History of Japanese Labor Unions 13

At that time, some people said that they were "cinematographers who were employees of a company and were members of the Cinematographers' Association."
Then there were people who were not employees, but who worked for a company for many years as contractors (effectively freelancers) and could continue to work for the company.
Especially for cinematographers, companies may approach them for advice, so it is a stable workplace for the cameraman.
That is why some people say that "labor unions are not necessary."
If the Cinematographers' Association were dissolved and a labor union were formed, he would no longer have an organization with his peers.

At that time, Toho, Shochiku, Toei, Nikkatsu, Daiei, and Iwanami-eiga also had labor unions.

Other large film companies also had labor unions. *1

However, these company unions had no intention of forming industry-specific labor unions with individual membership, nor did they have any intention of organizing the large number of unorganized workers, like the labor unions in the printing and bookbinding industry (mentioned above).
This meant that people from small companies and freelancers were left outside the companies.
If you try to organize such outsiders, the union will be dominated by freelancers, so conversely, people from large companies will not necessarily join the individual membership union right away.

Open shops are common in the Japanese labor movement, so some people will not join unions.
On the other hand, closed shops are a system in which you become a union member at the same time as becoming an employee. This is common in ”同盟系(Domei-type labor unions)". *2
This was not the case with "総評系(Sohyo-type unions)" (mentioned above).

So, in order to join an open shop labor union, you had to have a certain level of awareness.
Moreover, companies do not want workers to join unions. So if a company says, "It's better not to join a union," many workers will not join.
If a company openly says, "Don't join a union!", it would be a violation of the Labor Standards Act, so companies whisper hints of their aversion to unions to workers.


*1 When Harada was a labor union member (1980s), he interacted with labor unions at many film companies. There were labor unions not only in film production companies, but also in film distribution companies.

Harada learned the secrets of special effects photography and special paint from members of the Toei Animation labor union (as mentioned above).Similarly, Harada heard from Toei labor union members about director Fukasaku Kinji's on-set anecdotes, how art sets are made for period dramas, and the secrets of historical accuracy.Harada was able to hear these things mainly at social gatherings held in the evenings at izakayas and other places after meetings and collective bargaining.

*2 "全日本労働総同盟(All Japan General Confederation of Labour)" (1964-2007).
Domei-type labor unions supported the "民社党(Minshato)" (Democratic Socialist Party). The "Minshato" was a right-wing democratic party derived from the Japan Socialist Party. It was dissolved in 1994.
Sohyo supported the Japan Socialist Party.
Japan's labor unions and political parties (with the exception of the Japanese Communist Party, which has been in existence for over 100 years) have been formed and dissolved repeatedly, so we don't think there's any need to memorize all the proper nouns.
What's important is simply the fact that at the time, there was intense conflict between supporters of the Japanese Communist Party and supporters of the Japan Socialist Party within labor unions, peace groups, anti-nuclear groups, etc.

A diagram of the reorganization of the labor union world published in the Asahi Shimbun in 1989.
This diagram excludes the Japanese Communist Party-affiliated labor union community "統一労組懇(Toitsu Roso Kon)" (Unified Labor Union Council), although it is mentioned in the article.
In Japan, the mass media (especially for a long time until the Cold War) basically did not report on the Japanese Communist Party.
So, for example, when reporting on May Day, rallies affiliated with the Japanese Communist Party were not reported.
In recent years, this tendency has decreased, and now the mass media also report on the Japanese Communist Party.