Labour unions emerged in Japan in the second half of the Meiji period, after 1890, as the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization. Until 1945, however, the labour movement remained weak, impeded by a lack of legal rights, anti-union legislation, management-organized factory councils, and political divisions between “cooperative” and radical unionists.
The Ashio copper mine (c1895). A three-day riot in 1907 at the Furukawa Company's massive mine was violently suppressed by troops.
The 1960 Miike struggle: police with helmets and batons clash with striking coal miners at the Miike coal mine, May 12, 1960
2011 National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo) May Day march, Tokyo.
National Trade Union Council (Japan)
The National Trade Union Council , commonly known in Japanese as Zenrōkyō (全労協), is a national confederation of Japanese labor unions. There was another organization of the same name from 1947 to 1950.
National Trade Union Council (Zenrokyo) May Day march, Tokyo