If you need an email answered in French from J-List, you’ll have to wait another day: Thomas, our employee from France, was late getting back to Japan because a rail strike in Paris made it impossible to get to the airport in time for his flight. This is another difference between Japan and the West: for the most part, there’s harmony between labor and management, and it’s rare that average citizens feel inconvenience from or even notice labor disputes. There are some reasons for this balance, which may seem odd from the outside. First, both labor unions and management are likely better at reaching agreement on the issues they face, finding a consensus before disagreements get serious. If there’s a Golden Rule to Japanese society it’s not to cause meiwaku (inconvenience) to others, and I’m sure all parties would work extra hard to avoid being seen in a negative light by the public at large. But more than anything, the “labor harmony” here seems to come down to the kokumin-sei of the Japanese, their “national personality” that dislikes confrontation. In the spring, there’s an interesting custom called shunto or “spring wages battle” in which employees of larger companies put on those cool hachimaki headbands and stage a mini-strike over a few days, demanding higher wages or improvements in their working conditions. These events are more like performances than serious disputes, though, and everything is decided ahead of time to avoid inconveniencing anyone.
The “Spring Wage Battle” is an interesting aspect of Japan
