissensions in the trade unions have caused
the decline of many labour schools - out of twenty-six nearly
Cf. lr~rlustricrl Cor~tlitiorrsnur1 Labour L q i s l n l i o t )
109.

it1

.l(~lxrir,PI). 1•‹C'-

i
Jlanagernenl

I

Term

Xikko Electric
Copper Refiner

Departments of chemis- Preparatory 1 year.
try ; machinery ; enRegular 3 years.
graving.
Ordinary school subjects; l'repnratory 2 year.
mechanics ; electrical
Regular 3 years.
chemistry; metallurgy.
Ordinary school subjects; 2 years.
copper refining.

Toyo Cotton Spinning Company

Suhjects relating to spinning and weaving.

Fnkushirna Cotton
Spinning Company
Osaka Cotton Spinning Company

Subjects relating to cotton spinning and labour problems.
Civics ; mechanics ; mechanical drawing; factory conditions, e t ~ .
Factory mechanics ; raw
silk ; silk reeling, etc.
Ordinary school subjects,
mechanical drawing ;
science ; cotton spinning ; e t ~ .

.
-

Mint
State Iron Foundry

,

Nature of the
courses given

Teikyokan Silk Fil atures
Tsuji Cotton Spinning Company

1

Cf. KYOCHO KAI, op. c i t . , p. 954.

6 months.
3 months.

Qualifications
for admission

Hours of
instruction

6 hours per week
plus aclual training
5 - 6.30 p.m.

Completion of ordinary
e1ement:try school
course.
Age 33-35 and actual experience of 3 years at
the Foundry.
Age 16 years or above
and completion of higher elementary school
course.
Completion of higher elementary school course
and 1 year of actual
experience in the Company.
Selection made hy the
Company.
Ditto.

9 months.

Ditto.

Higher coarse, Z
year. Ordinary
course, 1 year.

Higher : 20 years ol agc
or over and completion
of higher elementary
school course. Ordinary : up to 20 years
of age and completion
of ordinary elementary
school course.

Number
enrolled

346

IADUS'~RIA1, LABOUR I N JAPAN

--

-- --- -

half have had to close down. Only those which are now open
are included in the following list :

Xame a n d place

Dale
lonndrd

Director and
management

Number
cmrollcd

--

1 . Japan Labour School
(Shiba, Tokyo)

1!E1

Bunji Suzuki, labour
leader (General Federation of Labo~u-)

57
(March
1927)

2. Central L;;lwur Institute (Hongo, Tokyo)

1921

Tanizo Awano, labour
leader (Japan Labour
Education Socirty)

50
(Feb. 1!)27)

3. Osaka Labour
School (Konohanaku,
Osaka)

1922

Toyohiko K a g a w a , social worker (Committee
of Nanagemenl)

42
(Jan. 1927)

4. Labour Inbtitute
(Konohanaku, Osaka)

192'2

'I'okimitsu Kusama,
chief of Osaka Ijranch
(Kyocho Kai)

21
(March
1926)

5. Workers' Training
School (Hiroshima)

1923

Masakichi Hotta (Social Education Society)

32
[Sept. 1925)

6. Kobe Labour School
(Kobe)

1924

K6z6 Hisatome (Workers' Cultural Society)

80
(Jan. 1927)

7. University Settlcment Labour School
(Honjo, Tokyo)

l!E4

Gentaro Suyehiro, University professor (lmperial University Settlement

8. Adult Education
Course (Asakusa, Tokyo)

I95

Shoichiro Keneko (Local blonopoly I3ureau of
t h e Government).

50.5
(Feh. 1927)

9. Adult Education
Course (Hiro)

1925

Itoku Iliraya, labour
leader (Koryo Kai, a
trade union of t h e Hiro
arsenal workers)

92
(June 1927)

10. K a n a g a w a Labour
School (Kawasaki)

1927

Jiro Miki, labour lead e r (General Federation
of Labour).

100
(July 1928)

11. Yokosuka Labour
School (Yokosuka)

1927

Fujiro Kawashinia, labour leader (KGyrL Kni,
a trade union of the
Yokosuka).

62
(Oct. 1927)

12. W o r k i n g Citizens
School ( K a n a g u c h i )

1928

Yoshio Matsunago, Socialist w r i t e r (Tokyo
Iron
Workers'
Union).
- -

84
(May 1928)

81

(Sept. i E 6 )

-

Cf Kvocno KAI,, op. C L ~ . , pp. 961.964. All %hook rrhich hare been closed donn ale
omitted, allhough some of them may Iw revived later.
1

There are internal as well as external reasons for the failure

of so many labour schools and some at least of the internal causes
would seem to be inherent in schools run by trade unions. 'I'hc
monthly journal of the Kyocho Kai published an article in
May 1929 which sums u p the main difficulties with which such
schools have to contend :
At most of the worker's schools they cannot afford to pay adequately for teachers, while in the case of teachers who are at the same
time trade iinionists, no lesson can be given during a serious dispute
affecting the nnion to which they belong. In the meantime, the Governlnent authorities and employers look ashance at those schools having as
their object the training of future lenders of the working-class movement. Hence the comparative success in the case of the second type
[meaning by this the schools not belonging to the trade unions but
to the syrnpthisers of the working clasq]. During the rt~ontl~b
precetling the cornmenccrnent of the Government persecution of Communists
last year (1925), the Communist leader5 in trade unions and political
groups used to have a husy time in organising worl\crs' classes at
local industrial centres, but at present no trace of Communist activity
in the field of workers' education can he found, although clandestinely
Studv Circles are being organised for Communist propaganda, not
among the working masses, hut among students of universities and
other higher schools '.

Incidentally, this article throws some light on Communist
activity i n the field of education, but although this was rife when
the article appeared, ~t appears to have subsided lately.
Though the labour schools are in a bad way at present, there
is ground for hope that they will regain the strength and enthusiasm of their early years and it would seem that when circumstances become more favourable revitalisation may well come
through two organisations which now group the labour schools
of Japan, namely, the Eastern and Western Federations of Labour
Schools.
Thc Western Federation was organised in 1924 by labour
leaders interested i n the schools in connection with the General
Federation of Labour i n the cities of Osaka, Kobe, Okayama,
Amagasaki and Sakai and the Kyushu district. The aims of the
Federation, as agreed on at the inaugural meeting in October 1924,
were the followinc :

-

-

--

" \Vorkerq'

Erlucntion in Japan " hy
(Social Reform), May 7929, p. 191.
I

" T bf

",

i n Shnlini Seisnku JihG

3-18

ISDUSTRIAL LAUOLJR IN JAPAN

(1)

Arrnngcmcnt of educational courses for workers ;

( 2 ) Uniformity in reports of labour schools ;
( 3 ) Uniformity of curricuhm ;
(4) Promotion of international co-operation among labour schools;

( 5 ) Vaintenance of close relations between the schools and trade
unions ;
( 6 ) S>stematic political education anloug thc workcrs.

'She proposal to organise the Federation in Eastern Japan
was made first by the Association for the International Lahour
Organisation in February 1926 and a committee was appointed
to elaborale the plan, which resulted in a suggestion for a National Federation. As this proposal was not accepted by the Executive Board of the Association, a small federation was finally
organised quitc independently of the Association and including
only the labour schools i n o r near Tokyo. The schools participating were the Japan Labour School belonging to the General
Federation ol Labour, the Imperial University Settlemcnt School,
the Central Labour Institute and only three others. Neither of
these federations has entirely escapcd the depression of the last
few years and they can for the moment do little for the individual
labour schools, but it seems prohahle that they will have an important part to play in the future of workers' education in Japan.

Thc Law and Co-operation'
Some indigenous forms of co-operation have existed ill Japan
since the 'Sokugawa Shogunate. One of these, the Hiifo11-u-sha.
is particularly interesting as a purely Japanese form of co-operative credit society, in which the members pay small contributions and are entitled to loans for economic purposes at an interest
rate of about 5 per cent. Two other types, which also still
pemist, are the Tanornoshi96 and Mujin, both specifically Japanew forms of savings and loan societies.
Co-operative societies of a modern typc came into existence
in Lhe 'eighties of the last century, although legislation dealing
specifically with co-operation was not passed until 1900. The
first attempt at legislation, a Credit Societies Bill introduced in
1891, was in tended to relieve small farmers, traders, handicraftsmen, etc., who were particularly hardly pressed by the rise of
capitalist industry and were only able to borrow money at usurious rates of interest. l'hc Bill was designed to provide facilities
for sales and purchases, and although it failed to pass the Diet
the popularising of the ideas upon which it was founded led to
a number of credil societies being set up in various towns during 1892 and 1893 '.
Cf. KIYOSHI
OGATA: Co-operalive Movement i n Japan (in English) :
Nihon Snngyo Kumiai Slzi (History of Japanese Co-operative Societies),
published by the Central Union of Japanese Co-operatire Societies ; H E I I ~ H I
NODA: Sangyo Knmiai no Hanashi (History of Co-operative Societies) ;
and ROBERT SO^ SCOTT
: The Founclafions of Japan.
In 1897, the year that the Government submitted the Co-operative
Societies Bill to the Imperial Diet, there were 39 co-operative buying
societies with 8,733 members and with property valued at 13,016 yen :
14 co-operative producing societies with 1,068 members ; 8 utility cooperative societies with 353 members ; 141 co-operative selling socictim
with 33,561 members and with property amounting to 40,729 yen.

Tltc Co-operative Societies Act ' reproduced t h e m a i n features
of t h e German Co-operative Societies Act of 1889, w i t h modifications regarding building a n d consumers' societies. T h e Bill w a s
inlroduced i n 1897, passed by both Houses of t h e Imperial Diet
ill 1899, a n d the Act came into force i n 1900. A steady g r o w t h of
the n u m b e r of societies a n d a marked increase i n their prosperity
followed its enactment.
The Act defines a co-operative society as a body corporate set up
for the pron~otionof the industrial or economic interests of its members
by the following methods :
( 1 ) By providing the members with funds necessary for the development of their industry and also h j facilitating saving.
( 2 ) By selling collectively the products of its members and if necessary so treating the products as to increase their marketable
alue.
(3) By distributing anlong its members the goods purchased or
produced or partly produced by the society necessary for their
industry or domestic economy.
( 4 ) By acquiring plant or machinery for the collective use of its
members in their industry or domestic economy.

Thus the Act provides for co-operative societies of four different
types : (1) co-operative credit societies, ( 2 ) co-operative selling or
marketing societies, (3) co-operative buying societies and (4) co-operative utility societies. A single society may combine two or more of
these activities.
In order to facilitate the formation of co-operative societies even
i!i sparsely populated villages, the law allows a society to be formed by
at least seven members, subiect to the authorisation of the Governor
of a prefecture.
Eligibility to membership is generally confined to economically
independent persons. A member loses his membership by death,
bankruptcy, loss of civil capacity, expulsion or the loss of qualification
prescribed bv the constitution. Shares may not exceed 50 yen, and
no member may own more than ten shares..
Federations mav be formed as bodies corporate by at least seben
co-operative societie~. 4 share in a federation may not exceed 500 yen.
The liability of members of co-operative societies may be (1) limited, (2) unlimited, or (3) guaranteed. In societies with guaranteed
liability, members are liable for the debts of the societv to the extent
of a prescribed amount in addition to the extent of their shares. Federations may only have limited or guaranteed liability.
The area within which a co-operative societv may carry on its
work is fixed hy the society itself according to local conditions and
The Co-operative Societies Act (Sangy6 Kumiai H i i ) , No. 34 of 1900,
amended in 1906, 1909, 1917, 1921, 1923 and 1926.
a Central Union of Co-operative Societies in Japan : " The Development of the Co-operative Movement in Japan ", pp. 2-7. The information
contained in these pages has been taken largely from this pamphlet.

CO-OPERATION

351

the nature of its objects. The area of operation of co-operative credit
societies, however, is limited within the boundary of an administrative
unit such as a city, town or village, and the area of a federation, except
in special cases, corresponds to the territorial limits of a prefecture.
Societies are managed by the general meeting of the members and
by a committee of management and auditors consisting of from three
to seven members who hold office from one to six years. Important
decisions of the general meeting require a three-fourths majority of at
least half the members of thc society ; each member has one vote,
regardless of the number of shares he holds.
The law requires every co-operative society to pay at least a quarter
of the profits of each working year into a reserve fund until the fund
has reached a sum prescribed by the constitution. Entrance fees,
share bonuses, etc., must also be paid into the reserve fund. Dividends
not exceeding 6 per cent. - or in special cases 10 per cent. - may be
paid on shares ; where dividends are paid in proportion to the amount
of business transacted with the society no legal limitation is imposed.
Co-operative societies and federations are under the supervision
of the local administrative authority (prefectural Governor) and the
Minister. of Commerce and Industry. Co-operative credit societies are
supervised by the Minister of Finance as well as by the above-mentioned authorities. The supervisory authorities have at the same time
the duty of encouraging and guiding the co-operative societies.
In order to foster co-operation, the sorieties enjoy the following
privileges :
(1) Exemption from the taxes on business profits, business trans-

actions and on income, as well as from the registration tax
as registration is required by the Co-operative Societies Act.
(2) Government facilities to co-operative societies which undertake contracts.
(3) Government loans at low interest rates to co-operative societies
and their federations through mortgage banks.
( 4 ) The Mortgage Bank of Japan and other land credit banks are
authorised to grant loans to co-operative societies without
security.
Development of Co-operatiwe Societies
General. - Co-operative societies g r e w steadily i n n u m b e r
a n d prosperity after t h e passing of t h e Co-operatwe Societies Act,
in spite of a period of considerable difficulty a t t h e time of the
w a r w i t h Russia. Table XCVII (page 352) gives a statistical s u m mary of their development from 1900-1930.
T h e decrease i n t h e n u m b e r of societies from 1925 w h i c h i s
s h o w n in table XCVII is largely due to the Government's policy
of amalgamating t h e smaller societies a n d dissolving societies
w h i c h were badly organised. Generally speaking, credit societies
are the most numerous, while societies for the purchase of equipm e n t a n d those f o r sales a n d marketing hold t h e second a n d t h i r d
places respectively. Co-operative distributive societies h a d m a d e

352

IADUSTRIAL

--

LABOUR IN JAPAN

---

-

but little progress until the last ten or twelve years, when the
high cost of living compelled consumers to take more interest
than formerly in obtaining both necessities and commodities at
moderate prices; during this period co-operative stores have
noticeably developed.

Xumber of
o-operative
societies

Year

NumDer of
fedeations

Number of
nembers of
:o-operative
societies

-

umber o
nembers
of the
Ccntral
Vnion

Compiled from the tables

the

Yam)er of
Iranches

-

Yen

1900
1905
1910
1915
1920
1W25
1926
1937
1928
1929
1930
1

Total amount
of capital

-

-

2,348,180
19,348,734
76,018,446
354,605,959
040,593,648
1,184,641,912
1,397,598,514
1,479,969,770
1,626,434,337
1,665,247,844

3
36
45
46
47
47
47
47
47
47

-umber ol
jocieties
ltnliated
o the Co~perative
tholesale
society
,I Japan

-

-

938
967
1,013
1,042
1,115
3,785

Nenkarr

19:31 edition, pp. 87-153.

Co-operative societies of limited liability are far more numerous than those of unlimited or guaranteed liability ; for the last
TABLE

XCVIII. -

PROPORTIOX BETWEEN THE NUMBER

O F CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND T H E NUMBER O F CITIES,

-

'

Number of cities,
towns and villages
in Japan ---

Numljer of co-operati\c
societies

Percentage

CO-OPERATION

353

--

four or five years they have represented upwards of 88 per cent.
of the existing societies. In 1930, when the total number of
societies had reached 14,082, there were 733 with limited liability,
112 with unlimited liability and 237 with guaranteed liability.
Table XCVIII shows the increase of the proportion of co-operative societies to the number of cities, towns and villages from
1900 to 1930.
The number of members of co-operative societies has risen
steadily ; the figures given below show that the average membership per society has more than trebled in the course of a little
over two decades.
TABLE XCIX.

- AVERAGE

Number of co-operative
societies investigated

NUMBER O F MEMBERS

Number
of members

Average number of
members per society

A statistical survey of the occupations of the members shows
that the co-operative m,ovement in Japan is strongest in the agricultural districts, and that nearly 73 per cent. are farmers, about
11 per cent. are shopkeepers and 5 per cent. artisans or craftsmen. For details see the table below :
TABLE C.

- CLASSIFICATION O F MEMBERS OF CO-OPER4TIVE SOCIETIES
ACCORDING TO

Occupation

Number of
co-operativesocieties
investigated

I

Farmers
Woodsmen
Artisans
Shopkeepers
Fishermen
Other occnpations
Total

INDUSTH141. LAROUII I > JAPAN

OCCUPATION,
1929
Number
of mcmbers

Percentage

I

354

IhDUSTRIAL LABOCR I& J A P A h
---

--

Table C1 below shows the amount of share capital, reserve
funds and loans of Japanese co-operative societies for the
period 1918-1930:
TABLE CI.

- SII4RE

CAPIT&I,, R E S E R l E FUhlIS AND LOA\S

-

I

Fiscal
year

-

Share capital

-

Yo. o f societies
reported
.\mount

Paid up

Yen

Yen

-

-

1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1

11,230
11,656
12,189
12,539
12,690
12,919
13,219
13,379
13,247
13,197
13,169
13,170
12,909

11

17,281,503
62,256,978
89,942,717
1 115,069,361
j 144,535,100
1 173,069,917
202,797,794
; 230,855,615
/ 251,246,532
266,849,014
284,095,172
299,557,511
303,941,348

'

/

/

Heser\e
fund

Loans
raised

--

Yen

Yen

33,456,521 15,358,505 21,602,321
41,281,304 18,734,883 33,001,087
55,542,217 24,5,58,335 50,184,662
69,498,485 28,367,188 46,531,812
86,498,485 34,789,675 59,403,007
102,770,433 42,784,716 72,045,300
122,344,578 .7'2,028,565 74,048,042
142,581,744 Cil,719,948 90,390,411
163,898,728 73,373,654 115,536,021
181,977,491 81,654,264 148.142.539
199,589,562 94,085,007
216,218,937 104,593,916
225,065,483 Lll,638,425

DEPA~TMEXT
OF I.'lnrca : The Thirty-first Finanrial c n d Economir Annual of Japan, 1931,

p. 108.

(10-oprratiue credit societies. - The success of thcse societics
is much more marked than that of any other form of co-operation
in Japan. This success is due to the fact that the needs of the
small farmers and shopkeepers are best met by this type of cooperative society, and also to the encouragement by the Government of the development of co-operative societies of the SchultzeDelitsch or Raiffeissen rather than of the Rochdale type. The
extent to which this type of co-operation has spread is shown in
table M I 1 .
In addition to sham capital, the funds of these societies are
made up of deposits by members' families, public corporations,
non-profit associations, etc. The maximum amount of the loans
that may be granted to a member is decided upon by the ordinary
general meeting year hy year The same body also elects annuallv
I At the end of 1930 out of a total of 14,082 societies there were 12,104,
or 86 per cent., carrying on co-operative credit work. Of this numhct
only 2,449 were credit co-operative societies pure and simple, the remaininq
9,655 being " compound societies" with other activities such as cooperatile buying and selling or mnrketinz.

355

CO-OPERATION

a committee of several persons to enquire into the financial
position of every member and to decide as to the amount of
the loan, which of course must not exceed the limit fixed by the
general meeting. At the end of 1930 the loans thus granted
amounted to 988,780,696 yen, which gives an average of 65,672
yen per society. As a rule loans are granted without guarantee,
and such non-guaranteed loans represent about 70 per cent. of the
total amount. The interest in th'e great majority of cases is fixed
at from 9 to 10 per cent., which is lower by 1 or 2 per cent. than
the ordinary local rate. In certain cities or urban districts designated by the Finance Minister, urban co-operative credit societies
may be formed with the power, under certain condition^
prescribed by the rules, of discounting bills of exchange for their
members '.
The following table shows the development of co-operative
credit societies from 1921 to 1930 :
TABLE

CII. - DEVELOPMENT
--

-

1Vulnl)er
of societies
reported

11,173
11,394
11,668
11,979
12,016
11,847
11,722
11,578
31,530
12,909

O F CO-OPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES,

-

Urposils

---Yen
284,935,W3
337,778,899
414,478,355
525,283,019
654,901,545
781,403,989
885,824,220
1,011,212,067
1,208,366,618

-

Loans grontrd
Yen

240,882,277
304,098,840
368,699,156
452,842,987
531,598,727
641,608,617
740,639,515
845,354,705
897,206,318
988,780,696

Co-operative selling or marketing societies. - A n increasing
number of societies (8,366 in 1930) have developed this side of
co-operative activity. The articles and products handled vary
widely : raw silk and cocoons amount to more than half of the

' A societj of this kind may also receise deposits from lion-members.
Such deposits may be on current account, short-term deposits or long-term
deposits ; the usual rate of interest is 6 or 7 per cent. per annum. In
1928 there were in Japan 102 citier; and 104 urban districts designated by
the authority in which urban credit co-operatives might be founded, and
up to that year 236 urban credit societies had been formed.

356

INDUSTRIAL

LABO'JR

IN JAPAN

total value of goods marketed, rice comes next, followed by other
foodstuffs, livestock and textile fabrics. Table CIII shows the
number of societies and their membership, togetber with the total
values of sales.
TABLE

Year

CIII. - DEVELOPMENT O F CO-OPERATIVE SELLING
on MARKETING SOCIETIES, 192,l-1930
Number of societies
reported

Number
of members
Yen

128,075,087
156,466,049
170,154,622
191,888,668
216,017,836
221,295,672
221,454,464
245,773,860
254,555,387
174,797,570
I

Co-operative buying societies. - This branch of co-operation
is carried on by some 73 per cent. of Japanese societies, but it
does not appear to be developing. The purchases made in 1929
by 9,505 societies investigated amounted to 155,174,923 yen,
giving an average of 16,326 yen per society, which is about the
average rate for a year. Fertilisers, agricultural implements, seeds
and seedlings, and silkworms' eggs are the chief commodities
bought, together with raw materials for manufacture of various
TABLE CIV. - PURCHASES MADE BY

Year

Number of societies
reported

CO-OPERATIVE

Number
of members

BUYING SOCIETIES,

Purchases
Pen

1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929

152,061,881
117,553,282
122,715,586
133,803,437
146,555,463
152,169,503
153,547,945
143,430,109
149,011,320
155,174,923

CO-OPERATION

357

kinds, tools and machinery, etc. The societies also buy for their
members such articles of consumption as rice, wheat and other
cereals, salt, silk, sugar, sake', macaroni, fish, coal, petroleum,
and textile fabrics. Table CIV shows little change in the
number of societies or the value of the goods purchased since
1920, although the membership has increased very considerably.
The membership figure is, however, not an indication of development of this branch of co-operation as the societies are mostly
mixed in character.
Co-operative stores. - This kind of co-operative activity has
recently been considerably developed, and the stores are used
especially by working people in Japan as in other countries.
Societies which carry on stores are included in table CIV,
as they can only secure legal recognition by being registered
as "buying societies " to which they are subsidiary. T h e
Government's deliberate omission to recognise co-operative stores
in the legislation on co-operation has, however, had the result
that by making these stores auxiliary to buying societies they
have been enabled to federate with the agricultural societies which
have always been fostered by the Government.
Until the authorities began to take positive action, the
development of co-operative stores was extremely slow. Those
which were established from 1880 to 1898 owed their existence
to Socialist or trade union organisations or propaganda, and their
prosperity has therefore been linked with the trade unions and
has declined when the unions have been in difficulties. The more
modern co-operative stores which have commanded success may
have learned something from the early attempts, but the real
movement began in 1901 antl was to some extent suggested by a
desire lo have an organisation that would facilitate saving by the
lesser Government officials. 'She office of the first of these stores,
the Kyiid6 Kai (Co-operative Society) was actually set up in the
building of the House of Representatives ', and it started modc~tly
with the declared object of supplying members with articles of
good quality at low prices. Its first members were civil servants,
but so soon as it secured public confidence its memhcrship grew
rapidly. In 1904 it was registered under the Co-operative Societies
Act antl in 1908 the office removed from the Parliament House
into a private building. It now has several thousand active
members and its annual sales amount to close on a million yen.
K.

op. c i t . , p. 12

0 ~ ~ 1 . 4 ,

The atlkance i n prices, which was a menace to Ihe standard
of life of people with small incomes, stimulated the consumers'
co-operative movement. After the K y 6 d b Kai had been so successfully launched, stores were established all over the country by
civil servants, salaried employees and industrial workers '. Thc
result is that therc is a wide variety of consumers' co-operative
stores in Japan. Among them are now a large number of workers' co-operative stores hased on the principle of self-help '.
Co-opemlive u f i i i l y societies. - 'These societies havc been
formed to acquire agricultural land, warehouses, tractors, machinery, and other equipment for agriculture and industry,
houses, electric plant, fishing boats, household equipment, etc.,
for the use of their members but there has been little development of societies of this kind. In 1929 there were only 4,826
societies engaged i n this form of activity out of the total of
14,047 co-operative societies; but although their growth is not
rapid there has been a steady increase every year from the date
of the Co-operative Societies k t , and this growth has been favoured by the successive amendments of the Act. Yearly 800
of these societies own rice-cleaning and various other agricultural machines and implements which they let out on hire to
T.\!:I,E

C:\

.-

PROGRESS OF

CO-OPERATIVE UTILITl

SOCIETIES.

- .

--

-

.

Urn

I Lately
unilersities, colleges and other institutions for higher
education hake started co-operati\e stores, enrolling both teachers and
students. A typical example is the Tokyo Students' Co-operative Store,
eslahlished in 1925, n i t h se\eral thousand members.
' Cf. " Workers' Co-operalive Societies ", at the end of t h i s chapter.

CO-OPERATION

,359

their members; some 200 own silk mills, and electric current
distribution offices or power stations are run by nearly 100 of
thcm. Among the bewildering variety of activities carried on
by these societies are hospitals, farms, irrigation works, barbers' shops, kindergartens and the hire of clothes for weddings
and funerals. The rents and dues they collect have been rising
yearly since 1920, as shown in table CV.
T h e Agricultural Storage A d of 1.917 ' opened a field to cooperative societies of which they have taken full advantage. The
object of the Act w a s to facilitate the preservation in special granaries or warehouses of cereals or cocoons produced by agriculturists or collected by landlords as rent for land. Storage may not
be conducted for profit, and the organisation responsible for the
storage, in addition to preserving the produce deposited, may
not only carry on all the processes for improving, grading and
preparing it for sale but may also act as intermediary and make
loans on the guarantee of the deposit certificate. Thus agricultural storage undertakings have functions and powers wider
than Ihosc of co-operative societies. Agricultural storage warehouses may be managed by bodies corporate such as co-operative
socieLies, agricultural societies and public bodies, in fact, since
1917 agricultural storage warehouses run by co-operative societies in conformity with the Act have increased every year and
in 1930 they numbered 2,658, the statistics showing that this
business is mainly in the hands of co-operative societies, which
manaye 92 per cent. of the warehouc;cs2.
The State grants privileges to agricultural warehouses concluded in conformity with the Act, and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry assists the prefectures in subsidising agricultural storage throughout the country. A ten-yearly subvention of 2,050,000 yen to cover 20 per cent. of the building cost
was at first given, but this has been increased to cover 40 per
cent. of the costs, and now the subvention exceeds 90,000,000
yen: the original plan was one storage warehouse for all towns
or villages in groups of three, making a total of 4,100 storage
warehouses, covering 255,000 tsubo ~1,008,270square yards).

'

h13gyo Yijlcogyo 115, Act ho. 15 of 20 1 \ 1 1 , , 1917

1926, as against 2,108 co-operati\? societies, there were only 111
agricultural societies, 41 incorporated associations, and 14 towns or
village.: managing storaqe \\;IT elrouses
To

360

IXDUSTRIAI, L ~ B OIIR IN JAPAN

Federations of co-operatiue societies. - In 1909, by an
amendment to the Co-operative Societies Act, federations of the
societies were legally recognised. Federations multiplied rapidly,
and in 1924 there were 205 ; in 1930 the number had fallen to 185,
chiefly owing to amalgamations. Thirty-five per cent. of the federations grouped mixed marketing and buying societies ; federations
of buying societies came next in importance as regards numbers,
followed by federations of credit societies. The latter type of
federation has made much progress; there is a federation of credit
societies in every prefecture acting as a central agency for the
affiliated societies and for the Central Co-operative Societies Bank.
T4BLE

CVI.

- MEMBERSHIP, C A P I T I L , SURPLUS A R D TURROVER

O F FEDER4TIO;LS O F

CO-OPER4TIVE

SOCIETIES,

Federations reported . . . . . . . . . . .
Number of members . . . . . . . . . .
Share capital . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Share capital paid up . . . . . . . . . .
Various reserve funds . . . . . . . . . .
Loan capital . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Surplus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Loans outstanding (credit federations) . . . .
Deposits outstanding (credit federations) . . .
Amount of sales (sales federations) . . . . .
Amount of purchases (buying federations) . .
Amount of rents and dues (utility federations)

1930 '

165 federations
18,060 societies
27,030,534 yen
18,317,718 ,,

The Co-operative Wholesale Society (Zenkoku Kbbaikumiai
Reng6 Icai) was organised in 1923, after some pioneer work had
been done by the Central Union of Co-operative Societies. It is
on a national basis and buys goods and commodities and sells
them to the member federations or societies at wholesale prices ; it
may treat these goods so as to improve their quality. Shares are
of a nominal value of 500 yen, of which 200 yen must be paid up,
and each member may hold as many as 50 shares. The paid up
share capital was 946,000 yen in 1930, and the sales amounted to
roughly 11,644,000 yen. Although it began at a disadvantage in
the year of the earthquake, the Society had a membership of
3,785 federations or societies in 1930.
The Central Bank of Co-operative Societies came into being
also in 1923 when the Act' constituting it was promulgated. The
-4ct concerning the Central Bank of Co-operative Societies (Sangy6
Kumiai ChuG K i n k o Adj, Act No. 42 of 5 April 1923.

CO-OPERATION

361

share capital was subscribed by the Government and the co-operative societies and federations in two equal parts. In 1930 the
Government and 11,363 federations and societies had paid up
28,055,360 yen in share capital ; the deposits were 43,383,835 yen,
and the amount of loans was 81,029,728 yen.
The Japanese Raw Silk Co-operative Federation (Dai-Nippon
Kiito Hanbai-Kumiai RengB Kai) was organised in March 1927
with headquarters in Yokohama. At the end of September 1931,
seventy co-operative filatures, or 89 per cent. of all the co-operative
filatures in Japan, were affiliated. In the year ending June 1930
the Federation handled 25,369 packages of raw silk, of which
22,108 packages were sold for 15,588,855 yen.
The Central Union of Co-operafive Socielies, although it was
formed in 1905, only became a legally recognised body in 1910,
after the 1909 revision of the Co-operative Societies Act. The
membership consists of co-operative societies and federations and
also individuals who support the Union. The purposes of the
Union are to further the development of co-operative societies and
federations, and to co-ordinate their activities. It does a great
deal of educational work through training schools, lectures,
propaganda by means of the cinema, gramophones, posters, etc.,
the supply of information and investigations, and issues a bulletin and other educational literature. It undertakes expert
examination of property, debts, deficits and surplus of societies,
methods of book-keeping, application of legislation, etc. National
Co-operative Conferences have been held under its auspices and
its intervention has secured the amendment of the law affecting
the interests of co-operative societies.
Workers' Co-operative Societies
The co-operative movement in Japan did not originate with
the working people, although they have benefited by it. It was
developed largely by Government initiative, and was intended in
the first place to assist small owners of property. An analysis
of the membership and officers of the leading societies' shows,
moreover, that co-operative organisations in Japan are mostly
controlled by owners of land.

' Cf. K. OGATA: T h e Consumers' Co-operative Movement in Japan, p. 31,
or KYOCHOKAI : Sailcin n o Shakai Untl6, pp. 487-488.

362

-

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

--

Of 12,005 members belonging to the twenty-two representative co-operative societies which had the distinction of " Honourable Mention" by the Central Union of Co-operative Societies in
1926, 916 were landowners, 3,207 small proprietor-farmers,
3,349 part tenants and part proprietor-farmers, and 2,821 tenantfarmers. The members of the committees of management of these
societies, who numbered 156 in all, consisted of 103 landowners,
35 proprietor-farmers, 12 part tenants and part proprietor-farmers, 1 tenant-farmer and 5 others. A comparison of these
two sets of figures shows that the landowners, who constitute the
smallest part of the membership, occupy two-thirds of the seats
on the committees of management of these same societies. More
than half the auditors' seats are held by landowners, and in the
special committees for appraising the financial status of the
members they occupy one-fourth of the seats, while there is one
tenant-farmer who may be either an auditor or a member of this
special committee. The distribution per head of the loans in these
societies is : landowner, 804 yen ; proprietor-farmer, 389 yen ;
part tenant part proprietor-farmer, 437 yen ; tenant-farmer, 230
yen ; others, 299 yen. Thus it is the landowners or proprietorfarmers, rather than the non-propertied tenants, who derive
benefit from the co-operative societies. In the face of these figures
the profound social significance of the movement to found cooperative societies by the workers themselves needs no comment.
The Kyod6 Ten, a genuine workers' co-operative store, was
the pioneer of the movement in 1868, and had twenty-six
branches, but it lasted only a few years and came to an end when
the early trade unions failed. Another attempt in 1905 came to
nothing since it could not enrol enough members, and it was not
until the close of the Great War that a fresh movement began.
In the spring of 1919, the iron workers of Tokyo belonging
to the General Federation of Japanese Labour opened a consumers'
co-operative store in Tsukishima, Tokyo, and a credit and buying
society was organised almost simultaneously at Kawasaki near
Yokohama. In the former case the capital share was 5 yen, the
initial payment being fixed at 50 sen and the balance payable in
thrce years; there were 159 members, with 1,050 shares. In the
western part of Japan, in 1920, a consumers' co-operative store
was opened in Kobe and in Osaka, but was eventually transformed
into a store for citizens generally. In the following year mechanics in Osaka organiscd the Osaka Kyodb Sha (Osaka Go-operative

I

I
I

Society). These societies flourished for a short time, but the trade
depression of those years and the earthquake of 1923 brought
about the failure of most of them.
After the HGlcB Tenkanl, which is the expression used to
describe the turning of the main current of Japanese trade unions
towards a moderate policy, the General Federation began to show
more interest in the co-operative movement. The formation in
1924 of a consumers' co-operative society of workers at the Shijyu
manufactory at Noda and of the Y c a i S h a at Osaka was the concrete outcome of the new policy. The Yiiai S h a was managed
exclusively by women workers, who ran it on the principle of
low prices without profit. This society did not attempt to pay
dividends, but in addition to its commercial activities it set up a
lega! service, midwifery service, dispensary, etc. In May 1925
the Noda Co-operative Society was legally recognised under
the Co-operative Societies Act, and in 1927 it had a membership of 1,327, with annual sales of 141,000 yen. It was
admittedly a great success, and in Japan was held to be a model
workers' co-operative society. In 1928, after a strike of the union
to which it belonged, the society was dissolved, solely on account
of the strike and not because its business had failed.
According to the report submitted to the 1930 Annual Congress of the General Federation, there were twenty-one consumers' co-operative societies in the unions affiliated to the
Federation. The combincd membership of these societies was
4,640, the paid-up capital 54,777 yen, reserve funds 10,398 yen,
and average sales per month 46,088 yen per society or 9.93 yen per
member2. The last figure may be compared with the average
monthly purchases per member of the ordinary consumers' cooperative societies, which amount to only about 4.25 yen.
In addition to the societies controlled by the General
Federation, other federations control societies numbering fiftythree in all" .4lthougll a large majority of these societies consist
solely of the members of the unions there are also many which
extend the membership to cover peasants, small shopkeepers and
---

'

---

Cf. P a ~ t11, Chapter I V , p 100
H 6 ~ 6S5~6lr1-I
: Zenkokii Toikni Il6li01ii1~1~0
(Report of the
Anrlual Congress, 19301, 1). 44.
The aggregate total of the members of these societies was 122,118,
including 88,000 members belongirlg to the lapait Swmen's Union alone.
'The total paid-up capital ,~~nountecIto 206,095
iCf. R6d6 Jihii.
Feb 1931, p. 14.)

' YIHON

36 1-

I~DVSI'RI.IL LAEOUR

IN JAPAN

workers who do not belong to the trade union concerned. As a
rule, the co-operative societies maintained by the trade unions are
financially independent of the union. Even in the case of a strike,
the co-operative society may offer no positive financial aid to the
union which is involved. Food and other goods furnished to the
strikers have to be paid for. Thus, any prolonged strike reported
as having caused the collapse of a workers' co-operative society
may be understood to have affected the society only indirectl~.
Co-operative societies belonging to trade unions have begun
to increase in number only recently. There were two organised
in 1919, and in the following years only a few new ones were
started. But eight new societies were set up in 1927 and the same
number in 1928, nine in 1929 and fourteen in 1930.
Quite apart from these societies which belong to one or the
other of the workers' unions as an adjunct to their trade union
activities, there is a federation of workers' co-operative stores
which is entirely independent of any particular union. This
federation came into being under the name of KyodiJ Sha (literally
" Co-operative Society ") in the town of Oshima near Tokyo in
1920. The society owes its existence and its development to
Rikichi Okamoto, who devoted all his energies to it. It started
with an initial membership of some forty factory workers and a
capital share of 20 yen. The store was open four times a week
after the factories closed. Within six months the membership
had trebled and a net profit was made of over 660 yen. From
its inception, the society adopted the Rochdale principles and
methods which proved effective and stimulating, and similar
stores grew up in quick succession in the vicinity of Tokyo. With
a view to co-ordinating these stores with co-operative buying, the
society changed its name in 1926 to Kantii ShGhi Kumiai Renmei
(League of Consumers' Co-operative Societies of Eastern Japan).
Since the formation of the federation, the stores or societies
affiliated to it have steadily increased in number and early in 1931
the League had twentv constituent societies, m o ~ tof which are
in the neighbourhood of Tokyo1. 'The membership of these
societies varies from 100 to 450, and their average monthly sales
amount to from 1,500 yen to 7,000 yen. About one-fifth of the
members are non-workers, but the rest are all bona-fide wage
carriers. Some workers' co-operative stores scattered over distant

parts of north-eastern Japan, though not officially affiliated, still
draw supplies from it. Its present business conditions are favourable, having a subscribed capital of 24,300 yen, and it appears to
have a promising future. The aggregate amount of the monthly
supplies from the Federation to all the constituent societies varies
from 18,000 yen to 20,000 yen, But in the western half of Japan
there is no federation of workers' co-operative societies to correspond with this Kant6 (eastern) league. Attempts to federate in
the west were made about 1922 but proved abortive.
Undoubtedly the Japanese co-operative movement has made
most headway in agricultural districts l , where the movement has
2,890,000 members, representing over 73 per cent. of the total
membership of workers' co-operative societies. It is stated that
52 per cent. of all agricultural households are in the movement.
Nevertheless these figures might give a somewhat false impression of the real situation in agricultural districts because the goods
actually handled by the co-operative selling or buying societies
represent only a small fraction of the total value of goods sold or
consumed by the rural population. Even to-day most sales are
not made directly to the consumers or to their societies but to
wholesale dealers or middlemen. There are indications that the
policy of placing the control of co-operative societies wholly in
the hands of property owners is being recognised as an anomaly.
The agricultural workers organised in trade unions, finding themselves in an impasse in regard to their disputes with landowners
for the reduction of tenancy rents, have begun to seek relief in
co-operation. The spread of class-conscious agitation in rural
co-operative societies which has become more and more acute of
late may largely be attributed to this situation.
The agitation is taking two parallel courses, one being to
organise new societies consisting exclusively of working people
and the other to take over the existing societies by gradual
penetration. The co-operative societies at Nakash6 near Osaka
and at Oshihara in Yamanashi prefecture are outstanding
examples of the second course. The first type is represented by
the credit, marketing and buying society at Isoshima in Miye
prefecture and another at Suwahara in Aichi prefecture. But
owing to the fact that legal co-operative societies are under the
supervision of local Governors and as a rule one only may be set

' The

information in this section

KYOCHO-KAI,
op. cit., pp. 508-515.

has

been

chiefly

taken

from

368

1 \ D t S l R I 4 L I.4BOI R I N J A P A N

up in any one village with the permission of the Governor, the
attempt to organise a new society exclusively of working people
is apt to be frustrated by legal difficulties. For this reason the
large number which have been started recently by agricultural
and other workers in rural districts are only companies
voluntarily organised on co-operative lines but not in conformity
with the requirements of the law. The future of the workers'
co-operative movement in agricultural villages of Japan lies,
therefore, in these voluntary organisations rather than in the
legally recognised co-operative societies.
Already there are a considerable number of these voluntary
bodies, which supplement the deficiencies of the legal societies ;
the most important are marketing and consumers' societies. So
long ago as 1924 there were 871 marketing societies handling
goods amounting in value to 58,262,550 yen. Up to 1918 or 1919,
the greater part of the vegetables and fruit at the wholesale market
of Osaka was supplied by local merchants, but now more than
half of the supply comes from the producers' co-operative societies
formed by the peasants, a proof that these voluntary societies,
formed independently of legal limitations, are acquiring an economic importance sufficient to menace the middleman.
The consumers' co-operative societies are of greater importance than the marketing societies on account of the purpose of
the efforts made lately by the agricultural unions to confine the
activities of the co-operative societies to such operations as will
benefit the workers only. In the first instance it was the Japan
Farmers' Union which in 1922 took up the question of the
perfecting of agricuitural co-operation " at its inaugural
6c

meeting. An Industrial Co-operation Section was set up by this
union after its third annual congress in 1924, when it declared for
an autonomous marketing and buying organisation of peasants
and workers. Although subsequently the Japan Farmers' Union
split, and the two unions which were formed were hostile to one
another, it is worthy of note that both these unions continued to
uphold with enthusiasm the policy of maintaining co-operative
societies which should admit only working farmers. When the
two unions again came together in 1928 as a new National Farmers' Union (Zenkoku NSmin Kumiai) an even more definite
policy than hitherto regarding the co-operative movement was
adopted. At the annual congress of the Union held in 1929, it
was decided to "make concrete plans for the co-operative

-

CO-OPERATION

-

367
--

consumers' movement ", the congress declaring that "the consumers' co-operative societies should be one wing of the
movement for the emancipation of the proletariat ".
Other unions of farmers and farm labourers have followed
suit and co-operative stores of this type organised voluntarily
- not in conformity with the Co-operative Societies Act - are
rapidly coming into existence. The prefectures of Fukuoka,
Yamanashi and Shimane are known to have the largest number
of such co-operative societies. In the prefectures of Gumma,
Yamagata, Saga, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagano, etc., the movement is
also making headway but no accurate statistics are available.

CONCLUSION

Before concluding this survey of industrial labour in Japan,
it may be useful to consider briefly some of the problems which
the study has revealed. These problems are to some extent peculiar to Japan, to some extent similar to those found in all growing industrial countries; but it is necessary in any case, in
examining them, to bear in mind their special setting - the
geographical, demographic and historical background.
'The Empire of Japan has a coast line of great length in
comparison with the land area, only a relatively small part 01
which is cultivable. On the other hand, the population is already
dense and still increasing, and the relief of the pressure of population by emigration has been made impossible in recent years
by the restriction of migration movements. 'She problem of the
food supply is thus of foremost importance. It is being met,
and the development of the country ensured, by maritime and
industrial expansion. Industrial development is facilitated by
the abundant labour supply, and the extension of shipping and
overseas trade enables Japan to import the foodstuffs and raw
materials which it needs.
Japan's firm and considered will to develop has dominated
the history of the last seventy years. Up to the third quarter of
the nineteenth century Japan was a self-contained feudal State,
living within jealously guarded coasts a life unchanged by
external contacts and evolving only within the framework of its
ancient traditions and institutions. Fifty years later it had been
transformed by the intelligence and enterprise of its rulers and
people into a modern World Power. The extent of this transformation in the industrial sphere has been shown in this study
hy the statistics of growth of the industrial population, of capital,
of production, of world trade, of shipping, etc. It is perhaps
even more strikingly illustrated by the fact that when, in 1919,
INDUSTRIAL I.ABOUR IN JAPAN

it became necessary to determine the eight States of chief inclustrial importance entitled to permanent representation on the
Governing Body of the international Labour Office, Japan was
found to be one of these eight States.
Nevertheless, in spite of the phenomenal character and the
rapidity of the transformation of Japan, it has not been accompanied by such a revolutionary break with the traditions and
customs of the past as was caused by the development of industry
in some Western countries. Traditional, even feudal, influences
are still very strong in the industrial life of Japan. Their vitality
is nourished alike by the strong religious and moral ideas of the
Japanese, and by the ancient forms of social organisation, particularly the " family system". The characteristics of this system,
the manner in which both the mysticism and the organisation
of the family are felt by the Japanese to bind all classes together
in ties of kinship, have been described in the course of this study.
Here it is only necessary to emphasise once more the importance
of taking the family system into account in examining the problems of industrial labour in Japan. Its influence is seen in elery
direction : in the concentration of an important part of the capital
of the country in the hands of a few great families, in the relations
between employers and workers, in the methods of recruiting labour, in the various forms of remuneration of workers, in
the extent to which welfare institutions have been developed, etc.;
and out of this influence arises a fundamental problem for the
future of industrial organisation in Japan.
This problem may be stated as being whether the future
industrial organisation of Japan is to be evolved in conflict hetween the traditional influences and ideas - especially the family
system - and the new ideas and institutions which in Japan as
in most other countries have accompanied the growth of modern
industry, or whether means can be developed of integrating
the new institutions in the traditional Japanese social organisation.
The importance of this question is fully realised in Japan,
although very differing opinions are held regarding the sohtion.
One extreme view is that the existence of the family system renders
industrial associations and State intervention in the determination
of standards of labour conditions unnecessary. Those who hold
this view believe that labour questions could and should be
solved by humane and paternalistic relations between employers
and workers, and that the influence of the family spirit could be

CONCLTJSION

371

trusted to secure satisfactory conditions of labour. At the other
extreme are the views of those who have been most strongly
influenced by radical social and political theories, and who see
the future Japan as a State transformed in accordance with the
laws of Marxian economics. Between these extremes, however,
are many shades of opinion as to the part that the family spirit
can play in the organisation of Japanese industry, and the extenl
to which it must give way before the influence of institutions
universally characteristic of industrial communities.
It would be hazardous to attempt to forecast the probable
lines of development of Japanese industrial organisation. A t
~ r e s e u tthere is conflict, exemplified by the resistance to trade
union expansion and the opposition to social legislation, although
the existence of such resistance and opposition in other countries
would tend to show that the traditional reasons therefor are often
only pretexts. On the other hand, there are factors working for
integration. For many years past the Kyocho-kai (Association
for harmonising the relations between capital and labour) has
been working in the traditional spirit of service for the development of friendly co-operation between workers and employers,
and it has not neglected the necessity and importance of industrial
associations and labour legislation. Still more significant, since
its establishment was only made possible by the existence of
powerful associations of employers and workers, is the joint
organisation of shipowners and seamen, the Kaiji kyodo kai,
which is entrusted with the working of the seamen's employment
exchange system set up by Japan in accordance with the Convention for establishing facilities for finding employment for seamen.
The substitution of co-operative methods in the working of welfare institutions for the unilateral action of the employer is another
example of this tendency.
But whatever may be the extent to which the spirit of the
traditional forms of Japanese social relations, or these forms themselves, may be preserved in the future industrial organisation of
the country, there can be no doubt of the ever-increasing importance of the part that has to be played by industrial associations
of the " Western " type and by social legislation. The last decade
has seen a remarkable development of trade unions and
employers' associations, and it is of interest to note that it was
possible, in the final revision of the chapters of this study dealing
with these organisations, to record definite advances toward$ the

372

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IK JAPAN

constitution of strong central federations, both of employers and
workers. Equally, there has been steady development of labour
legislation, particularly for the protection of women and juvenile
workers.
The development of industrial relations of the "Western"
type is, however, still in an early stage. There is collective
bargaining, but it is still very restricted in scope, and it is noteworthy that as yet very few collective agreements have been concluded in Japan. The persistence of relations of paternalism
between employers and workers, particularly in the smaller
undertakings and in the important textile industry, is not the
only cause of this situation. It has also to be remembered that,
in spite of the rapid urbanisation of the country, factory labour
is still drawn in a considerable degree from the rural population,
especially as regards the young women who form the bulk of the
workers in textile mills. Another cause is undoubtedly to be
found in the great diversity of the trade unions, the local character
of many unions, and their tendency to divide on political and
other non-trade union issues.
The successhl development of collective bargaining in Japan
would appear indeed to require action alike by the State, the
employers and the workers. The right of association is guaranteed by the Constitution, but the workers feel the need for
statutory recognition also and attach great importance to the
passage of a Trade Union Act. It is felt that, unless and until
trade unionism is specifically legalised, collective bargaining will
remain a precarious procedure and there will be no guarantee
of regular and orderly relations between employers and workers.
The legal regulation and recognition of collective agreements
may also be found necessary. On the part of the employers will
be needed the recognition that the traditional relations of paternalism must be substituted or at least supplemented by collective
bargaining through the medium of vigorous and well-established
industrial associations. Finally, there must be on the part of the
workers a greater realisation of the vital importance of unity
and of concentration on the building up of strong and stable
trade unions, directed to trade union purposes and freed from
the constant danger of splitting on differences of ideology. In
this connection it is interesting to note the influence exercised
on the development and consolidation of Japanese trade unionism
by the necessity of reaching agreement on the choice of

4

.

CONCLUSION

373

workers' delegates and advisers to attend the International Labour
Conference.
The continuous progress made in the passage of labour leglslation has already been mentioned, and here again it is possible
to record the influence of the International Labour Organisation.
Not only have the Conventions ratified by Japan exercised a
formative influence on her labour legislation, but provisions of
Conventions which it has not yet been considered possible to
ratify have been embodied in Japanese law. The field of appli.
cation of the factory legislation has been progressively widened,
and the detailed provisions of both factory and mining laws and
regulations have been elaborated and extended. The machinery
for finding employment for workers both on land and sea has
been revised by legislation in accordance with the International
Conventions ratified by Japan. In addition, a n industrial conciliation procedure has been created by legislation, and a health
insurance system is working under the provisions of the Health
Insurance Act.
It is in regard to the protection of women and juvenile
workers that Japanese legislation has gone furthest in the direction
of the standards laid down in the International Conventions. In
accordance with the minimum age provisions of the relevant
Conventions, which Japan has ratified, the minimum age for
admission to employment at sea is fourteen years ; it is also fourteen years on land in the undertakings covered by the factory
legislation, subject to the possibility of employing children of
twelve years of age who have passed through the f d l elementary
school courses. Japan has also ratified and applied the olher maritime Conventions dealing with juvenile labour. As regards the
night work of women and young persons e m p l o ~ e din industry,
the law is now in accord with the Conventions save in respect of
its field of application and certain possibilities of making exceptions. The provisions of the law which deal with the protection
of women in childbirth have also hren brought near to the standard of the Washington Maternity Convention. There would
seem, therefore, to be every ground for the hope that, within the
next few years, Japan will have been able to ratify all the International Conventions relating to women and juvenile workers.
Finally, it should be mentioned that Japan has taken action in a
matter which has not been the subject of international legislation,
and ha$ decreed the prohibition, aftw September 1933, of the

374

IIYDUSTRIAL L.4BOUR I& JAP.4X

employment of women and young persons under sixteen years
of age underground in mines, subject to the possibility of eacep
tions for coal mines where the seams are thin.
One of the principal problems of factory legislation would
appear to be that of its extension to include smaller undertakings
in the field of application. At present only undertakings employing ten or more workers, or classified as dangerous undertakings,
are covered by this legislation. Small factories, however, are
of great importance in the industrial economy of Japan, as it is
in undertakings employing from about five to ten workers that
many of the small fancy goods exported by Japan are made.
Objections to the extension of the factory laws to include such
undertakings are based partly on the difficulty and expense
of application, and partly on the ground that it is unnecessary
to intervene in the relations between employers and workers,
since the traditional spirit of kinship ensures reasonably satisfactory conditions of labour. On the other hand, it is urged
that sanitary and other conditions of labour in these small factories are generally below the legal standards for other undertakings, and that regulation is both desirable and necessary.
As affecting the workers generally, the biggest problems in
Japan, as in other countries, are those of hours of work and
wages. At present, only the working hours of women and juvenile
workers are limited generally, the legal limitation of the hours
of work of men being confined to work underground in mines. In
addition, the statutory hours of works for miners, women and
juveniles are longer than those proposed for Japan in the special
clause of the Washington Hours Convention, which Japan has
not ratified. However, it may be noted that one of the effects of
the industrial depression has been the temporary reduction of
working hours, especially in the textile industry, to the level of
the Hours Convention or even below it, and it may be hoped that
the experience of shorter working hours may assist the authorities
to decide on the legal limitation of hours of work in accordance
with international standards.
Closely allied to the question of hours is that of thc weekly
rest day. The special Article in the Hours Convention applicable
to Japan provided for a weekly day of rest for all classes of
workers. No legislative action has yet been taken in this direction, however, and the details given in this study show considerable diversity of practice in regard to rest days, which are rarely

-

4

--

CONCLUSION

375

weekly. It must, of course, be observed that the weekly rest
day has no sanction in Japanese custom, but there has been a
tendency towards the extension of rest days which will no doubt
lead to the adoption of legal standards in the near future.
Apart from some legal provisions relating to their payment,
wages have not yet been dealt with in Japanese legislation. As
the statistics given in the chapter on wages show, money wages
are often supplemented by facilities of different kinds, and
the various bonuses, which are often held in Japan to have a welfare character but which nevertheless appear to be by custom
a definite part of the terms of employment, form a not unimportant part of wages. These matters and the allied question of
deferred pay and savings arrangements will no doubt need legislative adjustment, though at present there would not appear to
be any demand for action on the part of the workers except for
the legal regulation of the practice of granting " discharge allowances". Here again, it appears necessary, in considering the
bewildering variety of supplementary wages, to remember the
influence of traditional manners in Japan.
It has been no part of the purpose of this study to compare
the wages paid in Japan with those of other countries. Such
a comparison would, indeed, be extremely difficult in view of
the impossibility of establishing tables of real wages owing to the
absence of a satisfactory cost-of-living index. Considered in
terms of money alone, and even in relation to such information
regarding the international purchasing power of money in Japan
as is available, wages would appear to be low. But in order that
real wages in Japan may be properly estimated and compared
with those of other countries, it would be very desirable that
more complete cost-of-living figures should be compiled and
published at frequent intervals. Such information would also
be of great value to employers, workers, and to the administrative
authorities in Japan, and would in particular be useful in examining the question of the need for establishing minimum wage
fixing machinery.
Another important group of problems are those of social
insurance. Japan already har a health insurance system, the
adapted extension of which to seamen has been for some time
under consideration. The system of workmen's compensation
for accidents, the principles of which are laid down in the
Factorv Act and regulations, and the corresponding provisions of

376

INDUSTRIAL

LABOUR IN JAPAN

t.he mining legislation, have also been considerably extended in
recent years both as regards the accidents which give title to
compensation and the classes of workers covered. Moreover, the
legal requirements are supplemented by voluntary action by the
employers and mutual aid. The accident rates seem to be high,
however, especially in mines, and although increasing attention
is being given to safety, there might be an advantage in approaching this problem from the angle of extended compensation
arrangements, whether by the introduction of accident insurance
or otherwise, as well as from that of the legal regulations regarding safety. Incidentally, it may be noted that the morbidity rates
seem to be high, according to the not very recent information
available, which has been included in this study in the absence
of more recent data.
It has already been mentioned that considerable numbers of
workers, especially the young women who form the bulk of
the workers in the textile industry, are recruited at a distance and
from the rural population. This fact gives rise to two problems :
the methods of recruiting and the dormitory system, both of
which have been the subject of regulations. The recruiting
regulations, however, do not deal with a practice that has been
held to involve in some cases the restriction of the personal
liberty of the workers concerned, i.e. the system of loans or
advances on wages. The incentive to take employment in the
case of many young women workers is stated to be the desire
and the customary obligation to aid their parents, and it is the
practice of recruiters to make loans or advances of wages to the
parents which are sometimes such that the repayment of the loan
or advance can only be accomplished by a long period of service.
This problem is not peculiar to Japan, and has been dealt with
in some other countries by the legal restriction of the amounts
of loans and advances, a restriction which has been found to be
necessary in order to prevent the loan system from acting as a
cause of debt servitude.
Many conflicting opinions have been expressed regarding
the dormitory system. The system arose from the need of housing
workers recruited at a distance from the place of employment,
and the restrictions placed on the freedom of movement of the
young women workers mainly concerned have obvious grounds
of justification. Moreover, it would appear from the evidence
given in this volume that conditions in the dormitories are

CONCLUSION

377

satisfactory, at any rate in the case of the larger undertakings.
Nevertheless, the limitations of personal liberty involved have
appeared excessive to some observers, and the question of
combining the advantages of the system with a greater degree of
freedom of movement will no doubt continue to be examined.
As the chapter on unemployment has shown, this problem
is one of grave concern in Japan as in other industrial countries.
In spite of the relatively recent constitution of the urban working
populations, contact with the land has in many cases been lost.
Moreover, and it is here that the restrictions on Japanese migration affect the unemployment problem most directly, the agricultural districts are overcrowded and the populations impoverished, so that they are unable to absorb the unemployed, to
whose numbers, on the contrary, they add from their own surplus. The Japanese Government has endeavoured to alleviate
unen~ploymentby the organisation of free public employment
exchanges and by promoting public works and expanding exports;
unemployment insurance does not, however, yet appear to have
been contemplated. Nevertheless, whatever success such measures
may have, they cannot solve the problem, since even if the present
crisis is overcome the ranks of the unemployed are increased by
technological unemployment (displacement of man-power by
machinery), which goes hand in hand with the development of
modern industry. The Japanese Government will therefore find
it necessary to give attention to t11e possibilities which are now
being discussed in all industrial countries of spreading the
available enlployment over a larger number of workers. It
remains, however, very doubtful how far such measures, even
were they supplemented by birth control, which has not yet
found wide favour in Japan, could meet the problem of pressure
of population. The question of obtaining facilities for the emigration of its surplus population is t h u ~likely to continue to be
of the utmost importance for Japan.
The last part of this study dealt with the welfare institutions
of Japan, workers' education and co-operation. The development
of welfare institutions is one of the most characteristic leatures
of Japanese industrial organisation, and, as was emphasised above,
the influence of the traditional Japanese conceptions of social
relations is here particularly noticeable. No doubt the definition
of wrlfare work will seem to Western readers to be widely drawn,
and many of the things left to welfare schemes are prescribed by

378

IADCSTRIAL LABOUR I N J A P A N

-

law, custom or agreement in other industrial communities. It
seems probable that in Japan evolution will be in the direction of
the regulation by statute or collective agreement of some matters,
such as the forms of supplementary wages, now classified as
welfare institutions. However, the system is unquestionably a
humanising factor in Japanese industry, and, with the development of the workers' participation in the organisation of welfare,
it seems calculated to exercise a useful influence in the integration
of the new forms of industrial relations in the traditional framework of Japanese society.
Finally, it will be noted that the general educational system
has been developed to a remarkable extent, and that specifically
workers' education institutions are being actively promoted.
The same observation is true of co-operation. Up to the present
co-operation has developed most extensively amongst farmers
and small shopkeepers, and the results achieved with Government
support by co-operative credii, societies are most encouraging.
With the increasing interest of industrial workers in co-operation
and workers' education, these forms of social activity seem
destined to play an important part in the life of the working
people of Japan.
In reviewing, in this Conclusion, the main problems which
seem to emerge from the study of industrial labour in Japan,
it has been seen that in two essential respects the International Labour Organisation has been a powerful factor on the side
of progress : in providing as it were a nucleus around which the
trade union movement has been able to grow and consolidate, and
in furnishing by its Conventions some part of the impetus and
direction of the evolution of labour legislation in Japan. In both
these respects the Organisation has exercised a normalising and
salutary influence on the industrial life of Japan. It is impossible
to read the story told in this volume of the confusion and conflict - with all their inherent dangers -in the early development
of trade unionism in Japan, especially if the reader calls to mind
the history of trade unionism in European countries, without
realising the importance and advantage, both for the workers and
the nation, of any influence which makes for unity, rational
concentration on the proper purposes of industrial associations,
and the growth of the sense of responsibility. It is equally
impossible for those who have studied the industrial history of
European countries to under-estimate the importance of any

.

CONCLUSION

379

influence which, by raising the standards of conditions of labour,
contributes at once to the peaceful and orderly development and
to the efficiency of industry.
Perhaps in the future the usefulness of the Organisation to
Japan and to the other countries of Asia can be increased. Among
the problems of a more special character which have been
mentioned in these pages are some which, mutatis mutandis,
arise also in other lands of Asia. Their special treatment, both
by study, by discussion and eventually by decision of the International Labour Conference, would be of signal service to the
progress and stability of the rapidly evolving Asiatic countries.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

CONSPECTUS OF JAPANESE LABOUR LAWS
I. General provisions relating to labour.
Laws regulating factory work.
IIT. Laws regulating mining work.
1v. Laws regulating maritime work.
v . Laws regulating employment exchanges and recruilment of labour.
VI. Laws regulating health insurance.
VII. Laws regulating workmen's compensation.
VIII. Laws regulating conciliation of labour disputes.
IX. Miscellaneous laws (co-operation, migration, labour statistics, etc.) I .
11.

Civil Code, 1896.
Act No. 89 of 1 April 1896, enforced from 1 July 1898. Book 111,
Chapter I1 : Contract. Part 8 : Employment (623-631).
11. - LAWSREGULATING FACIYIHY
WL~W
(1)

Factory Act, 1911 (L.S., 1923, Jap. 1, Appendix)

Act No. 46 of 28 March 1911, enforced from 1 September 1916. Scope
of application and exceptions (I) ; minimum age of employment and
exceptions (2) ; working hours of women and young persons, overtime
permitted for fifteen years (3) ; prohibition of nightnork and exceptions (4-6) ; holidays, rest-hours and shifts (7) ; exceptions regarding
hours of work, nightwork, holidays, etc., in cases of natural calamity,
unavoidable or temporary necessity and busy seasons (8); dangerous and
unhygienic work prohibited to women and young persons (9-11) ; protection of maternity and sick persons (12) ; hygiene, morality and public
welfare (13) ; factory inspection (14) ; compensation for injury, sickness
and death (15) ; apprentices, employment and discharge of workers and
employment agencies (16-17) ; factory manager (18-19) ; punitive rules (20-

1 The abole classification of labonr laws bas been made entirely arhitrarily.
Often the
laws apply to various kinds of work. l'hns, lor t.xamplo, both the Minimum 4 ~ of
e Industrial
Workers Act, classified here under " factory work " and the Orrlinancc for the relief of State
workers classified under
Laws regulating workmen's compensalion " apply to factory as well
as mining lahonr. As far as the texts have been published by the Tnternational Labour Office
in the Legislative Series, they are indicated with their serial number in each case immediately
after the title of the law. The small fignrrs in parenlheses denolo the sections of the law
referred to.

384

IKDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

22) : appeal and administrative litigation (23) ; application of the Act
to factories employing motive power (24) ; application of the Act to
State-owned factories (25). Date of enforcement (Additior~alrule).
(2)

O r d i n a n c e f o r t h e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e Factory A c t , 1916 (L.S., 1926,
Jap. 1 8).

Imperial Ordinance No 193 of 2 August 1916, enforced from 1 September 1916. Chapter I : general provisions (1-3) ; factories exempted
from the application of the Act (1-2) ; dangerous or unhealthy work to
which the Act applies regardless of the number of operatives engaged (3).
Chapter I1 : relief to workers and their surviving family (4-20) ; compensation for injury, sickness or death (4) ; employers' liability in case of
injury or sickness of workers (5, 14-17) ; absence allowance when the
abserlce from work is due to medical treatment (6, 13) ; rate of compensation for various degrees of injury (7) ; family benefit in case of death
of worker (8) ; funeral expenses (9) ; recipients of family benefit (1012) ; control of compensation by local governor (18-19) ; compensation
in State-owned factories (20). Chapter If1 : employment and discharge
of workers and emplojment agencies (21-27); name list of workers (21) ;
wage payment (22-23) ; morkers' savings (24-25) ; education of joung
workers (26) ; repatriation expenses (27). Chapter IV : apprenticeship
(28-32) ; conditions for taking apprentices (28-29) ; hygiene and safety
for female or young apprentices (30) ; official supervisioil (31-32).
Chapter V : punitive rules 133-36) ; additional rules, on the d a t ~
of enforcement, temporary exemptions from the application of the Act, etc.
(1-6'1
(3) Regulations for t h e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n of t h e Faclory 4 c t , 1916 ( L . S . , 1923,
Tap. 1 C'i.

Ordinance of the Department of Aqriculture and Commerce. No. 19 of
3 August 1916, enforced from 1 September 1916. "Motive power" defined (1) ;
polvers of local governor (2) : longer working hours for mechanical filature, cotton spinning and certain mills for silk weaving for export (3) '
long hours or suspension of rest days controlled (4) ; dangerous work
defined ( 5 ) ; unhealthy work defined (6) ; sickness barred from emplovment (8) ; maternity period defined (9) ; works regulations and wage
payment (12) ; relief and medical diagnosis (13-14) ; serious injuries
and accidents requiring report to the authorities (25-26) ; punitive rules
(30'1 ; date of enforcement and transitory rules (37-42).
(4)

Factory Act A m e n d m e n t A c f , 1923 ( L . S . , 1923, Tap. 1'1

Act No. 33 of 29 March 1923, enforced from 1 Septemhrr 1926. Thr
amendments made by the new Act are incorporated in the text of the original Factory Act of 1911 and are indicated by italicise? letters in t h ~
Lepislative Series. Important amendments relate to : scope of application (1) ; minimum age rule deleted (2) ; working hours and age limit
of young persons (3) ; night work (4'1 ; delay of fifteen years for the
application of the rules deleted 15-61 ; rest days (7'1 ; exceptions for
substances liable to deteriorate rapidly (8) ; age limit of young persons
employable for dangerous or unhvgienic work (9.11 ) : maternity protection (12) ; instructions to workers and apprentices regarding hygiene,
morality and public welfare (13) ; medical inspection (14'1 : rlainl for
compensation (15) ; punitive rules (20-21'1 ; additional rules
(5)

A m e n d e d O r d i n a n c e for t h e A r l m i n i s t m t i o ~ of / h e P a c f o r r Act, 1026
( L . S . , 1926, Jap. 1 B).

Tmperial Ordinanre No. 153 of 5 Tllne 1926. enforced from 1 September 1926. The amendments made b y this Ordinanw aw incorporated in

APPENDIX I

385

the text of the original Ordi~~ance
of 1916 and are indicated by italicised
letters in the Legislative Series. Important amendments relate t o :
dangerous or unhealthy work to which the Act applies regardless of the
number of operatives engaged (3) ; amount of absence allowance (6) ;
workmen's compensation (7) ; exemption from employer's liability (7bisl .
scope and amounts of family benefit (9-12) ; relation to the health
insurance scheme (13bis-14) ; wages calculation for granting allowances
(16) ; payment of a fortnight's wages in case of immediate dismissal of
worker (27bisl ; works regulations compulsory in factories with fifty or
more operatives (27rpater) ; punitive rules (33).
(6) Amended Regulations for the Administration of the Factory Act, 1926
(L.S., 1926, Tap. 1 C j .
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 13 of 7 June 1926,
enforced from 1 September 1926. The amendments made by these Regulations are incorporated in the text of the original Regulations of 1916 and
are indicated by italicised letters in the Legislative Series. Important
amendments relate to : limits on long working hours for mechanical
filatures and certain mills for silk weaving for export (3) ; long hours or
suspension of rest days controlled (4) ; wide notification of works regulations and modes of wage payment (12-12bis) ; control of dismissal of
workers (19) : reports reqnired on serious injuries and arridents (25-26'1.
(7) Act to amend the Factory 4ct, 1929 (L.S., 1929. Tap. 1 A)
Act No. 21 of 27 March 1929, enforced from 1 September 1929. Th?
amendment, by revising section 24 only, empowers the competent Minister
to apply the limitation of working hours of women and young persons (3),
prohibition of night work (4) : holidays and rest periods (7) ; etc., beside
the other limitations already applicable by the existing provisions, to factories using motive power regardless of the number of operatives engaged,
provided, however, that the working hours as limited by section 3 may be
prolonged by one hour till 1 Septemher 1931.
(8) Amendrnenf lo the Regulations for t h e Administration of the Factory
Act, 1929 (L.S., 1929, Jap. 1 B).
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, NO. 16 of 18 May 1929,
enforced from 1 Septemher 1929. The amendment, by adding a new section 27 to the original Regulations, subjerts the factories which employ
motive power and are e n g a ~ e din weaving or doubling, regardless of the
nurnher of operatives engaged, to the application of sections 3, 4, 7, 8, 14
and 18-23 of the Factory Act and of sections 2, 4, 11, 12 (paragraph 2),
21 and 22 of the Regulations.
(9)

Amendment to the Ordinance for the Administration of the Factory
Act, 1929 (L.S., 1929, Tap. 1 C ) .

Imperial Ordinance No. 202 of 25 June 1929, enforced from 1 .July 1929.
The amendment, by revising section 9, has raised the amount of the
funeral benefit and also by revising section 27, brought the Ordinance
into harmony with the Health Insurance Act regarding repatriation of the
worker.
(10) Amendment to the Regulations for the Adminislration of ihe Factory
Act, 1930 (L.S., 1930, .Tap. 2).
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 24 of 24 Tune 1930,
enforced from 1 July 1930. This is an amendment to the amendment of
1926. Ry deleting the words " manufacture of silk thread by machinery "
from section 3, the law subjects that process of work to a strict application
INDUSTRIAL 1,ABOUn I N JAPAN

26

38G

IRUUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

of the limits of working hours of the Factory Act, section 3, as from
1 luly 1930 instead of 31 August 1931, except where the workers are
divided into two or more shifts and working alternately.
(11) Minimum Aye of Industrial I170rkers Act ', 1923 (L.S., 1923, Jap. 2).
Act No. 34 of 29 March 1923, enforced from 1 July 1926. " Industry ''
defined (1) ; minimum age of employment and exceptions (2) ; register
of young workers under sixteen years of age (3) ; inspection of workplaces (4) ; free grant of certificate of census register (5) ; punitive rules
(6-10).
(12) I:c!gulaiions for the Administration of the Alinimum 4ge of Industrial
Workers Act, 1926.
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 14, of 7 Tune 1926,
enforced from 1 .July 1926. " Administrative authorities " defined (1) ;
register of workers (2) ; inspector's certificate (3) ; transitory and punitive rules (additional rules).
(13) Regulations for the Dormitories attached to Facloriek, 1927 (L.S.,
1927, Jap. 2 ) .
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 26 of 6 April 1927,
enfo~cedfrom 1 July 1927 ; except sections 4 and 13 enforced from
1 July 1928 ; sections 2, 7, 8 and 12 from 1 July 1929 and sections 6 and
9-11 from 1 luly 1930. Scope of application of the Regulations (1) ; cases
where a bnildirig separate from the factory is required for bedrooms (2) :
bedrooms not allowed above the third floor (3) ; doors to open outside (4) ;
height of rooms (5) ; ceiling required (6) ; requirements for windows 17) ,
earthen floor forbidden (8) ; floor space of bedrooms (9) ; maximum
number of occupants per bedroom (10) ; bedrooms for workers working
i n shifts (11) ; bedding accommodation (12) ; stools in dining rooms
(13); table ware (14) ; persons suffering from certain diseases barred
from employment in dormitories (15) ; medical examination of inmates
(16) ; spittoons (17) ; washing accommodation (18) ; disinfection (19) :
latrines and wash-basins (20) ; rules for management of dormitory controlled officially (21) ; affixing of the rules for public notice (22) ;
exceptions (23) ; dates of enforcement (additional rules).
(14) A,menrlment to the Regulations for the Dormitories attached to Factortes, 1929 ( L . S . , 1929, Jap 5 ) .
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 36 of 23 August 1929,
enforced from 1 September 1929, except section 3bis enforced from 1 September 1931. Amendments relate to : scope of application (1) ; detailed
requirements about staircases for fire-escape purposes in buildings where
not less than fifteen workers are regularly accommodated in bedrooms
(3bis, i-ix) ; proper signs required for staircases, passages, etc. (3ter) ;
dates of enforcement (additional rules).
(15) Prohibition of Whitp Phosphorus Malches A c t , 1921 (T,.S., 1921,
Jap. 5 ) .
Act No. 61 of 9 April 1921. enforced from 1 Tuly 1922 Prohibition of
the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches (1) ; prohihition of the use, sale, importation, etc. (2) ; official inspection (3) ; ptlttit h e rnles (4-7); date of enforcement (additional rule).
-

This Act applies not only to factory work hnt also to mining, constructional and
huilding work, transportation of goods or passengers and handling of goods at docks and
wharves.
1

-

(16)

APPENDIX I

387
4

h'egulations for. Accidenl Precentioi~and llygiene in Factories, 1929
(L.S., 1929, Tap. 4 ) .

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 24 of 20 June 1929,
enforced from 1 September 1929 except sections 16, 28 (paragraph I ) and
38 which have been enforced from 1 September 1930. Certain safety or
hygienic accommodations existing at the time the Regulations went into
effect also allowed to remain unchanged for one or two years. Scope of
application (1) ; fencing or covering on motors (2) ; belts connected with
motors (3) ; couplings, clutches, etc., with screws, bolts or nuts (41 ;
fly-wheels (5) ; belts connected with fly-wheel (61 ; oiling arrangement
( 7 ) , brake on motor (81 ; signal for starting motor-operation 19) ;
fence or cover on m:rchines moxed hy motor (10) ; arrangement prekenting the access to certain machines unless their motion is stopped (11) .
brake on each machine operated by motor (12) ; brake on certain
rollers (13) ; cap and over-all requircd (14) ; fencing at the entrance to
elevator and other similar dangerous spots (15) ; safety appliances for
ladders (16) ; passage space hetween machines (17) ; signs at dangerous
places (18-19) ; e\plosive and inflammable substances (20-23) ; fire
escapes m d exits (23-25) ; " no admittance " to certain dangerous places
(26-27) ; dangers of gas, steam, etc. (28-30) ; lighting (31) ; first-aid
equipments (32) ; cleanliness of dining room and vessels (33) ; separate
dressing and I~athroomsfor men and women (34) ; discretion of the local
governor for other precautions (35); punitive rule (36); dates of enforcement (additional rule).

(1)

Mining Act, 1905 (L.S., 1924, Tap. 2, Footnote).

Act No. 45 of 1 March 1905, enforced from 1 July 1905. Chapter 1 :
general provisions ; " mining " defined (1) : " miner " defined (8)
Chapter IV : mining police (71-74). Chapter V (75-80) : miners, rules
of employment supervised (75) ; miners' list (76) ; discharge certificate
(77) ; wage payment (78) ; age and hours of work of miners, limitations
on employment of women and young persons to be regulated (79) ; workmen's compensation (80). Chapter VITT : punitive rules (97-100).

(21

Regulations for t h e Employment and Relief of Miners. 1916 (L.S.,
1926, Tap. 2 R ) .

Ordinance of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce No. 21 of
3 August 1916, enforced from 1 September 1916. Concerning the rules of
e~nploymentand labour of miners (1, 36-38) ; suspension of the rules (2) ;
miners' name list (3) ; record of discharges and deaths of miners (4) ;
minimum age of miners (5) ; working hours of women and young persons (6) ; night work of women and young persons (7-8) ; rest period
and holidays for women and young persons (9-10, 35) ; exceptions in case
of natural calamity (11) ; dangerous or unhygienic work of women and
young persons (12-13) ; protection of sick persons and women after childbirth (14-15) ; compensation for injury, sickness and death of miners (1734, 39-42) ; date of enforcement and transitory and punitive rules (43-47).

(3)

Mining Police Regulations, 1916.

Ordinance of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, No. 22 ot
3 August 1916, enforred from 1 September 1916. Sections 1-77.

388

INDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

( 4 ) Mining Act A m e n d m e n t Act, 1924 ( L . S . , 1924, Jap. 2 )
Act No. 22 of 22 July 1924, enforced from 1 July 1 9 2 e 1 . Under the
Amendment Act, with the revised section 80, the workmen's compensatiot~
may be given to any person who was dependent on the earnings of the
deceased at the time of the death of the miner. Also the words " without
serious fault of his own " have been deleted.
( 5 ) Amended Regulations for t h e E m p l o y m e r ~ land Relief of Miners, 1926
( L . S . , 1926, .lap. 2 B ) .

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, Ao. 17 of 24 June 1926,
enforced from 1 .July 1926. The amendments made by this Ordinance are
incorporated in the text of the original Regulations of 1916 and are indicate1
by italicised letters. Important amendments relate to : rules of employment of miners ( 1 ) ; register of miners ( 2 ) ; minimum age rule deleted
( 5 ) ; working hours of women and young workers (6) ; hours underground (new Gbis) ; maternity protection (15-16) ; absence allowance ( 1 9 ) ;
compensation rates (20-22) ; person, frequency and other conditions for
the payment of compensation (25-26) ; rules brought in harmony with
the Health Insurance Act (26bis-29) ; date of enforcement and transitory
rules (additional rules).
( 6 ) A m e n d m e n t to the Regulations for the Employment and Relief of
Miners, 1928 ( L . S . , 1928, Jap. 1 ) .

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 30 of 1 September 1928, enforced from the date of promulgation. Important amentlments relate to : limit of underground work for all miners regardless of
age or sex ( 5 ) ; prohibition of night work of women and young persons,
with three years' delay (7 and additional rule) ; permission to work longer
hours till 11 p.m. or 12 mid-night ( 7 , paragraphs 2 , 3 and 4 ) ; calculation
of time in pit (7bis) ; exceptions on hours of work in case of temporary
necessity occasioned by an actual or imminent danger or unavoidable
cause ( 1 1 ) ; underground work prohibited to women and young persons
and exceptions ( l l b i s ) ; three years' delay for the above rule (additional
rule) ; punitive rules (38'1.

(7) A m e n d m e n t to the Regulations for the E m p l o y m e n t and Relief of
Mzners, 1929 ( L . S . , 1929, Jap. 3 ) .

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior. No. 25 of 26 June 1929,
enforced from 1 July 1929. The amendment, by revising section 22, has
raised the amount of funeral benefit.

IV. - LAWSREGULATING MARITIMEWORK'
( 1 ) Commercial Code, 1899 =.
Act No. 48 of 9 February 1899, enforced from 16 June 1899 3 . Book V :
merchant marine. Chapter I1 : mariners. Division 1 : the master (558.
575'1. Division 2 : seamen (576-589).

(2) Mariners' Act, 1 8 9 g 2 .
Act No. 47 of 9 February 1899, enforced from 16 Tune 1899. Chapter 1 :
1

The .4menilment

9ct

\\as

put

into operation hy Imperial Ordinance

No.

199 of

23 June 1926 (cl. L.S., 1926, Jap. 2 A ) .
For the Enplieh translation of the laws IV, 1-4, see Seamen's Articles of Agreement
publighed by the INTERYITIOYAL L ~ O U ROFFICE, Studies and Reports, Series P, NO. 1, pp. 744-769:
This Act \\-ac put into operation hy Imperial Ordinance No. 133 of 1899.
2

J

389

APPENDIX I

general provisions (1-2). Chapter I1 : mariners' service-book (3-12).
Chapter 111 : the master (13-25). Chapter I V : seamen (26-35). Chapter V :
discipline (36-45).
Chapter V I : punitive rules (46-74). Additional,
transitory rules (75-80).
(8)

Regulations lor the Adinir~istraliorz of l h e Mariners' Act, 1899 '.

Ordinance of the Department of Communication, ho. 25 of 16 J u n e 1899,
enforced from the date of promulgation. Chapter I : general provisions
(1-4). Chapter I1 : mariners' service book (5-12). Chapter 111 : the master (13-24). Chapter IV : seamen (25-48). Chapter V : fees (49-50).
Chapter V I : p u n i t b e rules (61). Transitory rules (52-62).
(4)

Mariners' Punishment Act, 1896 I .

Act No. 69 of 1 April 1896, enforced from 1 July 1897. Chapter I :
geueral provisions (1-7). Chapter I1 : organisation and jurisdiction of the
Maritime Court (8-14). Chapter 111 : procedure prior to trial (15-18).
Chapter IV : trial at the Local Maritime Court (19-38). Chapter V : trial
a t the Higher Rlaritimc Court (39-43). Chapter VI : execution (44-45).
Chapter VII : p u n i t b e rules (46-47) ; transitory rules (48-50).
(5)

Seamen's Minimum Age and Health Certificate Acf, 1923 (L.S., 1923,
Jap. 3).

Act. No. 35 of 29 March 1923, enforced from 15
Scope of application of the Act (1) ; minimum age
tions (2) ; health certificate for seamen under the age
register of seamen under eighteen ( 4 ) ; inspection of
issue of certificate of censns register (6) ; p u n i t h e rules
rules (additional rules).
(6)

December 1923'.
limit and escepof eighteen (3) :
\essels (5) ; free
(7-9) ; transitory

?rrlinance concerning Seamen's Minimurn Age and IIealth Certiflcatr, 1923 (L.S., 1923, lap. 4 Bl.

Imperial Ordinauce No. 482 of 19 November 1923, enforced from
15 December 1923. The Ordinance exempts vessels below certain capacity
or tonnage from the application of certain Articles (3, 4 , etc.) of the
abo\ e Act (1-3).
(7)

Regulations for the Administration of the Seamen's Minimum Age
and Health Certificntr Acf, 1923 ( L . . S . , 1928, .Tap. 2 D'1.

Ordinance of the Department of Communication, No 96 of 20 Novernher 1923, enforced from 15 December 1923. Details for receiving permission for emplojing children under fourteen years of age (1-2) ; health
certificate (3-5) ; register of seamen under eighteen (6) ; othrr details (710) ; date of enforcement and transitory rules.
(8)

4cf to Amrnrl i??r 9eamrn's Minimum Age a n d I I ~ n l t h Certificate
let, 1927 ( L . S . . 1927. lxp. 3 1 .

Act No. 2 of 23 February 1927, enforced from 20 Fehruary 192g3. By
this Act, the title of the original Act has heen changed to the " Minimum
Age Act for Seamen ". By adding a new section ( 2 b i s ) , eighteen years
has been fixed as the minimum ape for trimmers or stokers ; exceptions
for vessels in ports where persons not lesq than eighteen years are not
1 For the Ihglirh translation of the l a v s IV, 1-4, cec Seamen's Articles
p ~ ~ h l i s h eby
d th? ISTERVATIONAI,
LABOUR
OFFICE,5t11di~sanfl Reports, Series P, No.
2 T h i ~4cf was put info operation hy Imperial Ordinance No. 481 of 19
(cf. ILS., 10'23, Jap. 4 -4).
3 l'hi.: I r t was nnt info nwvntion Iiv Imwrinl 01.dinancr "0. 12 ol 10
(cf. L.S., 11328, Jap. 2 4 ) .

of Agreement,

1, pp. 744-769.
Kovemher 1923
Febn:arr 1928

390

ISDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

-

--

available ; for vessels plying exclusively between .Japanese ports and vessels mainly propelled hy other means t h a n steam or school-shi~s.
(9)

Amended Ordinance for the Administration of the Minimum Ags.
Act for Seamen, 1928 (L.S., 1928, rap. 2 B ) .

Imperial Ordinance No. 13 of 10 February 1928, enforced from
20 Fehruary 1928. This Ordinance, by revising sections 1, 2 and 3 only,
has brought the original Ordinance of 1923 into harmony w i t h t h e
Amendment Act of 1927.

(10)

Amended Regulations for t h e Administration of the Minimum Age
.Act for Seamen, 1928 (L.S., 1928, Sap. 2 D ) .

Ordinance of the Department of Communication No. 6 of 13 February 1928, enforced from 20 February 1928. The amendments made by
this Ordinance are incorporated i n the text of t h e original Ordinance of
1923 and are indicated by italicised letters i n t h e Legislative Series. The
amendment, by adding a new section (2bis>, limits the employment of
trimmers or stokers under eighteen years of age o n vessels plying only
betneen Japanese ports, to vessels of a gross tonnage not exceeding
2.000 tons. Amendments ill other sections are slight verbal modifications
to hring the Regulations into harmony v i t h the Amendment Act of 1927.

(1)

Employment Exchanges Acl, 1921 ( L . S . , 1921, Jap. 1-4).

Act No. 55 of 8 April 1921, enforced from 1 Tuly 1921, except sections 7
and 12 which u e r e put into operation as from 1 April 1923'. Employment
exchanges established by city, town or village (1-47 ; exchanges established
by other bodies ( 5 ) ; employment exchanges to be free of charge (6) :
central and local boards of employment exchanges (7) ; employment
exchange commissions (8) ; expenses of the exchanges and t h e State
suh\ention (9-10) : co-ordination supervision and control of the work
(11-13) ; fee-charging or profit-making employment agencies (14) ; other
r u k s (157 ; date of ellforcement and transitory rules (additional rules).

( 2 ) Ordinance for the .Idministration of the Employment Exchanges Arf.
1921 (L.S., 1921, Jap. 3 ) .
Tn~perial Ordinalice "lo. 292 of 28 Tune 1921, enforced from 1 Tulv
1921 ' Cities, towns and killages \\ hich may be ordered by t h e Minister
of the Interior to set u p employment exchanges (17; State subvention
(2) . loaning of travelling expenses to t h e personq placed by t h e exchanges
(31 other r111~914-5'1 : date of enforcenient and transiton rules (additiorla1 rules)

(3)

Regalnlions for the Arlrninistrotion of the Emplo?n?enf En-lzon!les
A c t , 1921 (L.S., 1921, Tap. 4'1

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No 16 of 29 Tune 1921,
enforced from 1 .July 1921 3. Report of the mayor of city, town or village
1 Imperial Ordinance Yo. 291 of 28 .lone 1921 (cf. Z.S., 1921, Jap. 3).
Also Imperial
Ordinance To. 106 of 31 #larch 1923 (cf. L.S., 1925, ap. 1, Appendix i ) .
2 S l i ~ h l l v modified bv Imperial Ordinance To. 108 of 31 March 1923, enforced from
1 knril 1923. m e n d m r n t concizt~ in c ~ ~ h ~ t i t n t i the
n s words "the prefectural eovernor "
for " the chief of the local emplojmeot exchange board " in section 4 (cf. L.S., 1925, Jap. 1,
Appr11,li~ i i i ) .
3 Slimhfly modified I y Imp?rial Ordinance Yo. 9 of 31 Varrh 1923. enforced from
1 April 1923. The amendment consists chiefly i n hringing the Regulations into harmony with
the amended Tmprrial Ordinance Ko. 108 of 1923 (L..S., 1925, Jnp. 1, Appendix i v ) .

APPENDIX I

391

to the chief of the Local Board of Employment Exchanges ( 1 ) ; contm!
and co-ordination of t h e work of the exchanges (2-5, 9 - 2 2 ) ; employment
exchange commission ( 6 - 8 ) ; reports for every ten days, m o n t h and three
months ( 2 3 ) ; abolition of employment exchanges ( 2 4 ) ; date of enforcement (additional rule).

( 4 ) Ordinance concerning the Organisation of the Employment Exchange
Boards, 1923 ( L . S . , 1925, .lap. I , Appendix ii).
Imperial Ordinance No. 107 of 31 March 1923, enforced from 1 April
1933. Functions of the Employment Exchange Boards ( 1 ) ; central and
1oc:il boards ( 2 - 4 ) ; staff ( 5 - 7 ) ; supervision of the work (8-10) ; date of
e~lforcement (additional rules).

( 5 ) Ordinance concerning the Organisation of the Employment Exchange
Commissions, 1924 ( L . S . , 1924, Jap. 1 ) .
Imperial Ordinance No. 20 of 20 February 1924, enforced from the date
of promulgation. Functions of the commissions ( 1 ) ; central and district
commissions ( 2 - 3 ) ; composition and appointment of t h e commissions
(4-6) ; term of office 17) ; chairman (8) ; secretaries (9-10) ; date of
enforcement (additional rule) .
Amendment to the Ordinance for the Adminisfration of the Employment Exchanges Acf, 1925 ( L . S . , 1925, Jap. 1 B ) .

(6)

Tmperial Ordinance No. 240 of 24 J u n e 1925, enforced from the date of
promulgation. The Ordinance, by adding two new paragraphs to section .3
of the original Ordinance of 1921, authorises cities, towns or villages to
advance from their moneys the wages of the workers employed through
pul-hir employment exchanges.

(71 Requlations for fhe Control of Profit-Mnliing Employmenf Bxchnnges,
1925 ( L . S . , 1925, lap. 1 C).
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 3997 of 19 December
1925, enforced from 1 .January 1927. Definition of terms employed ( 1 ) ;
control by the local police and the local governor ( 2 ) ; persons i n certain
trades barred from engaging i n profit-making exchange business (3) : staff
of the exchanges controlled ( 4 ) ; discrimination imposed o n profit-making
exchanges ( 5 ) ; no remuneration other than regular fee must be charged
( 7 ) : acts prohibited to the person engaged i n the bnsiness ( 8 - 9 ) : hooks
and reports required (10-13) ; official inspection and sanctions (14-19) .
arlnhistrative details (20-22) ; exch~sion of the business of placing t h e
g e i ~ h aand barmaids from the application of these Regulations (231 ; feecharging (non-profit making) agencies (241 ; date of enforcement and
transitory rules (additional rules).

(8) Nofificotion concerning Reduction of Railway onrl S t ~ n m b o a tF o r ~ s ,
1923

( L . S . , 1925, rap. 1 V ) .

Notification of the Department of the Interior, No. 290 of 26 September
1953, enforced from 1 Octoher 1923. In virtue of this Notification, warrants

'

The numhrr of the local hoards and of the staff h?ve heen snccecsirelv increased hv the
amcnrlmrnt* tn the Ordinnnce ns promrllcated by Imperial Ordinanre Fo. 127 of 11 4nri1'1925
(cf. L.S., 1925, Jap. 1 A ) ; Imperial Ordinance No. 71 of 8 April 1917; Imperial Ordinance
No. 100 of 28 hlav 1930, etc.
"~r.~rlically the same privilcoc has hem granted l o the seamen nlared hv the Seamen's
Emplo?.ment Exchanges, by the Notification of the llepartment of Communication, No. 1827 of
27 neremher 192.7 (cf. L S., 1923, Jap. 1 , Appendix vi).

392

IRDUSTRIAL LABOLR IN JAPAN

are issued by the employment exchanges whereby the workers who found
employment through them may receive a 50 per cent. reduction on the
railways or steamboats of the Japanese State Railways in going to the
place of work (sections 1-10).
(9)

Seamen's Employment Enhanges Act, 1922 ( L . S . , 1922, lap. 2)

Act No. 38 of 11 April 1922, enforced from 1 December 1922 I . Scope
of epplication of the Act (1) ; official permission for starting an exchange
(2) ; the State or a body corporate, receiving the State subsidy, may engage
in seamen's employment exchange (3) ; all fees and remuneration forbidden (4) ; management and co-ordination of the exchanges (5) ; Seamen's
Employment Exchange Commission ( 6 ) ; supervision and control of the
work (7) ; punitive rules ( 8 ) ; date of enforcement and transitory rules
(additional rules).
(10) Regulations for the Administration of the Seamen's Employment
Exchanges Act, 1922.
Ordinance of the Department of Commui~ication,No. 65 of 1 November
1922, enforced from 1 December 1922. Definition of terms employed
(1-2) ; powers of the Minister of Communication (3) ; permission of
maritime authorities for starting a seamen's employment exchange (4) ;
persons barred from the business of the exchange (5) ; suspension of t h ~
permission (6) ; official supervision and control (7-12) ; acts and trades
prohibited to the person engaged in the work of employment exchanges
113-17) ; method and order of placing the seamen (20-21) ; books (22-23);
fee-charging or profit-making exchanges (24-30) ; punithe rule (31) ;
date of enforcement (additional rule).
(11)

Amendment lo the Regulations for the Administration
Seamen's Employment Exchanges Act, 1930.

of the

Ordinance of the Department of Communication, So. 41 of 16 October
1930, enforced from 1 .January 1930. With partial amendment of phrases
in sections 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 20 and 22, additions of new sections 8bis and
quater and complete alteration of sections 21, 23 and 31, the amended
Regulations have rendered the official control of the seamen's employment
exchanges more complete than hitherto.
(12) Regulations for the Control of the Recruitment of Workers, 192:.
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 36 of 29 December
1924. Definition of terms (1) ; scope of application of the Regulations
(2) ; report to and permission of the local governor required (3-4) :
recruitment certificate (5-8) ; report to the local police required (9, 14-15) ;
recruiting agents' obligation to explain the conditions of employment (10) :
register of the applicants (11) ; acts prohibited to the recruiting agent
(12) ; repatriation of the workers (16) ; inspection of the recruiting agent
and suspension of thp permission (17-18) ; punitive rules (20-24) ; date
of enforcement and tranqitory rules (additional rules).

Hralth Insrzrancr A c t , 1922 (L.S., 1922, Jap. 3).
Act No. 70 of 22 April 1922, enforced from 1 July 1926, except the actual
grant of benefits which commenced as from 1 January 1927 '. Chapter I :
(1)

1 This Act was put into operation hy Imperial Ordinanre No. 497 o f 1 Yoternher 1922.
2 This date was fired by Act No. 34, Ilrnlth lnsiirancr Art Amendment Act of 27 March I926
(cl. L.S., 1926, Jap. 4 B ) .

APPENDIX I

393

general principles ( 1 - 1 2 ) . Chapter I1 : insured persons (13-21). Chapte~
111 : insurance carriers (22-42). Chapter V : insurance benefits (43-69).
Chapter V : defrayal of expenses (70-79). Chapter VI : application for
enquiries, appeals and legal proceedings ( 8 0 - 8 6 ) . Chapter VII : punitive
rules ( 8 7 - 9 1 ) , date of enforcement (additional rule).
( 2 ) Ordinance for the Administration of the Healtlt Insurance Act, 1926
( L . S . , 1926, Jap. 4 % ) .
Imperial Ordinance No. 243 of 30 June 1926, enforced from 1 July
1928. Chapter I : general principles ( 1 - 8 ) . Chapter 11: insured persons
( 9 - 1 0 ) . Chapter 111 : health insurance societies : Part 1 : establishment
of societies (11-18) ; Part 2 : society meetings (19-35) ; Part 3 : officers
of societies (36-43) ; Part 4 : finance (44-55) ; Part 5 : amalgamation,
division and dissolution of societies (56-70) ; Part 7 : supervision of
societies (71-73). Chapter IV : insurance benefits (74-89). Chapter V :
allocation of expenses (90-101). Chapter VI : application for enquiries and
appeals : Part I : organisation of the health insurance inquiry commissions (102-112) ; Part 2 : procedure of the health insurance inquiry
commissions (113-123) ; Part 3 : miscellaneous provisions (124-125) ;
date of enforcement and transitory rules (supplementary provisions).
( 3 ) Regulations for the Administration of the Health Insurance Act, 1926
( L . S . , 1926, Tap. 4 D ) .

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 36 of 1 July 1926,
enforced from the date of promulgatiorr for the most part (partly also from
1 October and 1 November 1926 and partly from 1 January 1927). Chapter
1 : general principles ( 1 - 9 ) . Chapter 11 : insured persons (10-23). Chapter I11 : health insurance societies ( 2 4 - 4 4 ) . Chapter IV : insurance benefits
(45-71). Chapter V : procedure of the enquiry mentioned in section 80 of
the Act 172-79). Chapter VI : penal provisions (80-81); dates of enforcement (supplementary rule).
Act to Establislt a Sprcial Account for Health Insurance, 1926 ( L . S . ,
1926, Jap. 4 A ) .
Act No. 26 of 27 March 1926, enforced from 1 January 1927. Creation
of a special account (1) ; annual revenue ( 2 ) ; maximum account
transferable from the General to the Special Account per annum ( 3 ) ;
reserve fund ( 4 ) ; loans ( 5 ) ; surplus (6) ; deficits (7) ; annual estimate
of revenue and expenditure ( 8 ) ; rules for the operation of the reserve
fund, etc. ( 9 ) ; date of enforcement (additional rule).
(4)

( 5 ) Amendment to the Ordinance for the Administration of the Health
Insurance Act, 1927 ( L . S . , 1927, Jap 4 A ) .

Imperial Ordinance No. 30 of 11 March 1927, enforced from 11 March
1927. By adding a new paragraph to section 100, it stipulates the way to
dispose of insurance contrihutions paid in excess of the correct amount.
(6)

Further Amendment to the Ordinance for the Administration of the
IIealth Insurance Act, 1927 (L.S., 1926, dap. 4 B ) .

Imperial Ordinance No. 220 of 30 June 1927, enforced from 30 Tune
1927. By adding a new paragraph to section 106, the meaning of the
"employer of insured persons" in case where the employer is the State or
a municipal authority is made clear.
( 7 ) Amendment to the Rrgulations for the Administration oj the Health
Insurance Act, 1927 ( L . S . , 1927, Tap. 4 C).

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No 40 of 3 October 1927,

enforced from the date of prorn~~lgation.By addition of a new paragraph
to, and also of a sub-paragraph Vbis to the first paragraph of, section 5;3,
further details are fixed regarding the medical attendance of a doctor or
a dentist.
(8)

A r t ~ c r ~ t l r n oto~ t the Hegululions for the Adrr~inislralionof the IlenltR
lnsctrcrnce Act, 1928 (L.S.. 1928, Jap. 3).

Ordinance of the 1)epartment of the Interior, No. 12 of 7 April 1928,
enforced frorn the date of promulgation. The amendments relate to : the
doctor's prescription requested hy an insured person (50) ; details of
medical attendance (5Gbis) ; certificate of rnctlical attent1,mce (66bis) ;
inspection of books or tlocuments regarding medicd attendance (6Gfc.r) ;
date of enforcement (additional rule).
Act lo Arncr~d the lleaIth Insurance Act, 1929 ( L . S . , 1929, I n p . 2 8 ) .

(9)

Act No. 20 of 27 March 1929. enforced frorn 1 J u n e 1929 '. Important
amendments rcla te to : report concerning employment, discharge,
remuneration, etc., of the employed person 18) ; rase of failure to pay
insurance contribution ( l l b i s ) ; preferential rights o n the insurance
money ( I l t r r ) ; minor amendments i n sections 13, 16, 20, 27 ; limit on
medical attendance or grant of pecuniary sick or accident Itenefit (47) ;
increase of the funeral benefit (49) ; minor amendments in sections 61,
81-86, 92-93 ; dates of enforrement (atlditional rule)
(10'1 Arnrnrlrncnt to the Ordinance lor the Administrntion of lhe Ilcalfh
, l r t , 1929 (L.S., 1929, Jap. 2 D ) .
lnsrr~~nncc
Imperial Ordinance No. 143 of 28 hlcty 1929, enforced from 1 Tune 1929.
Important amendments relate to : collection of contributions in arrears
and charging of service fee (5bis) ; fines to h r levird o n the contrih~rtions
paid as ahove (5tcr) ; contributions collected i n evcess of the correct
s
the normal tiate for
amonnt (100) : payment of c o n t r i h ~ ~ t i o nhefore
payment (IOlbisi : deletion of a section (124) : date of enforrrment
(addition;il rulc'i
(11)

A n ~ r r ~ c l m e ntot fhe Rcqc~lnlionsfor the I tlministrntion of thc Ilrcrllh
Inst~rnncrAct, 1929 ( L . S . , 1929, I,ip. 2 E ) .

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 18 of 1 .June 1929,
enforced from 1 Tune 1929. Important amendments relate to : details for
collectilrg the rontributions in arrears (6bis - qunfer) ; shortening of thrs
period d u r i n g which the employer m u s t keep the hooks regarding health
insurance (8) ; appointment of a representative to perform duties in
place of the employer (8bis) ; insurance card (15, 23, 23bis, 531 ; halancesheet of the iltsurance society (36) ; additional statement as to whether
or not the death was caused by performance of work i n requesting f h e
payment of the burial henefit (59-60) ; details regarding the applirnt~on
for confinement henefit (61) ; etc.
(12'1 F'rrrthtr Amendment fo the Ordinance for the Administrotion of tltr
Ilcallh Insrtrance Act, 1929 (L.S., 1929, Tap. 2 F ) .
Imperial Ordinance No. 250 of 30 Tuly 1929, enforced from 1 Augusl
1929. Important amendments relate to : exclusion of prefectural officials
engaged chiefly in the administration of health insurance from t h e
insurance schrme (107) ; memhership of the Health Insurance Enquiry

1

'l'l~is nrnendinrr

Act

\\.as

put

inlo

23 \ l a y 1929 (cf. l,.s., 1929. Jan. 2 13.

operalion

11y Tmpwinl

Ordinance

No.

142

of

APPENDIX I

3'35

Commission of the First Instance (111) ; clerkship i n the above Commission (112).
(13)

1,'urther Amendment to the Regulations for the Administration of
the IIealfh Insurance Act, 1929 (L.S., 1929, Jap. 2 G )

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 29 of 31 July 1929,
enforced from 1 August 1929. Important amendments relate to : transfer
of the authority of health insurance administration from the health
insurance office to the local governor (1) ; choice between a prefectural
governor and a health insurance society when a n insured person is
employed simultaneously i n two o r more undertakings placed under two
o r more insurance carriers (21 ; slight alterations in the text in accordance
with the amendment of section 1 (3-23, 48, 49, 52, 73, etc.) ; insurance
card to be returned to the authorities whtw the insured person ceased to
be insured (23bis).
(14)

I~e,gcll~lutions
/or the Operalion o/ thrB IIealth Insurance Reserve Fund,
1930.

Imperial Ordinance No. 34 of 26 Iiebruary 1930, enforced from
26 February 1930. Control of the reserve fund (1) ; deposit of the reserve
fund in the State Treasury (2) ; keeping of the accounts of the reserve
fund (3-4) ; date of enforcement (additional rules).

(1)

Ordinance for thr Relief of State Worlirrs, 1918 (L.S., 1926, .Tap. 1 Dl.

Imperial Ordinance No. 382 of 21 November 1918, enforced from
1 Tanuary 1919. Scope of application (1) : kinds and amounts of pecuniary benefits (2-3) ; frequency of payment of medical benefits and absence
allowance (4) ; cases of recurrence of sickness or injnry (5) ; survivors'
allonance (6) ; pecuniary benefit withheld against recurrence of sickness
or injury after the dismissal of the worker ( 7 ) : pecuniary benefits
withheld with the lapse of :I year's period after dismissal (8'1 : exceptions
(9-10) : date of enforcement (additional rule)
(2)

An?enrlment to tlrr Ordinance for l h r Relief of Slot? TYorlwrs, 1926
( L . S . , 1926, .Tap. 1 D',.

Imperial Ordinance No. 239 of 30 June 1926, rnforced from 1 July 1926
Important amendments relate to : deletion of the provision that the relief
is withheld if the accident resulted from a serious fault on the part of thc
worker ( 1 ) ; extension of the scope of the survivors' allowance (2. v-vi) ,
absence allowance withheld if the injury or sickness was due to t h r
worker's own serious fault (2, vii) ; immediate payment of disablement
and snrvivors' a1low:lnces (4) ; law brought in harmonv I\ ith the Health
Insl~ranceAct (6) ; dates of enforcement (additional rules)

(3)

Amendment to the Ordinance for fhe Relief of State Il'orkers, 192V
(L.S., 1928, Tap. 4 ) .

Tmperial Ordinance No. 128 of 27 June 1928, rnforced from the date of
promulgation. By a n amendment in section 10, the State workers on the
active list and members of mutual-aid societies receiving State subvention
are excluded from disahlrment and survivors' allowances.
1 In reqpect of the \!orken employed in p[i\oIely owned factories or mines, workmen's
cornpcnwlion i q dealt with in the Factory A c t and Ordinances (see TI, 1-5, abovr) and the
Regulalmnc for the Fmplo?mcnt and Relief of Minr* (111, 2-7, ahore)

396

-

(4)

--

I4DUSTRI4L LABOGR IN J A P A N

---

- --

-.
-

--

--

Amendtnrnl to the Ordinance for the Relief of Stale IVorlcers, 1929
(L.S., 1929, .lap. 6 ) .

Imperial Ordinance No. 237 of 1 July 1929, enforced from t h e date of
promulgation. By amending t h e appended schedule, the amount of fnneral
a1low;ince has heen raised.
(5) Acl concerning Relicf lo Workers i n case of Accident, 1931 (L.S.,
1931, lap. 1 A).
Act 80. 54 of 1 April 1031, enforced from 1 January 1932. Scope of
application (1) ; employers' liability (2) ; " employer " defined (3-4) ;
orders of the administrative authority to the employer o r workers regarding
accident prevention or hygiene (5) ; official inspection (6) ; punitive
rules (7-11) ; date of enforcement (additional rule).

(6)

Ordinance for the Administration of the Act concerning Rclief to
Workers i n case of Accident, 1931 (L.S., 1931, Jap. 2 A ) .
Imperial Ordinance No. 276 of 27 November 1931, enforced from
1 January 1932. "Public organisations" of section 1, paragraph 1, ii,
defined (1) ; scale of the works t o which the Act applies (2) ; employer's
liability i n case of sickness o r injury (3-4) ; absence allowance 15) ;
compensation for injuries (6) ; employer i m m u n e from liability i n case
t h e accident is due to a serious fault o n the part of the worker (7) ;
survivors' allowance (8) ; funeral benefit (9); time of payment of the
henefits (10) ; aid terminating (final) allowance (11) : repatriation of
t h e worker (12) ; subtraction from the compensation of t h e amount
received by t h e worker from a mutual-aid society or from t h e State as
employer (13-14) ; calculation of "basic wages" (15-16) ; other details
(17-20'1 ; date of enforcement (additional rule).

(7)

Regulations for the Administration of the ,4ct concernin(/ Relicf to
TVorkers in enar of Accident, 1931.

Ordinance of the Department of thc Interior, No. 32 of 28 N m ~ m her 1931, enforced from 1 .January 1932. Employer's "representative " i n
charge of relief (1) ; first aid equipment required a t the workplace (2) ;
employer's name and address and t h e rules of relief to be posted u p (3) ;
records o n relief to be kept (4) ; report to the governor i n case of sirkness,
injury o r death (5-61 ; rrport o n t h e number of workers engaged (7)
'Lemployer" defined (8) ; qnestion of jurisdiction in case the work
extends over two prefectures (9'1 : pnnitive rules (10-1.71: other details (14);
date of enforcement (additional rule).

.

Act concerning the Ins~zrancc againsf Liability lo Grnnf R ~ l i c f to
Workers i n ease o j Acridenf, 1931 (L.S.,1931, Tap. 1 R ) .
Act No. 55 of 1 April 1931. enforced from 1 .January 1932. General principle (1) ; scope of application (2) ; cases I\ here t h r employer shonld
contrart the inslimnre with the Government (3) : persons entitled to
receive the insurance money (4) ; cases where the insurance monel mity
be withheld i n part or whole (5-7) ; lapsing of the ohlipation to pa\ the
insurance money i n contribution (8) ; civil procedllre against the Go\rian
ment regarding t h e insurance (9) ; commission of enquiry concerning
this insurance (10) ; stamp tax not charged on documents r e e d i n g this
insrlrance (111 ; inspection of the workplace 112) : p~uiitive rilles (1314) ; date of enforcement and euceptions (additional rules).
(8)

(9)

4ct fo Esfablish a Special Account for the Insurance agninsl Linbililv
f o Grnnf Relief fo Workers i n case of Accident, 1931.
Act No. 56 of 1 April 1931. enforced from 1 Septemher 1931 Crc;~tior~

APPENDIX I

397

of 3 special account (1) ; revenue and expenditure of the special account
(2) ; surplus and deficit (3) ; loans of the special account (4, 6) ; deposits
(5) , reserve fund and its operation (7) ; annual budget (8-9) ; rules
regarding revenue and expenditure (10) ; date of enforcement and tmnsitory rules (additional rules).
of lhe Act concerning fhe Insurrrrice
(10) Ordinance jor the Adn~inistratior~
against Liability to Grant Relief to Workers in case of Accident. 1931
(L.S., 1931, Jap. 2 B ) .
Imperial Ordinance No. 277 of 27 November 1931, enforced from
1 January 1932. Scope of and time limit for application (1) ; insurable
benefits and their extent (2-3) ; aid-terminating (final) allowance (4) ;
insurance period (5) ; insurance contrihution (6, 9) ; payment of the
insurance contribution (7) ; calculation of the "basic wage " (8) ; insurance contrihution paid in excess of the correct amount of (10-11) ; payment
by the State of the insurance money directly to the beneficiary of the
insurance (12) ; withholding of the insurance money i n certain cases (1316); administrative authority to deal with the insurance (17) ; date of
enforcement (additional rule).
(11)

Regulations for the 4dministrafion of fhe Act concerning fhr
Insurance against Linbilit? to Grant Relief to Workers in case of Ac-ident, 1931.

Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 33 of 28 Noveniher 1931, enforced from 1 Ianuary 1932. Application for the insurance to
he submitted to the Chief of the Rureau of Social Affairs ( I ) ; insurance
policy (2) ; report to the authority if a suh-contractor is the person entitled to receive the insurance money (3) ; certificate for the person entitled
to the insurance money (4) : changes in the items mentioned i n the
certificates (5) ; loss of certificates (6) ; reports on t h e n u m b e r of workers
employed, on the completion of the work, etc. (7-8) ; details for the application of the provisions of sections 3-4 of Imperial Ordinance No. 277 of
1931 19-13) ; procedure for receiving the insurance money (14-17) ; hooks
and documents relating to the insurance (18-19) ; discretionary powers
for the local governor (20) ; punitive rules (21-24) ; date of enforcement
(additional rule).
(12) Ordinance for the Relief of Workers Srrpplied by Confmct, 1932.
Imperial Ordinance No. 2 of 7 Jannary 1932, enforced f r n n ~
7 January 1932. Under this Ordinance, consisting of only two paragraphs
and an additional rule fixing the date of application, the main relief
provisions of the Ordinance for the Administration of the Act concerning
Relief to Workers in case of Accidents are made applicable to the workws
supplied to, and employed by, the Government unilcr a contrnrt to supply
laho~~r.

(1) Labour Disputes Conciliation Act, 1926 ( L . S . , dap. 3 A)
Art No. 57 of 8 April 1926, enforced from 1 Tuly 1926 I . Scope of
application (1) ; order to set u p a conciliation board (2) ; composition
and procedure of the board (3-8) ; period for conciliation procedure (9) ;
quorum, secrecy and other r u l ~ sgoverning the hoard meetings (10-12) ;
powers of the board (13-15) ; findings of the board (16-17) ; allowances
1 Thik Act %\a* pnt into operation b y Imperial Ordinance no. 197 of 23 J m e (cf. L.S.,
1926, Jap. 3 C).

398

IIVJ)USTRI4L LABOUR IN J A P A N

for the board members (18) ; restrictions on the conduct of the parties to
the dispute during the conciliation period (19) ; punitive rules (20-22)
date of enforcement (additional rule).
(2) Ordinance lor the Adrninistratior~of the Labour Disputes Conciliation
Act, 1926 (L.S., 1926, Jap. 3 B).
Imperial Ordinance No. 196 of 23 June 1926, enforced from 1 Tuly 1926.
The local governor as the administrative authority for the Act (1) ;
exceptions to section 1 (2-3) ; setting u p of a conciliation board (4-6) ;
report on completion or prolongation of the conciliation procedure (7) ;
all documents of conciliation procedure to be submitted to the administrative authority (8) ; allowances for members of the board ( 9 ) ; date of
enforcement (additional rule).

(3) Tenancy Disputes Coriciliatiort Act, 1924.
Act No. 18 of 22 July 1924, enforced from 1 December 1924 '. Applica.
tion for conciliation at the local court of justice (1-2) ; procedure for the
application (3-7) ; jurisdiction of the court (8) ; suspension of legal action
during the conciliation period (9) ; conciliation board (10) ; possibility
for public mediation (11) ; deputies for carrying on the conciliation
procedure (12-14) ; persons interested in the dispute may participate in
the conciliation (15) ; persons required, or allowed, to he personally
present at the conciliation (16) ; mayor of the city, town or village where
the dispute has arisen (17-18) ; tenancy conciliation officers (19-20) ,
secrecy of the board meeting (21) ; expenses of the conciliation procedurr
and other details (22-26) ; legal value of the conciliation (27) ; composition, rules of procedure and the findings of a conciliation board (28-44) ;
allowance paid to the member? of the hoard and to the mediators (45-46.;
punitive rules (48-49) ; dale of enforcement (additional rnle).

(1) Co-operative Societies Acl, 1900 2 .

Act No. 34 of G March 1900 enforced from 1 September 1900. Chapter I .
general principles (1-6). Chapter TI : establishment of a co-operative
society (7-16). Chapter I11 : rights and obligations of members (17-24).
Chapter lV : management (25-48). Chapter V : admission to and withdrawal from a co-operative society (49-58). Chapter V1 : official control
(59-61). Chapter VII: dissolution of a co-operative society (62-69).
Chapter VIII : liquidation (70-75). Chapter IX : punitive rules (76-77) ,
date of enforcement and additional administrative details 178-9011.
(2)

Entigrant Protection A d , 18965.

Act No. 70 of 8 April 1896, enforced from 1 Tune 1896. Chaplcr I :
emigrant (1-4) ; the " emigrant " defined (1) ; permission to emigrate (2) ;
sureties required (3) ; suspension or cancellation of the permission to
emigrate (4). Chapter IT : emigration agent (5-15) ; the " agent "
defined (5) ; permission to become an emigration agent (6-7) ; suspension
or cancellation of the permission (8) ; restrictions imposed on the agent
(9-15). Chapter I11 : bail or caution money (16-20) ; bail for receiving
permission lo become an emigration agent (16-17) ; the bail used for thr
1 This Act
2 This Act
gation.
9 This Act
Act No. 33 of

was put into operation hy Imperial Ordinance No. 228 of 26 September 1924.
has been amended successively almost every two years since its first promulhas a l ~ obeen amenclrrl freqnrntlv, hy A c t No. 23 of 1901, Act No. 4 of 1902,
1907, etc.

APPENDIX I

-

399
--

repalriation of emigrants (Id) ; withholding of u part or whole of the
bail by the authorities (19-20). Chapter IV : emigrant transport ship (20,
i-vii). Chapter V : miscellar~eousrules, regarding the control of loaning
of moliey, accommodation or lodging, etc., to the eniigra~lts(20, viii-xi).
e
(21-27) ; dole of enforcement and transitory
Chapter VI : p u ~ ~ i t i vrules
rules (additional rules).
(3)

Emigration Sociclivs A c t , 1927 (L.S.,1927, lap. 1 A ) .

Act No. 25 of 29 March 1927, enforced from 1 May 1927 I . Object of
an emigration society (1) ; work of the society (2-3) ; only one society
for each " district '' allowed (4) ; emigration of members and officers (56) ; federation of emigration societies (7-13) ; provisions i n harmony with
the Co-operative Societies Act (14) ; date of enforcement (additional rule).
(4) Rrgulalior~sfor the Adminisfration of thc Emigration Societies Ict,
1927 (L.S., 1927, Jap. 1 C ) .
Ordinance of the Department of the Interior, No. 36 of 30 April 1927,
enforced from 1 May 1927. The " district " of an emigration society
defined (1) ; application for permission to eslablish a society (2) ; shares
in a society (3-6) ; delegates' meeting (7) ; officers of society (8) ,
financial year (9) ; registration (10-12) ; reports of the society (13-14) ,
loans (15) ; budget and halance sheet (16-18) ; changes in the rules
of officers, etc., of a society (19-231; detailed rrrles regarding dissolution,
liquidation, etc. (24-29) ; dale of enforcement (additional rule).
( 5 ) Act

concern in^^ Labour Sfatisfirs, 1922

(C.S., 1922, .lap. 1)

Arl No. 52 of 19 April 1922. enforced from 23 May 1923. General principle ( 1 ) ; data colleckd should he used only for statistical purpose (31 :
secrecy (3) ; punitive rules (3-5).
( 6 ) Ordinance concerning Labour S t u l i s t i c s , 19231.

Imperial Ordinance No. 266 of 23 May 1923, enforced from 23 May 1923
Frequency and the first collection of labour statistics (1); definition of
terms employed (2) ; scope of investigation (3-6) ; employers' obligations
to assist in the investigation 17-81 ; administrative authoritits and officials
in charge of the collection of lahour statistics (9-201.
( 7 ) Ordinance c o n r ~ r n i n glhr l J n ~ ~ n p l o y m e nCrnsu.c,
l
1925' (r,.S., 1925,
lap. 2 A ) .

Imperial 0rdin:lnce No. 202 of 22 hlav 1925. enforced from the date of
promulgation. Date of the census (1) : districts chosen (2) : items of
investigation (3-8) ; administrative authorily and officials for census-taking
(9-16) ; details for the collection of daln 117-23).

Ordinanre of the Denartmcnt of the Interior, No. 16 of 6 May 1930,
enforced from 1 July 1930. General rule and exceptions (11 ; rontraven1 This Art wnq r n ~ t into operation by Imperil1 Ordinanrc No. 100 n l 28 April 1927
(cf. I,. S.. 1937. Jan. 1 n).
9 This Act has been amended by Act No. 1 of 1929.
3 This Ordinance has been amended hy Imperial Ordinanres No. 419 o f 1923, No. 111
of
. 1927.
-. ntr.
4 A' similar Ordinance has
lhird
this one.
(cf. L.S., 1927, Jan. 1 B).
~

400

IRDUSTRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

tion is liable to a fine (2) ; extent of the consignor's liability (3-4) ; d a b
of enforcement (additional rule).

(9) Act concerning the Guarantee of Employment for Men entering
Military Service, 1931 (L.S., 1931, Jap. 3 ) .
Act No. 57 of 1 April 1931, enforced from 1 November 1931 '. No discrimination allowed against persons entering military service regarding
their employment (1) ; obligatory re-employment of men in military service (2-5) ; public mediation by competent officials (6) ; persons employed
by the State or municipal bodies 17) : date of enforcement (additional
rule).

1

This Act \\as pnt into operation by Imperial Ordinance No 260 of 30 October 1931.

Puhlit alior~sill k:ngli4 arc ~ r ~ a r k e(dE . ) , those in French (F.) ;
I'nglish and .lap:rncse (E .I.) ; l:rclr~ch and Japanese (F. . I . ) , etc. Unless
stated oll~crwise,the) are only in the Japanese languagc and published
in Tokyo.
Pc~iotlicals ~ ~ r ~ b l i s hcc \de y~ L C I ~days are marked T ; weeklies w ;
rr~ontl~Iie\
M ; quarterlies
and annual reports o r year-books Y. If
pclhli4cd Iuic OW yrar, l l ~ yare nrarhed ; Y
(%

G~rnrus~ii
(Department of Foreign Affairs). Icaigai Imiiz Rlfoken Kafrz
Hy6 ('I'ahle of Passports Granted to Overseas Ernigmnls). I .
---- Kaigai Kakuchi Zoieylr llonp6jirc Shokugyij-helsu Jinli6 1fy6
(Table of .Japanese Population Residing in Varioits Foreign Countries
Classified b y Occupation). Y.
Ko~usrrTN (National Cens~rsRo:lrtl). Senzcn-Sengo ni okeru Koku F I I
T6kei (Statistics of National Wealth hefore and after the War). 1921.

71 PP.

402

I1I)L STRIAL I.4BOUR I N JAPAN

NAIBAKU
T6hl:l KYOKU
(Stiltistical Bureau of t h e Cabinet). Chingin Bukka
T6lic.i Ceppii (Monthly lkport of Wnges and Prices). M .
---- Knkei ChAstl ll6koku (Report of the Family Budget Enquiry.
1926-1927). 4 vols. Tokyo, 1929.
IVI'ILOILTeili~kil T6kei hrenkart (Statistical J'e;~r-])ool< of the
. J ; I ~ ; I I I ~ w Empire). Y.
--- RCscim.4 Stalislique de 1'l;rnpire d u Jnpott. (F.1.) Y.
---- HCseirn.4 Slatistique rltl Moulwrnent tle la Pop~tlatiort tlt> l'&~rtpire
clcc .lapon. (F.J.) Y.
- N6d6 T6kei Jitchi Cltdsa Hdkoku (Report of t h e Aclr~rllr~\estigations Carried Out for Lahour Statistics, 1925). IZ6jd 110 I<u (F:rctories'
Part), 2 vols. K6zart no Rtc t Mines' P a r t ) , 1 101. 1926.
- - 'I'llc IlcporL for 1927. 4 \()Is. 1'11l)lishcd i l l 1930.
- Rod6 'I'dkei YArurc ( S ~ l r ~ ~ n l iI.ahour
~ry
St;~tistics). v .
---- Sltilsa!/yo TGkei Chiisa Solirrl~G(Prelirnin:~ry I<eport of Irnt~rnplopnwut Census, 1925). 1026. 11 pp.
T6lcri Jih6 (Statistiral I%~rllctirr
).
>I.
'

----

NAIMU SaB Smh41 KYIIKI!(Hrlrenu of Social Affairs of the Department
of Home Affairs). Anzert linkai oyobi Anzen ShLTkan ni Kansuru Chdsa
(Investigation concerning Safety Committees and Safety Weeks). 1928.
146 pp.
---- DG-FIL-KP~I
Relsrl lrp6 Kil;m oyobi SIlokk6 K6fu rto Bccltprl ni
Kansuru cltGsa Ily6 (Stnlisticd ' h h l e s 011 t h e Medical Facilities and t h e
Number of JVorkers (:l;rssified h y the Prefcrtr~res). 1923. 29 pp.
- Gornrl KofgyrS rto Sni!gtri &%hi (Accident Prever~tiorr in R11h11er
Factories). 1928. 172 pp.
---- Ilonp6 110 1tdr16 Ka~tfolitrSeitto iSyslrin of Il~sperlionof Laborrr
i n .l;rpi~ttl. 1924. 30 11p.
-Knisirn K6jd Kp6sai 1tni no 'l'rrishokiislra liirtyo Shirrrbr (Iir\~ostig:rti011 c o ~ r c e r ~ ~ i Allowar~res
nfi
Gr:rt~t(!d to Il'orkers Retiring fro111 \\iorli b y
M ~ r t ~ ~ i ~ l -Societies
Aid
i l l Factories anti (:orporirtiorrsj.
1924. 01 1'17.
-.
Kaisri K6j6 lliiki I<ai,shalitr I(cilii (I:slnl)lished Ilules for t h e
1nterpret;rtion of the An~errdtd F:rctory Art and the Relevant Ilegulations).
Published I)y S A N G YF~I T K U HK
I Y ~ ~ (Inc~r~strinl
A I
Welfare Association).
1927. 146 1)p.
-Karla; K6gycT ni olierii R6d6 Jijd (Conditions of Work i n Homr
Industries). 1927. 244 pp.
-Kenk6 lloken Jigyo Nenpo ( h ~ r n u a l Ileporl on the Working of
the Health T~rsurarice). 1927. v .
- -Kenko llokot .Tili?, (Monthly Brllletin of Health Insurance). M.
- K6j6 Arrzen Iiisolier St13 (Collection of Safety H e ~ u l a t i o n s in
Private Factories). 1929. 209 pp.
---- K6j6 1liiki IZaislraku Reiki (Establishetl I h l e s for t h InLer~)rcta~
d Re1ev;rnt Regulations'). 1926. 96 pp.
tion of the Factory Act i r ~ ~the
- .- K6j6 r<dzan ni okeru GpGmuj6 no Fu!gu llaishitsu Sha n o
Ger~j6rli Kunsurti (:h&a (Investigation concerning the Actual Conditions
of the Crippled and Invalid Caused hg the Performnnce of Work i n
F;~ctoriesi1r111Mines). 192G. 7 3 pp.
- li6j6 ni olieru Kishukusl~uno Genky6 ni Karts~trtlClt6sa (Tnvestigation concerning the Actual Conditions i n the Dormitories attached to
Factories). 1926. 31 pp.
-K6j6 Ku~rtokuNenp6 (Annual Rcport of Iiactory Ir~spcction).Y.
---- Kyiisai Kilrniai ni Kanstrru H6ki (1,ans ;IIIII Reg~~lirtio~rs
concerning Mutr~nl-Aid Societies). 1927. 515 PI).
---- L~rrr-sri*lrrlirr,q lo Socinl lVork in .lnpnn. 1030. 74 pp. (1'

'

APPENDIXII

103

Narhiu St16 SHAKAI
K I ' O ~ U . Men B6-shoku Kikni Anzcn Sefsubi (Sirfety
Provisions o n Cotton Spinning and Weaving Machines). B5seki no Bu
(Part on Spinning), 50 pp., 103 ill~lstrations; 1928. Hataori no Bu (Part
o n Power-Loom), 23 pp., 157 illustrations. 1928.
- Nihon ni oliern Saigai Bdshi lind5 oyobi KcigyK Eisei (Movement
for Accident Prevention and Industrial Hygiene in J a p a n ) . 1928. 206 pp.
- Review of Social M'ork i n Japan i n 1926. By QKAO MOTIIYA,
Director of Social Work Division, Rurean of Social Affairs. 1927. 86 pp.
(I<.)
- Itlit16 .TilzG (Lal~our(;azette). \I.
- Saimin Seikei .J6tai ch6sa (Enquiry into thc L i v i ~ ~Conditions
g
of the Poor Class). 1923. 117 f 18 pp.
--- Shakai Kyokn Kankci J i m u GaiyK (Outline of the Organisation
and Functions of the Rlrreau of Social Affairs). 1929. 220 pp.
---- Shokkli S ~ i k e iJ6tai cltiistr (Ertqi~iry i11to t h r (:onditjons of Life
o f Workers). 1923. 143 pp.
---- Shokriqyli Shiikai .ligy5 Nenp5 ~ 1 4 ~ ~ nReport
~ l i ~ l o n the Work
of Employment 1lxch;lnges). P ~ ~ b l i s h eby
t l the Local Employnrent Exch;r~rge
Boards. Y .
--- Shokugyo Sh5li11i Jurrp5 (Ten-Dail? Rnllctin of Employment
Exchanges). P ~ ~ b l i s h e by
d the Local E m p l o ~ - m e r ~Exch;lnpe
t
Roards. T.
- Shokugyd Sh6kai K&ii (Bulletin of Employment Exchanges).
Published by the Crrrro S ~ o ~ r : o u oS A O K ~~ II M U KYOKU(Central Board of
Employment Exchanges). M.
--- Shrly6 R5d5 Kumiai Kiyakr~ Shli (Collectiorr of Stnt~ites of
Principal Trade Unions). Y.
---- Tank5 K6ju Kakei Ch5sa (Investigation into the Family Budgets
of Coal Mine Workers, conducted allring April-June 1925). Published by
S A I V GFUKURI
Y~
KI'6KAl. 192G. 57 pp.
- IVagaknr~i rri okfrrc Sartgy6 Saigui Yob6 no Gaiky5 (Gei~eral
Situation of thc. i'rrvelltio~l of Tntl~~slrialAccide~lts i l l .Tapan). 1928.
205 pp.
KYOTOSIIIYAKUSHO
SHAKAI
K A ( S e c t i o ~of~ Social Affairs i r r the Municipal
Office of Kyoto). 36-yatoi Rodcisha Seikatsu chiisa (Enquiry into the
I'iving Conditions of the I'crmanrntly Employed Workers). 1925. 82 pp.
i%nr~-sn6 N6mi-iiuo~rr (Agricultural B~treau of lhe Department of
rr
Agriculture and Forestrv). HortpG Niigyo Y s m n (Outline of A c r i c ~ i l t ~ lin
Japan). 1929. 249 pp.
-Kosakrl Nrrtpd iAnn11a1 Report or1 Fnrnl l ' e l i a ~ ~ c y )Y.
.

KYOKU (Forestry Rllrcal~ of thc D e p r t r n e n t of
N~RIN
S H SANHIV
~
Agriculture and Forcstry'l. h-okuyii Ilirr-!go lppnrl iGcncra1 S i t ~ l ; ~ l i nof
n
State-owned forests). r.
N ~ R I US H ~T ~ K F KYOKTT
J
(Statistical Section of the Department of
A g r i c u l t ~ ~ rand
e Forestry). Statistical A bdrflct of fhr Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. ( E . ) Y.
OKIJRAS H (Department
~
of Finance). Financial and Economic Annual
of .lapan. (17.) Y .
---- Quarterly Report of Financial and Economic Condilions in .Inpan.
(E.) Q .
OSAKA-SHI
S I T A ~ J - R( ~
Uo c i a l Work Division of the City of Osaka).
K6jii R6d6 Koy5 Kankei (Conditions of Employment of Factory Workers).
Kouuu-Do, Kyoto. 1924. 388 pp.

RIKUGUK
S H ~(War I k p a r t n ~ e n)l.
Department Labour News). nr.

Rikrigun

R6-mrl I16 (The War

SI IITTSLI Silo SHOMURU (General Affairs Division of t h e State Iron
Folindry). Seitetsu Sho Shokk6 Pukuri Z6shin Shisetsu (Welfare Provisions
for the Workers in the State Iron Foundry). 1923. 113 pp.
S H B K DAIJIN
~
K A N BT~~ K Fh~
I (Statistical Section of the Cabinet of the
Minister of Commerce and I n d u s t r j ) . Chinqin Tijkei Gepp6 (Monthly
Bulletin of Wage Statistics) nr.
- Kaisha Tijkei Up6 (Tables of Statistics of Corporations). Y .
- Kouri Rukka Chosa Gepp6 (Monthly Bulletin of Retail Prices). M.
--- Oroshiuri Brtkka Chijsn Cleppij (Monthly Rulletin of Wholesale
Prices). RI.
- Oroshiuri Bukka T6kei Ry6 (Tables of Statistics of Wholesale
Prices, for 1926-1928). 1929. 93 pp.
- Statistics of the Department oj Commerce and Industry (E.) Y.
Sa6h-6 Sa6 K ~ M U
KYOKU(Bureau of I n r l ~ ~ s t r i eofs the Department of
Commerce and Industry). K6gy6 ChiSsa 1/16 (Bulletin of Information on
Industries), Published bi-monthly hy K6sm KAI, Tokyo.
S a 6 ~ 6SHB K ~ Z AKYOKIJ
H
(Mining Bureau of the Department of Commerce and Industry). Honpij Kijgyij no Sfisei (The Trend of the Mining
Industry i n Japan). v .
S H ~ SK H~ S~ H ~ M IKYOI(U
J
(Comniercii~lBureau of the Deparlmerrt of
Commerce and Tndrrstry) . Oroshiuri oyobi Kouri Rukkn Shisii Tijkep Ilp6
(Statistical Tables of Index Numbers of Wholesale and Retail Prices, for
Tokyo, Osaka and Xagoya). 1928. 37 pp.
TRISHIND4i.m K4m6 RUNSIIOKA ( D o ~ u r n e n t sSection of the Cabinet
Shij Nen Pij (Annual Report
of the Minister of C o m m ~ ~ n i c n t i o n sTeisliin
~.
of the D e p a r t i n e ~ ~oft C o m m r n ~ i c a t i o ~ ~( sE~. 1.')
. Y.
TEISHINS H KAN-YI
~
HOKRT
KYOKIJ
(B~treauof Post Office Lifc Insurance).
Kan-yi Holien Kyokn T6kri Ncrtpij (hnn11:11Report of the Po?t Office Life
Insurance Business). (E..l .) Y.
Tmsuno DAJJINK A N I IGESGJ-O
~
crrbs. 1
( (Works Investigation Section
in t h e Cabinet of the Minister of Railways). Kokuyii TetsudiS Genqyo
Iinkai Jij6 Gniy6 (An Ontline of the Works Committees of the Employees
of the State Rnilways'i. 1926. 50 pp.
T ~ S U DAIJIY
D ~ K.rxn6 Houi:~ R A (Health and Weffare Section of the
Cabinet of the Minister of Rnilwa\-s'i. Kokupfi TrfsadB Kp6sai Kumini
Kenkij Kytlfu Konkei Kisokn Shfi (Collect,ion of the Regnlations concerning
the Grant of b n e f i t s in the hIut11n1-Aid Society helonging to the State
Railways\. 1927. 204 pp.
--- Shokuin Sh6-By6 Jin-in Shirabe (Investigation concerning t h e
Injured and Sick among the Employers). Y.
- Shokuin SIGByii T6kei (Statistics of Illjuries and Sickness of
the Employcca). I-.
T ~ T S U St16
D ~ (Department of Railways). Adoption of A rztomntic
Couplws on Japnnese Rail~unw(Iulg 1925). 1928 21 pp (l3.)
--- Annual Report
(E ') Y.
- An Or~tlineof the General Welfare Works f o r t h r Employees 01
Go1,ernment Rni1wa.y~of Japan. 1925. 32 pp. (E )
---- Tetsudij Gengyij I n Taigii Shisetsu Gaiy6 (Outline of Welfare
Work for the Employees on the Railways) 1925 53 pp.

TCTSITD
SHO.
~ ~ TeIsudG SltaryG no Renlietsuki wo JidG Henketsnki no
Torikaye i n Knnseru Kiroku (Record of t h e Changing of Hand Couplers
into Automatic Couplers on Japanese Railways i n July 1925). 1928. 305 pp.
TOKYO
Cn1n6 SHOKUGYO
S I I ~ K ATIMUKTOK~T
I
(Local Employment Exchange
Board of Tokyo). liarrnui Seishi Joh.6 Chiisa (linquiry into Working Conditions of Female Operatives). 1925. 192 f 38 pp.
TOKYOSHI T ~ K EKA
I (Statistical Section of the City of Tokyo). RBd6
Tiikei Genpyii (Original Labour Statistics, i n and around t h e City of Tokyo,
being the Report of the First Labour Census of 1924). 3 vols. 1925.
TOKYO
SHI SHAKAI
KYOKU(Bureau of Social Affairs of the City of Tokyo).
ChihB Ninpu Beya ni Kansuru ChBsa (Investigation concerning Workers'
Lodging-Houses in Distant Districts). 1923. 78 pp.
(1)) Publications of the lnternntional Labour Offic~,C ~ n e v n

(E.F.) w.

Industrial and Labour Information. Geneva.
Interrrnlional Labour Revicw. Geneva.

(E.F.)

-\I.

Articles of chief i m ~ o r t a n c erelating
" to Japanese Inhow which have
appeared in this publication are :

" Co-operative Societies in Japan "

" Social

. .

Welfare in Japan " . . . . .
" The Eight-Hour Day i n Japan " . . .
"Progress of the Labour Movement in
Japan " . . . . . . . . . . .
' I Conditions of
Labour in the .Japanese
Spinning Industry " . . . . . .
" Disputes between Lnndonmers and
Tcnarlt Farmers in Tapan " . . . .
. . . .
" Works Councils i n .Japan " .
" A New Method of Tenancy Disputes
Adjustment in I a p y " . . . . .
" Vocational Education ~n .Japan " . . .
" 1,nbour Recruiting in Tapan and its
Control ". Ry SRIJSZOYOSHISAKA
. .
" Present Situation of .Japanese Labour
Unions " . . . . . . . .
. .
" T h e New lapanese Act on Health
. . .
Ir~surance" . .
. . .
" Thc New .Japanese Act o n the 'Conciliation of Lal~our Disputes " . . . .
" 7'he
Population Prohlem ,,and IndusBy J W A ~
trialisation i ~ r lapan.
F. A y r r s . 4 ~.~ . . . . . . . . .
"Co-operation in J a p a n " . . . . . .
" Conditions of Agricultural Workers in
lapan " . . . . . . . . . . .
" Working Conditions of Women Commercial Ernployees i n Japan " . . .
" The Employment of Women
in Tapanrpe Industry. " By I w ~ oF. A Y U S ~ W A .
T. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ibid., IT. . . . . . . . . . .
Ibid.. 111. . . . . . . . . . .
" Japanese Cotton Mills ant1 the Abolition
o f Night Work " . . . . . . . .

1921, pp. 115-129.
Feh.
March 1921, pp. 32- 47.
Oct.
1921, pp. 127-130.
)larch

1922, pp. 437-454.

May

1923, pp. 747-754.

Sept.
Feb.

1923, pp. 459-462
1925, pp. 239-243.

March 1925, pp. 381-387.
.June 1925, pp. 855-858.
Oct.

1925. pp. 484-499.

all^.
Dw.
Feh.

1927, pp. 257-271

Oct.
Nov.

1927, pp. 512-526.
1927, pp. 707-709.

Nov.

1927, pp. 710-714.

ran.

1928, PI'.

92- 96.

Feb.
1929, p p 193-204.
March 1929, pp. 385-401.
April 1929, pp. 503-521.
Sept.

1929, pp. 419-424.

406

I ~ D U S T R I A LLABOGR IN JAPAN
..

-

-

"A

Study of the Relation of Working
Hours to Climate. " By SHU ISHIHARA. Jan.
'' The Unemployment Problem i n lapan. "
By SEISHIIDEI . . . . . . . . .
Oct.
'' .rapan's Migration Problem. " By SEISHI
IDEI . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dec.

1930, pp.

70- 88.

1930, pp. 503-523.
1930, pp. 773-789

Legislafive Serirs. Geneva. (E.F.).
Texts of all important labour laws of Japan have been published,
translated into English and French.
Sekai no R d d d (The World's Labour). Bulletin of the Tokyo Branch
Office of the International Labour Office, Tokyo. nr.
Studies and Reports. (E.F.)
Numbers of special imporlar~cefor Japan are the following :
Series A, No. 32 : Freedom of Association, Vol. V : .Japan (pp. 401461). 1930.
Series B, No. 16 : Industrial Conditions and Labour Legislation in
Japan. By Twzo F. Avr-SAWA.1926. 119 pp.

in)

Roolis rind Pamphlets ; Important magnzine Articles
cited in the presenf Reporf

AKAMATSU,
KATSUMARO.
Nihon R6d6 Und6 Hattafsu Shi (History of the
Development of the Labour Movement in .Tapan). Sunka Gakkai, 1925.
190 pp.
- R6d6 Kuiniai Und6 (The Labour Cnion Movement). Kwagaku
Shis6 Fukiu Kai, 1924. 162 pp.
--- Tenkanki no Nihon Shukui I'ndij (Social Movements i n Tapan
at the Transitional Epoch). K6seikaku Shoten, 1926. 224 pp.
Ar I F V , G . C . " The Pressure of Population Problem in Tapan ", in
Econolnica, Tune 1926. (E.)
ASARI,.IIWHIRO and S ~ K I G U C TAI.
H I , liokusai R6d6 Kaigi to Nihon
(The International Labonr Conference and Inpan). Published hy Tokyo
Asahi, 1924. 240 pp.
AIUS~WA,
IWAOF. Japan and the International Lnbonr Organisation.
Leagi~eof Yations Union, London, 1926. 30 pp. (E.)
--- International Labonr Legislation. Columbia University, New
York, 1920. 268 pp. (I:.)
C H ~ ~ GSAHJ ~ KTsr
~ sI u n SHA. Zenkoku Il6dii Dantoi no Genj6 (Present
Conditions of the Labour Unions in Tapan). 1924. 118 pp.
\IT. R. TItc Japanese Poplrlafiort Problem - the Corning
CROCKER,
Crisis. London. 1931. 240 pp. (E.)

DAI N I ~ O Y
B ~ S L KRI n G KAI ( l apan Cotton Spinners' Association).
Statement concerning the lndian &fisrznder~standing
of the Japanese Cotton
Spinning Industry. Osaka, 1926. 25 pp. (E.)
FUKUDA,
T o ~ u z 6 . " La cyclicit6 tle la vie Bconomique et de la politique
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407

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Nihon

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408

IADL STRIAL LABOUR IN JAPAN

-

.-

KYOCHO-KAI.
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the

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IRDUSTRIAL

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APPENDIX II

41 1

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TOKYO
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Z ~ K O KKEIZAI
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Tfiiritsu Jih6 (The Law Review). Published by Niaov H Y ~ R OSHA.
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Jiuyii Keizai Tiikei Geppii (Monthly Report on Cnrrent Economic CondiSrlfihfi K4rcrsno (Toh,o Chnmher of Commerce
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Kai-in (The Seaman). Organ of N I H OKAI-IT
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Kai-Rctz J i h 5 (navy Federation h e n s) . Organ of KAICUV
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Iiangyo RBd6 S h i n b u n (Government Works Labour News). Organ of
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l V e n s l ~ iR8seki Jij6 Sanliii Sho r Stndies of Conditions of the Cotton
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Organ of SHAKAI

Nihon R6d6 Nenkan (Japan Labour Year-hook. Puhlished by ~ H A R
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A

Osaka Shdh.6 Kaigi Sho G ~ p p 6(Monthly Report of the Osaka Chamber of
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RBdii (Lal)our'~. Organ of Nllror R 6 ~ 6S 6 ~ 6 ~ r i(General
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hg

NIHON R 6 ~ 6

R6rl6 Keizai (Labour Economics). Published by C ~ f i c ~SIIAKAI
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KENKYU
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R6dB Kwagaku Kenk~trl (The .To~lrnal of Science of Lahour). Kwashiki. Q.
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413

APPENDIX I1

Sangy6 R6d6 Jih6 (Industrial Labour Bulletin). Published hy SANGYO
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Seiji Keizai Nenkan (Political and Econonlic Year-ljook). Published
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Tokyo Shi Oroshinri Buklra Shirnbe (Wholesale Prices in the City of
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Tokyo Sh6h.G Kaigisho Gepp6 (Monthlj TIeport of the Tokyo Chamber of
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T6y6 Keizai Shinp6 (The Oriental Economist).
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Puhlishrtl hy T B Y ~

Zaisei Keizni JihG (Financial and Economic R ~ ~ l l e t i n )M.