Gender Struggles

In the formative years of the Japanese labor movement after World War II, the socialist unions affiliated with the General Council of Trade Unions (the labor federation known colloquially as Sōhyō) formally endorsed the principles of women's equality in the workforce and put in place measures to promote women's active participation in union activities. However, union leaders did not embrace the legal framework for gender equality mandated by their American occupiers; rather, they pressured thous…