I had made it back safely to the company, I faced difficult challenges. Our production base in Nobeoka was seriously damaged by a major air raid on June 29, 1945.
Three of our plants, for chemicals, Bemberg, and plastic, were burned to the ground, and other plants such as for viscose rayon were destroyed. I scrambled to repair the buildings and machines and to procure raw materials and supplies in order to restart the plants. There was no time to feel emotional about the end of the war.
On April 1, 1946, the company name was changed to Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. Mr. Hori remained the President and our capital stock was 54.4 million yen. I was head of the Tokyo Office. Postwar reconstruction was happening at break-neck pace. We restarted the viscose rayon and Bemberg plants and converted the explosives and detonator plants to civilian use.
I joined the Board of Directors in March 1947 at age 38 and became Managing Director two months later. Right after renewing my determination to pursue full-scale rebuilding as the right-hand man of Mr. Hori, whom I very much respected, he and other executives were forced to resign under the purge policy.
In his place, Shigeyuki Hamada became President, but what awaited us in the new management was a severe onslaught of strikes.
A prominent characteristic of the postwar chaos was intensifying labor offensives. Freed from the harsh restrictions of the prewar and wartime periods, workers formed a number of labor unions. Due to the rapidity of these reforms, disorder persisted across Japan and many resorted to extreme leftist destructive activities.
In January 1946, when I was head of the Tokyo Office, a rayon union was organized in Nobeoka. In just two months, seven unions were formed consisting of 8,000 people. The unions immediately formed an association, and in March of the same year, they requested a labor agreement with the core demands of raising pay by a factor of five and requirement of union approval for the dismissal or transfer of members.
The company was ready to accept some wage increases to accommodate the high inflation, but the conditions for dismissals and transfers were rejected as infringing the rights of management. The unions went on strike, and because the company was woefully unprepared, a four-times wage increase and a humiliating labor agreement were agreed on the eighth day of the strike. The company had been thoroughly defeated.
At the signing of the agreement, I realized that “If this goes on, the company will fail.” I was appointed to be head of labor and human resources, and made Yoshihisa Kuroda (who later became Vice President) chief of the personnel section and Hiroshi Sakurai (who later became Managing Director) chief of the labor section, sending them to Nobeoka. The two of them were knowledgeable in labor affairs, so I had them investigate union activities and try to imbue employees with a more moderate labor philosophy.
The unions increasingly leaned left as they won victories, and their demands escalated. In March 1948, they demanded a major wage increase totaling 120 million yen. That was equivalent to our annual sales at the time, so it was obviously unacceptable.
The unions once again went on strike, but the efforts of Mr. Sakurai and Mr. Kuroda had borne fruit by this time. Many workers left the unions and broke the strike, which made it impossible for the unions to keep fighting. The company had won.
However, this did not mean an end to the conflict between labor and management. In August, the unions again demanded a major wage increase of 40%. This time, a group of nearly 10,000 people came to Nobeoka to support the unions, and leaders the Communist Party gave agitating speeches. It was no longer just one company’s problem.
The President authorized me with full powers to deal with this issue, and I consistently maintained a firm stance. I thought the same thing would just happen again and again, finally forcing us into bankruptcy, unless we attack the root of the unions’ radical extreme leftist tendencies.
The negotiations broke down and the third strike started on September 18. More workers had also joined a second union which was more moderate, growing it into a sizeable force. I basically lived in the office as I gave directions, then on October 11 there was a clash between the second union members wanting to work and the first union members who were picketing at the vehicle gate of the viscose rayon plant. This tragedy left 45 people injured, some seriously.
This “rayon gate incident” caused the first union to quickly lose momentum and put the initiative in the hands of the second union. The first union was disbanded, and I dismissed all of its leaders.
The great dispute at Nobeoka had finally come to an end. This valuable experience made the employees understand that the company cannot flourish and the union members’ lives cannot be improved unless labor and management cooperate. No large-scale strikes have occurred since then.
Tokyo Head Office, Sanshin Bldg. 1950s