Basic research on day labourers in wartime Japan

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00949
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03020:Japanese history-related
• Research Institution: Ibaraki University
• Principal Investigator: Sasaki Kei 茨城大学, 人文社会科学部, 教授 (50581807)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 総力戦体制 / 日雇労働者 / 労務供給請負業 / 扶桑会 / 飛田勝造

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examines the actual situation of day labourers in Japan from the wartime period to the early post-war period, particularly in relation to the labour supply contracting industry. First, it collected archives on the Fusokai, which worked to organise day labourers in the wartime period, and clarified that its activities covered a wide range of areas, including outside Japan. Second, the activities of Fusokai president Tobita Katsuzo were clarified using Tobita's own published articles and essays, as well as testimonies from people in the vicinity. The labour supply contracting industry was exposed to two 'crises' in the 1930s - 'humanity' and 'war' - and was forced to find a way forward. As a concrete response to such a situation, the paper reveals how the industry's 'industry's ill winds' were renewed and its cooperation with the labour mobilisation process was promoted.

Free Research Field

日本近現代史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究によって、戦中・戦後の日雇労働者の動向に大きな影響力をもった労務供給請負業者の動向が明らかとなり、これまでほとんど研究の無かった当該期の日雇労働者の実態解明の足掛かりをつくることができた。
戦中・戦後の日雇労働の様相を明らかにすることは、現代の日本の労働のあり方を再照射することにつながる。ILO設立以降「苦境」に立たされた労務供給請負業が、どのように状況に対応したのかを知ることは、現在進行中のグローバル化の下での労働力編成の変容についての歴史的、相対的理解へと道をひらくものといえる。