Japanese Labour and Management in Transition

Citation

Anasz, W. (1998), "Japanese Labour and Management in Transition", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 25 No. 10, pp. 1578-1581. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijse.1998.25.10.1578.3

There are two parts to the book: part one is concerned with management perspectives and part two deals with industrial relations in present‐day Japan. The book begins with an introduction written by Mari Sako where she sums up the view of Japanese industrial relations in the literature of the subject in historical perspective. Before she goes on with some more detailed introduction of the topics and themes of the book, she concedes that the most plausible explanation why Japanese industrial relations, and Japanese‐style personnel management, are different from patterns in other developed countries lies in their cultural context. She writes:

… since a country’s industrial relations behaviour is embedded in broader social and cultural structures, comparative industrial relations must involve, not comparing one dimension like trade union density at a time, but comparing the whole national system of industrial relations. And the more we go down this route of examining the whole system which had interlocking and mutually reinforcing elements, the more it seems impossible to transfer some elements to another national setting in a piecemeal fashion. (p. 2).

Part one consists of seven articles. Higuchi describes, from the point of view of labour economics, the trends in labour markets in Japan. Sugeno and Suwa discuss revision of labour law in the period of transition in the labour market. Kawakita presents problems of personnel management within the strategy of corporations. Sato focuses on white‐collar employees in large companies. Wakisaka looks at another aspect of human resources management, i.e. women at work, while Seike concentrates on employment of older workers. This part concludes with an article by Imano, who presents some issues related to foreigners working in Japanese companies.

Part two, also comprising seven chapters, looks at the role of labour unions in changing labour markets. Shinoda probes the role of Rengo, the only federation of labour unions in present‐day Japan, in shaping policies at the national level, Ohmi outlines labour issues related to privatisation of the public sector and, Sako brings to readers’ attention the role of renowned Shunto, the top event in the annual calendar of labour management negotiations in post‐war Japan. Nitta presents a case study of business diversification versus employment relations, Nakamura looks at issues related to workers’ participation in management, Fujimura ventures into a vision of new unionism, and lastly, Sato moves into the area of non‐unionised companies, of small and medium range.

The book is edited by Mari Sako and Hiroki Sato, with a foreword by Taishiro Shirai, a distinguished scholar in the area of industrial relations in Japan. The book contains a useful appendix presenting major sources of information related to industrial relations in Japan. It lists a number of journals and statistical publications in the field and indicates sources available in English, for those who are unable to reach multiple publications in Japanese. The same appendix gives an outline of annual publications by the Ministry of Labour in Japan, as well as other major institutions long‐established in research on industrial relations. In addition, it gives a list of major institutions related to research in the field, complete with contact addresses (including some Internet addresses). The book has a useful index and a number of figures and tables as well as a detailed list of contributing authors.

In part one of the book, Higuchi, in his chapter entitled “Trends in Japanese labour markets”, writes about core features of the Japanese‐style employment system in the last 50 years, i.e. long‐term employment and the seniority wage system. These characteristics are contrasted with data from other countries and broken down by gender. He also talks about adjustments of employment and wages to the business cycle and presents a case study. In conclusion, Higuchi states that employees’ job security is still a top priority in Japan. Higuchi supports the value of security and yet promotes better adjustment of pay to reflect ability or merit of employees.

Sugeno and Suwa, in their chapter on “Labour law issues in a changing labour market, in search of a new support system”, outline the history of the Japanese labour law from the 1911 Factory Law to the Equal Opportunity Law of 1985 and the Employment Stability Law for Older Workers of 1986. In the discussion, the authors present the changes in labour market and legal issues arising from domestic, as well as from international, environments. They conclude with a call for changes to reflect the industrialised status of the Japanese economy and society; and at the same time they call for assistance, or support systems, for workers as a “weaker party” in industrial relations. A support system has to give an employee legal instruments for self‐protection, as well as new opportunities for greater mobility (with the help of institutions and services). The authors conclude that the reward in this cautious approach to change is to be in a “balanced working society” (p. 74).

Kawakita looks at change in “Corporate strategy and human resource management”. His enquiry is about the change in corporate organisation and strategy in human resource management. Having found that the latest changes and adjustments in the conditions of employment were necessitated by business conditions, the author concludes that:

gradual introduction of [the] merit system is yet another keystone in an everlasting effort to develop human resources (p.102).

Hiroki Sato, in “Human resource management systems in large firms, the case of white‐collar graduate employees” looks into the case of white‐collar employees with university education. This chapter focuses on two aspects of human resource management, i.e. promotion and employment management. In conclusion, the author states that transfers and secondments are already used widely but there is a need for more diverse courses of careers for well‐qualified employees.

Akira Wakisaka looks at changes in the female labour market in the last 15 years and comes to the conclusion that the success of the Equal Opportunity Law introduced in 1986 is doubtful (p. 148).

Atsushi Seike analyses the ageing workers amid the rapidly ageing population of Japan. “In this decade”, he writes, “the public pension eligible age will be lifted gradually to 65” (p. 165). At the same time “employers will be facing a sharp decline in the younger labour force” (p. 65). Seike views the demographic changes in a historical perspective, arguing that ageing is a result of the economic miracle of post‐war Japan. He praises the attitude of older people still willing to work and postulates a positive response on the part of employers to the employment of older workers. To the author of this review, this seems to be an attempt to create an echo of the economic miracle, in a fashion similar to the echo of the baby‐boom.

Koichiro Imano talks about a relatively new phenomenon in the job market in Japan in his chapter entitled “Internationalisation of the labour market, foreign workers and trainees”. In 1991, according to his statistics, there were 3,237,874 foreign nationals entering Japan (p. 169), among them, around 136,000 with a work permit. Trainees amounted to 43,649 new entrants to Japan. The policy of the government, established in 1988, allows for virtually unlimited numbers of professionals to enter the Japanese labour market but it opposes entry of unskilled workers. In addition, there are a number of categories of foreigners who are allowed to seek employment in Japan, mostly young students or foreign nationals of Japanese origin. On the other hand, there are quite a few foreign workers who overstay their work permit period. In May 1994 they amounted to 294,000 people, many from Asian countries. In the end, the author states that programmes for foreign trainees in Japanese companies need further evaluation.

Part two starts with an article by Toru Shinoda depicting the role of a national federation of industrial unions. He presents his material in historical perspective, going back to pre‐war times. He emphasises the post‐war developments in the movement which finally gained a peak in the unification of all former federations into one named Rengo (or the Federation) in 1989. Shinoda’s chapter also outlines the political evolution of the union movement in post‐war Japan ‐ from revolutionary to neo‐corporatist stages, as some see it. Others see the union movement’s change as being towards one aimed at a gradual reformation of the political establishment.

Other chapters in this part of the book are more specific in their outline of the areas and aspects of the unions’ role and activity, at both company and federation level. Naoto Ohmi focuses on the public sector’s cases of privatisation and the response of their unions, while Mari Sako depicts the institution of Shunto or the annual “Spring Offensive” of the union movement and its role in the process of collective bargaining at a national level. Michio Nitta outlines a case of business diversification and the position of the relevant labour union. Keisuke Nakamura looks at systems of collective bargaining and joint consultation as a core part of participation of workers in management through their company unions. Lastly, Hiroyuki Fujimura asks whether there is a future to enterprise unionism while Hiroki Sato concentrates on non‐unionised companies of smaller sizes.

In conclusion, one has to state that the book makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge on personnel management, personnel policies, and industrial relations in present‐day Japan. Some authors overview the situation of the last 50 years and not a few point to some trends for the future. All the authors are well established authorities in the field of industrial relations and have ongoing contacts with practitioners in this area. They bring us up‐to‐date data, as well as the latest arguments about the future of the 50‐year old model of Japanese industrial relations.