Dear colleagues,

It is my pleasure to inform you about the October meeting of the Kansai Modern Japan Group, an interdisciplinary platform for scholars based in or visiting the Kansai area who work on modern and/or contemporary Japan. The lecture is in English, the comments and discussion either in English or Japanese, all interested are welcome.

Here are the data:

SPEAKER: Charles Weathers (Osaka City University)
TITLE: Japan’s Temporary Worker Controversy
DISCUSSANT: tba
DATE: Tuesday 18 October
TIME: 18:30
PLACE: Osaka City University Bunka Koryu Sentaa

(大阪市立大学　文化交流センター) on the 6th floor of
Osaka Eki-mae Biru (Building) 2.
It is the middle of the 3 eki-mae buildings. The Center is located in southeast corner. You can find a map at http://www.osaka-cu.ac.jp/info/commons/access-umeda.htm
l It is within walking distance from (in order of
proximity) JR Kita Shinchi Station, Yotsubashi-sen Nishi-Umeda Station, Tanimachi-sen Higashi-Umeda Station, Hanshin Umeda station, JR Osaka Station, Midosuji-sen Umeda Station and Hankyu Umeda Station.

Our next meeting will be the KMJG annual birthday meeting, to be held in Kyoto on Saturday 12 or 26 November. There will be an academic program in the afternoon, consisting of three or four presentations, followed by a dinner to conclude the festivities.

Those willing to present at one of our monthly meetings, please send an abstract of the presentation you propose to dick.stegewerns@xs4all.nl

I look forward to welcoming many of you next week.

Best regards,

Dick Stegewerns
Kyoto University & Oslo University

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ABSTRACT:

Japan’s Temporary Worker Controversy

Temporary agency (haken) workers account for only a small portion of the work force, but they have been flashpoints for controversy for over a decade.
Activists in the 1990s were angered by the use of the temporary work industry to perpetuate Japan's gendered division of labor. In the last five years, public anger has been aroused by reports of abuse of daily temporary workers (hiyatoi haken), blatant rule-breaking by manufacturing firms (centered around reports of “false subcontracting” (giso ukeoi)), mass dismissals of temps (haken-giri), and the Temporary Worker Village (Haken Mura), which accommodated some of the workers left destitute in late 2008. However, there is little indication that either the stream of revelations of mistreatment or determined activist initiatives have brought significant improvements in worker well-being.
This presentation describes the development of the temporary worker industry in Japan, explaining why it attracts outsize attention, and what it reveals about the problems afflicting all non-regular workers in contemporary Japan.

Charles Weathers is professor in the Osaka City University Department of Economics teaching labor relations and political economy. His recent research has focused on Japan's non-regular workers and community unions, and on comparative union activities in Japan, the US, and Australia.