Mr. Natsukawa and His Working Girls
DEVERALL, RICHARD
MR. NATSUKAWA AND HIS WORKING GIRLS By Richard Deverall Strikes break out at the Omi Silk plants, where japn's new labor federation is fighting against a paternalistic boss Tokyo Zenro, the...
...Finally, 500 men and women charged the plant gate, tore down the fences, hurled rocks through windows and otherwise demonstrated that they did not believe they were Communists...
...I'm not an ordinary capitalist...
...The management later issued a written apology to the citizens of Fujinomiya...
...The company blockaded all plants, effectively barring the girls from their dormitory homes...
...5. The workers demand "freedom of marriage," referring to Natsukawa's cherished belief that married people cannot work as hard as single...
...8. The union wants to halt all censorship of written or printed correspondence...
...Violence flared for a second time at Hikone when the girls tried to cut through the barbed-wire fences...
...Natsukawa explains that he held an "election" in the plant and, since the majority voted for Buddha, his religious program is "thoroughly democratic...
...several sticks of dynamite were detonated and 70 more workers were injured...
...It involves a direct attack on the paternalistic feudalism which has been characteristic of many small and medium enterprises in Japan...
...When Natsukawa arrived from Paris, he called a press conference and, to impress the reporters, emerged with his pants rolled up to his knees in what he regarded as a "fighting pose...
...Meanwhile, the revolting workers swelled their ranks to 13,000...
...4. The workers demand freedom of education...
...The next day...
...Workers who do not attend are discharged or transferred...
...To work only eight hours a day...
...Thirteen union members were injured...
...Factory officials, anxious for the "morality" of the young workers, open all incoming and outgoing mail...
...Finally, the boss ordered his driver to smash through, knocking down 5 of his employes...
...and, as soon as children arrive, they are transferred again...
...It deserves the fullest support of world labor in its fight to bring human decency and dignity to workers neglected by the ideological unions which have hitherto dominated Japan...
...A bowl of noodles has often been the reward for young girls who worked at a breakneck pace in Russian-style competitions...
...3. The union declares: "We are absolutely against compulsory Buddhist services...
...Seven persons were injured in the melee...
...At the company's Fujimiya plant, in Shizuoka, members of the new group clashed with the ICFTUs followers...
...Meanwhile, the ICFTU union declared a strike and the girls poured out of the plants...
...One vehicle which blocked the main gate was promptly turned over...
...Residents of the peaceful little city stood it as long as they could...
...A fight developed which moved into the plant's dining room and a dozen people were seriously injured...
...In the company's Tsu plant, another riot developed the same day in which 10 persons were injured...
...The Omi Silk Company was founded in 1917 by Kumajiro Natsukawa...
...The union charges that workers put in much more than an 8-hour day and often receive no overtime...
...He refused to bargain with the ICFTU union, and declared that the original strikers were all fired on the spot...
...6. The workers want to do away with factory competitions, which only result in higher profits for the Buddhist boss...
...Among other things, the rules require that married men in his employ sleep in the company dormitory and not with their families...
...2. The Natsukawa code calls for the worker to give "body and soul" to Omi Silk...
...In June, while the silk tycoon was sporting about Paris, his workers decided that the time had come for a showdown...
...Its work force is made up largely of young Japanese girls who, under the old feudal system, are what the employers call "very docile and proper...
...Natsukawa dismissed all the charges with the comment: "Absurd —that's all I have to say about the demands...
...This is a conspiracy, a revolt...
...is a luxury that cannot be permitted...
...Therefore, all employes must worship Buddha even though many are Roman Catholics...
...Although Natsukawa has announced mass discharges to break the strike, victory for the Zenro-backed union is assured...
...he exclaimed...
...You should divorce your wives, all of you, and keep your minds on your work...
...Under the driving force of Natsukawa's son, who claims he works 24 hours every day, Omi has become one of Japan's "big little companies" and has branches in many parts of the country...
...Natsukawa, a devout Buddhist who does not smoke or drink, is convinced that Buddha takes a personal interest in his company...
...Declares the employer: "The earth rotates and time moves on moment by moment...
...The Japanese press relates how, when production tapered off, Natsukawa called in the company directors...
...7. The workers demand "freedom of cultural activities...
...All I want is to leave good work behind...
...Perhaps the weirdest event of the Omi strike developed at the plant in Fujinomiya...
...The company runs its own schools inside the factory compounds...
...The union demands an end to inhuman treatment...
...The All-Japan Textile Workers Union, under the leadership of President Takita, had been consulting with some of the girls, and a free trade union was formed to oppose the phony company union...
...Within a few days, the arrogant behavior of company officials led to a first-class riot at the Gifu plant...
...I need no money...
...9. The union demands an end to espionage by the boss...
...The climax came, however, when Natsukawa tried to drive through a picket line...
...Those who violate the rule and get married are soon transferred...
...The Japanese Ministry of Labor and other official bodies have finally moved into the picture...
...shortly before midnight, the company sent 240 rock-tossing goons to charge the girls' picket line...
...All newspapers and magazines coming into the dormitory are first scanned by the company, and any material which is "immoral" or offensive to the boss is carefully clipped out...
...At Hikone, where the company tried to march 500 strikebreakers through the picket line, the girls gave a good account of themselves...
...Now the years of suppression and inhuman treatment suddenly burst forth...
...What's the matter with you fellows...
...The International Transport Workers Federation has declared a global boycott of Omi products and funds are reaching the strikers from many parts of the world...
...But what this Japanese employer calls his "ideals" are an enchanting picture of sixteenth-century labor relations: 1. He set up a company union when unions became legal after the war, and thus laid down rules binding the workers to his will...
...A company-union leader mounted a platform and declared that all members of the ICFTU-affiliated union were Communists...
...The company declared a lockout and strung barbedwire fences around the plants...
...The doughty Natsukawa claims: "Money-making is not my purpose...
...NATSUKAWA AND HIS WORKING GIRLS By Richard Deverall Strikes break out at the Omi Silk plants, where japn's new labor federation is fighting against a paternalistic boss Tokyo Zenro, the labor federation formed here this year to promote the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and prevent the Communization of Japanese labor, has for the past month been leading one of the most significant strikes in this country's history...
...While the skirmishes were going on, Natsukawa organized a third union...
...Natsukawa wants "his" workers to see and enjoy only "proper" cultural activities...
...Zenro is pledged to end feudalism in Japan's small and medium enterprises...
...When Natsukawa got the word in Paris, he was outraged and immediately emplaned for Japan to discipline his wayward girl workers...
...The young girls tossed rocks through his car's windows and dented its hood with their fists...
...therefore, one can't afford to waste a single second...
...Otherwise law-abiding young girls began hurling rocks at plant guards...
...he asked sternly...
...I have ideals...
Vol. 37 • August 1954 • No. 31
