Voices wavering between silence and arrest: The depths of the Kobunsha Dispute, 1970-1975

Voices wavering between silence and arrest: The depths of the Kobunsha Dispute, 1970-1975

In the mid-1970s, the end of Japan's rapid economic growth combined with the recession caused by the oil crisis to create constant tension and anxiety in the workplace. The publishing world was no different. At Kobunsha, the first union continued its struggle for improved personnel policies and working conditions, and the company countered by introducing guards while supporting the second union. In 1974-75, the dispute took on the aspect of a criminal case, with assaults by guards and the mass arrest of nineteen union members. The structure of the dispute, in which the assault case was dropped and only the union side was arrested, was symbolic of the deep intervention of the company and police dynamics in the dispute. The words of the employees in the midst of this turmoil expressed their positions and fears as they were. Some spoke of the incident as a personal vendetta, others were angry that the increase in supporters was interfering with their work, others felt that the a
rrest of their colleagues was an anomaly but were powerless to resist, and still others saw the arrest as justified and tried to protect their daily lives. Each voice is not merely an opinion, but a reflection of how the people who lived during this period supported themselves in the midst of the turmoil and tried to adapt to the situation. The Kobunsha dispute is not only a typical example of labor-management conflict, but also an incident that visualized human tremors and fears, the pain of which still strongly touches the reader's heart.