Struggle and Purpose in Postwar Japanese Unionism

Ordering     

Status, purpose, and lineage are the themes of this study of the postwar Japanese labor movement. The study stretches from 1943 to 1984. During that time, Japan went from being a vast empire to a defeated, occupied, and outcast nation. Social transformation lowered the barriers of status and class, and economic restructuring reoriented industry from wartime to peaceful production.

Unionists ensured their eligibility for participation in the national political discourse of the 1950s and 1960s by demonstrating their sense of high purpose in the debates of the late 1940s. Men and women from a much broader segment of society than ever before participated in the postwar struggle to define a new purpose for Japanese politics. This study looks at individual behavior motivated by this search for high purpose and examines a variety of cases, differing by status, age, and experience.

Contents

Acknowledgments — vii
Introduction — ix
1. Old Purpose Frustrated and Old Loyalties Challenged, 1943–1947 — 1
     Rewards of Imperial Service — 1
     Sacrifices at the End of Empire — 9
     Soldiering on in the Wake of Defeat — 13
     Taking Charge — 19
     Restrictions on Loyal Action — 25
2. Purpose Redirected, 1945–1947 — 28
     Difficulties with Benevolence — 29
     Righteousness Refocused — 32
     Radical Purposes — 39
     Tug of War over Purpose — 48
     Further Radicalization of Purpose — 59
     Difficulties for Radicalism — 67
3. In Search of New Purpose, 1946–1949 — 72
     Loosed Cannon — 72
     Unionism Transformed — 79
     The Discourse of Democratization — 88
     Unionism Reaching Higher — 100
     Highest Purpose — 112
     Sights Lowered — 123
4. At Cross Purposes, 1950–1954 — 139
     Fragmentation on Purpose — 139
     Assertion of Superiority — 148
     Finding a Cause — 154
     Labor Agreements — 163
     Higher Purpose in Public Office — 168
     Opposition to Rationalization — 175
5. The Purpose of Unionism, 1955–1963 — 190
     Competing Lineages within the Labor Movement — 191
     Struggle and Its Consequences — 207
     Heroes of Industry — 213
     Finding Purpose in Struggle — 218
     Purpose of Lineage — 227
6. Struggle over History, 1964–1984 — 229
     Individual Purpose — 230
     Steel for the Nation — 241
     Alienation and Exploitation — 248
     Charges of Corruption — 259
     Traditions of Labor Militancy — 266
     Taking Labor Seriously — 272
Glossary 1: Individuals Discussed — 283
Glossary 2: Terms, Institutions, Organizations — 285
Bibliography — 310
Index — 319

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