Kazuo Nimura's Labor History Writings in English

Section 6 Papers in English

Vol.15 Japanese Labor Relations in Comparative Perspective (published)

1. From Trade Unions to the Nakama: Organizational Characteristics of Occupational Groups in Japan (upload: March 10, 2007, added notes and revised:Aug 25,2007)
       A translation of 'Nihon ni okeru shokugyō-shudan no hikakushiteki tokushitu: Sengo rōdōkumiai kara jikan wo gyakkōshi kinsei no nakama ni tsuite kangaeru', in Keizaigaku Zasshi (Ōsaka City University) Vol.102 No.2.

2. Japanese and Korean Labor-Management Relations:A Comparative Study (upload: Sept.25, 2002, translation brush-up, July 25, 2014)
       A translation of 'Nikkan rōshikankei no hikakushiteki kento', in Ohara Shakaimondai Kenkyujo Zasshi (Journal of Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University) no.460, March 1997.

3. The Historical Characteristics of Labor Relations in Japan (upload: April.11, 2007)
       A translation of "Nihon rōshikankei no rekishiteki tokushitsu", in Shakai-seisaku Gakkai Nenpo(Annals of the Society for the Study of Social Polocy) no.31, May 1987.

4. Enterprise Unionism - The Historical Background (upload: May.13, 2007)
       A translation of "Kigyobetsu kumiai no rekishiteki haikei", in "Kenkyū shiryō geppō"(Ōhara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University,) no. 305, March 1984.)

5. The Labor Union Movement at the Beginnings of Post-WWII Society in Japan (upload: Sept.30, 2007)
       A translation of "Sengo-shakai no kiten ni okeru rodokumiai-undo" , in Nihon Kin-gendaishi vol.4, (Iwanami Shoten), January 1994.

6. Efficiency and Labor Relations in Japanese Manufacturing Industries (upload: November 28, 2007)
       Paper presented at International Symposium on Industrial Democracy and Labor in Modern Capitalism, Seoul, December 6 - 8, 1991.

Vol.16 History of Labor in Japan (published)

1. The Formation of Japanese Labor Movement;1868-1914 (upload: Feb. 15, 2008)
     "Japan" in Marcel van der Linden & Jürgen Rojahn(ed.),The Formation of Labour Movements 1870-1914: An International Perspective, Vol.II(Leiden E.J.Brill, 1990).

2. The Labor Movement before and after the First World War: 1907 - 1928 (upload: July 27, 2014)        A translation of 'Rōdōsha-kaikyu no jōtai to rōdōundō', in "Iwanami-kōza Nihon Rekishi", 1975.

3. The Labor Union Movement at the Beginnings of Post-WWII Society in Japan (upload: Sept.30, 2007)
       A translation of "Sengo-shakai no kiten ni okeru rodokumiai-undo" , in Nihon Kin-gendaishi vol.4, (Iwanami Shoten), January 1994.

4. Labor Relations in Japan:1940-1993 (upload: Oct.28, 2007)
       Paper presented at Development and Future of Labour Relations in Australia and Japan Conference, Woolongong, Australia, 13 - 14 July, 1993. Jim Hagan & Andrew Wells(ed), Industrial Relations in Australia and Japan, Allen and Unwin, 1994.

Vol.17 History of Mine Workers in Japan (in progress)

1. An Historical Analysis of Working Conditions at the Ashio Copper Mine

This is an English translation of Chapter 3 of Ashio Bodo no Shiteki Bunseki (The University of Tokyo Press, 1988), which is omitted in its English version The Ashio Riot of 1907(Duke University Press, 1997).

Introduction (upload:Jan. 30, 2007)
I   Wage levels at Ashio (upload: Feb. 10, 2007)
        1) Wage Levels in the 1880s
        2) Ashio Wages and Those In Other Industries
        3) Comparative wage levels in other mines
        4) The background to high wage levels at Ashio
        5) Wage level movements after the 1980s

II  Technological Changes in Ore Dressing at Ashio (upload: July 22, 2014)
        1) The mechanization of the ore dressing process
        2) The main causes of mining pollution at Ashio
        3) The effects of the mechanization of ore dressing

III   Technological Changes in the Smelting Process (upload: July 24, 2014)
        1) The ore roasting process
        2) The smelting process
        3) The refining process

IV   The Effects of Technological Developments in Refining on the Workforce (upload: July 30, 2014)

        1) Qualitative change in the workforce in ore smelting
        2) Quantitative change in the workforce in ore smelting

V  The Decline in Refinery Workers' Wage Levels (upload: August 4, 2014)

        1) The 1888 ore refiners' strike
        2) The 1889 ore refiners regulations
        3) The effects of the introduction of modern blast furnaces

VI  Miners' Changing Wage Levels (upload: August 6, 2014)
        1) The reasons behind the 1884 fall in wage levels
        2) Causes of the decline in real wages in the 1890s
        3) Changes in the type and number of underground and surface workers
        4) Characteristics of long term changes in wage levels

VII   The Wage Levels Of Unskilled Workers (upload: August 9, 2014)

    Conclusion

Appendix 1    Hanba Boss' Origins and Areas of Labor Recruitment (upload: August 12, 2014)
Appendix 2    Convict Labor at the Ashio Copper Mine (upload: August 11, 2014)

2. “ The Ashio Riot of 1907; The Traditional Miners' Brotherhood, the Trade Union,the Hanba System and the Company.”

In Klaus Tenfelde(Hrsg.) Sozialgeschihite des Bergbaus im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, C.H.Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München, 1992.

Vol.18 Ohara Institute for Social Research: People and History (in progress)

Ⅰ The Founders of the Ohara Institute for Social Research (upload: August 13, 2014)

This was spoken as a commemorative speech at the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Institute, on 9th February 1994.

Ⅱ 70 Years of the Ohara Institute for Social Research (forthcoming)

This article was witten in 1989.

Ⅲ The Ohara Institute for Social Research before and after the Relocation to Tama Campus(1982-1993) (forthcoming)

Ⅳ Gleanings from the Early Days of the OISR

     (1) The Money Ohara Magosaburo Gave
     (2) Ohara Magosaburo and Kawakami Hajime
     (3) Kawakami Hajime and Ohara Magosaburo
     (4) The First Researcher      (5) Goto Teiji
     (6) The Kashiwagi Storehouse
     (7) Arahata Kanson Witnesses the Opening of the OISR
     (8) The Tsukishima Surveys and the OISR
     (9) Uno Kozo and the Asakusa Survey
     (10)Gonda Yasunosuke
     (11)Gonda and Kushida - Two Young Socialists of the Meiji Era

Vol.19 Takano Fusataro and His Times (in progress)

This is the English translation of the book Rôdô wa shinsei nari ketsugô wa seiryoku nari : Takano Fusatarô to sono jidai.(Iwanami Shoten Publisher, 2008.)

Forward Takano Fusataro and His Times (upload: August 31, 2014)

1. The Years in Nagasaki - A Child of the"Civilization and Enlightenment" - (upload: August 31, 2014)

2. The Tokyo years - The Young Head of the Family - (upload: September 13, 2014)

3. The Yokohama years - 'Pupil' of Fukuzawa Yukichi - (upload: September 21, 2014)

4. A Japanese Store in San Francisco - The realisation and collapse of a dream - (upload: September 29, 2014)

5. The Founding of the 'Friends of Labor' - The beginning of the Japanese labor movement - (upload: October 4, 2014)

6. Message from America - The first call for labor unions in Japan (upload: October 9, 2014)

7. A Sailor with the US Navy - posing as a war correspondent

A waiter on the gunboat Machaias
Reproachful encouragement from his sister and her husband
China patrol
Report on the tailors' strike in Shanghai
Fusataro the would-be war correspondent
Gompers' estimate of Takano

8. A Call to All Workers - the call to form trade unions

Takano Fusataro - translator and reporter
The riddle of the rebuilding of the Friends of Labor
"Attended the Social Policy Study Group; finally became a member"
Getting to know Sakuma Teiichi
Japan's first lecture meeting on labor issues
"A Call to All Workers"
Takano Fusataro's daily life as reflected in his diary
His support for the Yokohama ships' carpenters' strike
The first and the last lecture meeting sponsored by the Friends of Labor

9. Personalities in the Society for the Formation of Labor Unions [Rodo kumiai kiseikai] - a group to promote the labor movement

The founding meeting
The workers in the membership of Kiseikai
Support for Kiseikai from the Crown Prince's uncle
A forgotten hard worker - Suzuki Junichiro
Katayama Sen and Takano Fusataro - an unbalanced estimate
Katayama Sen's hard road to academic status
Katayama Sen's old friend - Ito Tamekichi
Dauntless and imposing - Takano Fusataro as a public speaker
Kiseikai publication - "What workers need to know"
Kiseikai members' voluntary organisation

10. The Birth of the Ironworkers' Union - Japan's first trade union

The greatest day in his life
The first issue of Rodo Sekai (Labor World)
The personalities behind Rodo Sekai - Yokoyama Gennosuke and Uematsu Kosho
The executives of the Ironworkers' Union
All year-round, unpaid service
A watchful eye on activists
A substantial year
Labor is Sacred - the reasons for ironworkers' participation
Why did other Workers groups not join Kiseikai?
Qualifications in the West, experience in Japan - why artisans' groups did not join Kiseikai
The Ironworkers' Union was not an occupational union
The Government orders a ban on Kiseikai's Grand Sports Festival
The 'soot-stained' squad of activists
Campaigning in the Tohoku region
The movement for the revision of the Factory Law
A funeral procession in straw sandals - the death of Sakuma Teiichi
Kaneko Kentaro's great speech in support of Kiseikai

11. The Opening of the Yokohama 'Cooperative Store' - pioneer of the cooperative movement

A strange decision
Takano's turn towards the cooperative movement
Winning the heart of the daughter of the inn
The newly-weds' life in 'Hama'
Who was the leader of the cooperative movement?

12. The decline of the Ironworkers' Union - the Public Order and Police Law

Return to management at head office
The illusory campaign for the enactment of the Factory Law
A flying visit to a Kobe public meeting
Fickle supporters
Union members who did not pay their dues - the union's worsening finances
Dismissals of the union activists in Tokyo arsenal - 'exemplary punishment'
The cooperative store at Hatchobori
'The aesthetics of manliness' - Takano returns his allowance
The promulgation of the Public Order and Police Law

13. Takano Fusataro and Katayama Sen - their leadership qualities

Katayama Sen, political campaigner
The abolition of mutual aid systems - Takano's total defeat
The Ironworkers' Union dissolves itself at its New Year's meeting
The leadership qualities of Takano and Katayama

Conclusion

Was Takano Fusataro a failure?
Takano's withdrawal from the movement and his reasons
Takano heads for a China in turmoil
Death in Qingdao
Takano's success and failure
Yokoyama Gennosuke's memories of his friend
How to estimate Takano Fusataro?
The Japanese cultural climate and the labor union movement
The people Takano left behind
What Fusataro passed on to his brother Iwasaburo

Fusataro Takano Papers (in progress)

Fusataro Takano(1869-1904): A founder of labor union movement and cooperative movement in Japan. He was a general organizer of American Federation of Labor for Japan.

Ⅰ Labor Report from Meiji Japan

Labor Movement in Japan American Federationist, vol.1 No.8 (October, 1894).

The War and Labor in Japan Social Economist, vol.Ⅸ (July, 1895)

The Japanese Workers' Condition American Federationist, vol.Ⅱ, No.1 (September, 1895)

Chinese Tailors' Strike in Shanghai American Federationist, vol.Ⅲ, No.1 (March, 1896)

Labor Problem in Japan Taiyo, vol.Ⅱ, No. 4(July 5, 1896)

Typical Japanese Workers Far East Ⅱ, No.4 (April 20,1897)

Strikes in Japan Far East Ⅱ, No.6 (June 20,1897)

A Remarkable Strike in Japan American Federationist, vol. Ⅳ. No. 7 ( September, 1897)

Prospects of Japanese Labor Movement American Federationist, vol. Ⅳ. No. 9 ( November, 1897)

Female Labor in Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅳ No.10 (December, 1897).

Proposed Factory Act in Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅳ No.11 (January, 1898).

A New Trade Union in Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅳ No.12 (February, 1898).

Experience of a Labor Agitator in Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.1 (March, 1898).

Strikes in Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.2 (April, 1898).

Great Railway Strike in Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.3 (May, 1898).

Labor Notes from Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.6 (August, 1898).

Life Condition of Japanese Workers American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.7 (September, 1898).
Street Car Service in Tokyo American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.8 (October, 1898).

Japanese Farmers American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.9 (November, 1898).

Factory Legislation in Japan American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.10 (December, 1898).

Japanese Factory Legislation American Federationist, vol.Ⅴ No.11 (January, 1899).

Rodo Kumiai Kisei kwai American Federationist, vol.Ⅵ No.8 (October, 1899).

Kazuo Nimura's Writings on Labor History