Japan Press Weekly

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2016 September 21 - 27 [LABOR]

Female factory workers, the initiator of Japan’s 1st labor strike

This year marks the centennial of the enforcement of the “Factory Act” referred to as Japan’s first worker protection law which evolved into the postwar Labor Standards Act.

The national credo in prewar Japan was “Fukoku Kyohei” (becoming a rich and military-strong Japan) and “Shokusan Kogyo” (promoting new industries). To meet increasing demands for military production with the 1894-1895 Sino-Japanese war and the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese war, Japan rapidly accelerated the modernization of its industries. Capitalists had a “low pay, long hours” policy and a feudalistic labor control system which often entailed forced labor.

Workers in the textile industry, in particular, were cruelly exploited. Female factory workers and even children were forced to work all night. Most of them were from poor farming villages recruited to work at a “modern” factory. Brokers used sweet-talk and lies to persuade women. In areas where the battle for female factory workers was fierce, abductions of women took place. At factories, they frequently had to endure corporal punishments such as being tortured with boiling water, bitten by mosquitos, and being left in the snow.

Some mill owners paid wages to female factory workers only once a year in order to prevent them from running away. Owners, by making false accusations, relentlessly cut wages or slapped fines on those who talked back. Employers crammed more than ten women each into a small dormitory room located in the factory or in a storeroom, banned them from going outside of the factory, and placed guard watch over them. Factory managers paid no attention to female workers who became sick and died due to excessive work and the poor environment. As for those who contracted tuberculosis, managers sent them back to their home villages, which caused the spread of tuberculosis throughout the country.

In the face of such oppressive work conditions, over a hundred women stood strong at the Amamiya silk reeling and spinning factory in Yamanashi Prefecture. This was in June 1886, the first-ever strike in Japan. Angered by the unilateral extension of working hours and cuts in wages, they barricaded themselves in a nearby temple. As a result, they successfully extracted concessions from the panicked management and won a relatively fair settlement.

With the Amamiya strike as a trigger, workers in other parts of Japan began rising up against their employers at munition factories and large-scale mines. The number of labor disputes in 1898 was about 50. In1919, it increased to 497 with 63,000 workers participating in total.

However, the Meiji government thoroughly clamped down on workers’ unity and protests, using the police to intimidate participants in workers’ rallies and demonstrations. If there was any criticism of the government at a rally, the police immediately ordered the speaker to stop. Calling for strikes or the formation of a workers’ union were subject to arrest.

Despite the adverse circumstances, working-class power grew stronger in spite of the efforts by the government and capitalists. In the end, the government was forced to enact a worker protection law. These struggles led to the present labor movement united in the push for the establishment of decent work rules.