Press translations [Japan]. Economic Series 0228, 1946-01-30.

Full Translation:

Regarding the policy for disposal of hoarded materials, NARAHASHI, the Secretary of the Cabinet, stated at the extraordinary Cabinet meeting on 26 January that the Government would use the police in determined steps to seek out and dispatch hoards of former military stores. The ministers concerned approved the policy and will put it into operation.

The essential points of NARAHASHI's statement are as follows: As is well known, the greater pert of the former military stores was dispose[illegible]of for civilian use as quickly as possible through proper channels of distribution, just after the end if the war, in accordance with the SCAP directive. However, the urgent need is to complete the disposal of all these goods for proper use. I expect the ministers concerned to take steps to deal with the problem and to have the police search out and make proper use of the unlawfully hoarded military stores as well as inform the offices concerned whenever a hoard of former military stores is found.

Summary:

Fixing tile coal output of the first ten days of September at 100, that of the last ten days of December can be arranged in order as follows:

Though the figures for the western part if HONSHU and KYUSHU stand out above the others, the JOBAN Coal Mine in the eastern part of HONSHU actually holds first place in production since the figures for the western part of HONSHU and KYUSHU are based on low production in September due to very bad conditions resulting from storms.

The JOBAN Coal Mine, located near a city with a large consumption and once having a monthly output of 400,000 tons, can not be satisfied wit the recent 130,000 to 140,000 tons per month.

ECONOMIC SERIES: 228 (Continued)

ITEM 2 (Continued)

The repatriation of war-prisoners has been quicker and there have been no storms, while Koreans left in the middle of October, on the other hand, an agreement was reached in the labor dispute and the recruitment of labor is proceeding smoothly. An additional ration of rice for January was given to laborers in December. The repair of dilapidated houses is behind schedule because of the shortage of necessary materials. Goods for work, rubber-soled tabi, pick-axes and shovels, etc., are difficult to obtain, Nevertheless there is no doubt that the JOBAN coal mine is in better condition as compared with others. JOBAN is expected to have good results hereafter.

Summary:

The management of company operation by the striking employees is one of new phenomena in JAPAN. Authorities of the Ministry of Commerce an Industry once expressed a view approving such action by employees but soon after denied that view and made their attitude somewhat ambiguous It seems that management by employees is coming about either as a simp[illegible]outcome of strikes or as a result of the desire to keep industry from coming to a standstill because of strikes, or to assure the source of wages and salaries of the workers involved. In any case, it is a rare phenomenon and on the whole it seems to reflect the post-war anarchy in JAPAN. Here we will make a survey of three such cases of employee management in TOKYO.

The first case is that of ADACHI Factory of the HITACHI Precision Machine (SEIKI) Company. Six hundred employees of that factory struck on 4 January, but on the pretext of the importance of the products mad by the factory, such as automobile parts, printing machines, and switch the employees decided to continue to operate the factory. The work was to be carried on under the authority of the management committee which they formed themselves. The management committee followed the procedure of the company in factory organization but filled the vacated parts of the heads of five departments and sections themselves. Under these conditions the attendance of workers is very high at present. It rose from 70 to 75 per cent before the strike to 92 to 93 per cent today.

The second case is that of the KEISEI Electric Railway Company. During December all 2,100 employees of that line struck for about 20 days. During the strike the employees operated the line and finally won the dispute on 29 December. At the end of the dispute, a Management Council (KEIEI KYOGIKAI) was established between the company and employ[illegible]It is said that the chief interest of the council lies in the operatio[illegible]of the railway lines, but, in fact, the council does not show any visi[illegible]accomplishment since its formation. As a result of the strike, the wages and salaries of workers have been raised to four or five times as much and a consumers' co-operative society is to be established by the company with an initial investment of 100,000 yen.

Finally the case of the KANTO Electric Distribution (KANTO HAIDEN) Company, one of the biggest corporations in JAPAN, will be noted. The employees of that company, after a prolonged dispute with the company took over management of operation on 18 January and until they won the dispute on 26 January they worked harder than ever before. The worker won mast of the points in the dispute, including a five-fold increase in their wages, a monthly salary system instead of a day wage system, a basic 8 hour system, and so forth. On 21 January, they even won from the company directorate a power of attorney for the management of many company affairs.

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ECONOMIC SERIES: 228 (Continued)

Summary:

The unemployment problem is no less important to present day JAPAN that inflation and food problems though public attention is now being fixed solely upon the latter two.

According to a survey made by the Ministry of Welfare, at the end of the war, about 13,240,000 people were discharged from the military services and official workshops as well as from the private war industries. Nearly half of these people have already resumed their Jobs and the actual number of unemployed is estimated at about 6,000,000. This figure is about thirteen times greater than the largest pre-war record of 470,000 in 1930 - 1931, when economic crisis was sweeping over the whole world. However, the present unemployment problem is of a very different nature from that of 1930 - 1931. The present unemployment problem was not caused by business depressions and overproduction, but it is only a temporary economic phenomenon arising from the industrial reorganization necessitated by the end of the war.

It is not absolutely impossible for job-seekers at present to find job if they have no particular jobs in mind. Nevertheless, all the cities and towns are filled with idle jobless people. This may be attributed first to the fact that these people have lost their willingness to work as a reaction to compulsory labor during the war; also, the reti[illegible]ment allowances have fostered idleness. Second, because of the inflation they cannot maintain their livelihood if tied to any regular[illegible]jobs. Today, their retirement allowances may have run out and even black marketing will become difficult to continue.

These are reasons why unemployed have lately come to think seriously of new jobs. Last fall, the Government revealed its plan to undertake public works to solve the unemployement question. All the measures worked out by political parties to cope with the situation also concentrated on public works. However, unemployment cannot be eliminated by public works alone. The unemployment problem can be solved only by reconstruction of all kinds of industries which are needed for rebuild of JAPAN.

The reconstruction of industries in our country should be started thro the revival of export goods and products. By doing so, industrial re-organisation will be speedily developed so that all the unemployed may be absorbed into a new large industrial field. Most men discharged fr[illegible]war industries are skilled laborers and driving them to public works projects is against economic principles. In short, the best way to so the problem is to develop the export goods production as rapidly as possible and to absorb therein the jobless people as far as possible. Relief measures should be taken only for those who can still find no job in this process. Of course, many obstacles lie in the way of the facilitating export goods production. Successful measures are sincere expected of the Government.

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