Kazuo Nimura's Writings on Labor History

VOL.15    Japanese Labor History in Comparative Perspective  (in progress)

1. From Trade Unions to the 'NAKAMA' in Feudal Society: Organizational Characteristics of Occupational Groups in Japan (upload: March 10, 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)
       A translation of "Nikkan Rōshikankei no Hikakushiteki Kento" , in 'Ohara Shakaimondai Kenkyujo Zasshi'(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 Rekisiteki Tokushitsu" , in 'Shakai-seisaku Gakkai Nenpo'(Annals of the Society for the Study of Social Polocy) No.31, May 1987.

4. The Formation of Japanese Labor Movement;1868-1914 (forthcoming)
"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).

5. Post WW II Labour Relations in Japan:1940-1993 (forthcoming)
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.

6. Efficiency and Labor Relations in Japanese Manufacturing Industries
Paper presented at International Symposium on Industrial Democracy and Labor in Modern Capitalism, Seoul, December 6 - 8 1991.

Vol.16    History of Mine Workers in Japan  (in progress)

1. “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

2. 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 it's English version The Ashio Riot of 1907 (Duke University Press, 1997).

                Contents
Introductory Remarks

I   Wage levels at Ashio
        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 The ore dressing process: technological progress and qualitative/quantitative changes in the labor supply
        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 Advances In The Ore Refining Process
        1) The smelting and refinery process
        2) The smelting process
        3) The tempering process
        4) The introduction of mechanical bellows


IV Ore Refining: Technological Change And The Structure Of The Labor Force
        1) Qualitative change in the workforce in ore smelting
        2) Quantitative change in the workforce in ore smelting


V  Reasons For The Decline In Ore Refiners' Wages
        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
        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

Conclusion

3. Appendix 1  Hanba Boss Origins And Areas Of Labor Recruitment
4. Appendix 2  Convict Labor At The Ashio Mines

Vol.20    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.

1   Labor Report from Meiji Japan

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

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

3. The Japanese Workers' Condition    American Federationist, Vol.II, no.1(September, 1895)

4. Chines Tailors' Strike in Shanghai    American Federationist, Vol.III, no.1(March, 1896)

2   Correspondence between Fusataro Takano and Samuel Gompers

1. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, March 6, 1894
2. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano , March 9, 1894
3. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, March 13, 1894
4. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, March 16, 1894
5. A letter draft from Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, April 10, 1894
6. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, April 19, 1894
7. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, May 7, 1894
8. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, May 9, 1894
9. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, July 10, 1894
10. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, August 19, 1894
11. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, August 21, 1894
12. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, August 30, 1894
13. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, September 26, 1894
14. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, September 28, 1894
15. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, October 22, 1894
16. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, July 28, 1895
17. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, February 5, 1896
18. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, February 18, 1896
19. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, March 7, 1896
20. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, July 5, 1896
21. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, July 22, 1896
22. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, July 28, 1896
23. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, October 10, 1896
24. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, October 31, 1896
25. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, November 28, 1896
26. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, December 11, 1896
27. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, January 4, 1897
28. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, February 20, 1897
29. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, March 29, 1897
30. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, April 15, 1897
31. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, May 2, 1897
32. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, May 19, 1897
33. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, June 24, 1897
34. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, July 3, 1897
35. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, July 7, 1897
36. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, July 8, 1897
37. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, August 21, 1897
38. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, September 3, 1897
39. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, September 15, 1897
40. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, September 17, 1897
41. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, September 26, 1897
42. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, September 29, 1897
43. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, October 24, 1897
44. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, October 27, 1897
45. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, October 28, 1897
46. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, November 8, 1897
47. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, November 16, 1897
48. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, November 23, 1897
49. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, December 2, 1897
50. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, December 17, 1897
51. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, January 7, 1898
52. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, April 30, 1898
53. From Fusataro Takano to Frank Morrison, June 5, 1898
54. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, August 23, 1898
55. From Samuel Gompers to Fusataro Takano, September 15, 1898
56. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, December 4, 1898
57. From Fusataro Takano to Samuel Gompers, September 1, 1899

3   Letter drafts of Fusataro Takano

1. A letter draft of Fusataro Takano addressed to Samuel Gompers, April 10, 1894
2. A Letter draft of Fusataro Takano addressed to J. Hayes, August 25, 1894

4   Letters addressed to Fusataro Takano

1. A letter from A. B. Kingsland to Fusataro Takano, December 12, 1888
2. A letter from A. B. Kingsland to Fusataro Takano, December 27, 1888
3. A letter from Albert Brayton to Fusataro Takano, October 24, 1889
4. A Letter from Will Nissen Jr. to Fusataro Takano, October 24, 1889
5. A Letter from E. S. Baker to Fusataro Takano, December 6, 1889
6. A Letter from Will Nissen Jr. to Fusataro Takano, March 2., 1890
7. A Letter from Will Nissen Jr. to Fusataro Takano, April 18., 1890
8. A letter from John Hayes of the Knights of Labor to Fusataro Takano, August 6, 1891
9. A Letter from Lucy Clark to Fusataro Takano, November 27, 1892
10. A Letter from G. W. Perkins of Cigarmakers Int'l Unon to F. Takano, May 31, 1894
11. A Letter from Henry Beckmeyer of Essex Trade Council to F. Takano, July 19, 1894
12. A Letter from D. Everett of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers to F. Takano, August 13, 1894
13. A Letter from L. P. August of Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen to F. Takano, October 9, 1894
14. A Letter from George Gunton to Fusataro Takano, June 28, 1895
15. A Letter from George Gunton to Fusataro Takano, July 7, 1896
16. A Letter from Percy Hollister Whiting to Fusataro Takano, August 14, 1896