The second testimony from members of Kan-nama of the ready-mix concrete industry labor union is from Chairman Yuji Yukawa.

Yukawa was repeatedly arrested and detained for 644 days in relation to the union activities of the Kan-nama throughout the Kinki region (Osaka Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, and Shiga Prefecture). This is the longest period of detention for any union member. It suggests that the police and prosecutors were attempting to dismantle the organization by detaining the union leader.

However, Kam-nama was not crushed as the investigative authorities had intended. What is the source of its strength? The leader’s testimony makes it clear.

In a society where an annual income of 3 million yen is the norm

I believe that this large-scale crackdown has been launched by those in power against Kan-nama, an industrial labor union.

Those in power in the political and business world have a big illusion that only strikes by company-based unions are legal. They believe that industrial unions are totally unacceptable in Japan.

However, this will only make workers poorer. In fact, in Japan, dispatched and other non-regular employment has increased, and annual incomes of 3 million yen have become the norm.

What is the difference between industrial unions and company-based unions?

To raise the wages of all workers, industrial unions go on strike and engage in collective bargaining with management, under the principle of “equal pay for equal work.” We consider ways to make the sector as a whole, not just certain businesses, profitable.

On the other hand, company-based unions are based on the premise of competition between companies. In order to beat rival companies, companies must reduce costs, which means lowering wages and making subcontractors suffer. This kind of practice is rampant in all industries.

I believe it is important not to allow workers’ wages to be used as a means of competition between companies.

Between a cement company and a general contractor

Ready-mixed concrete companies are in a highly vulnerable position. We use cement as a raw material to manufacture ready-mixed concrete, which we then deliver to general contractors. Both the cement companies and the general contractors are large corporations. While general contractors aim to purchase ready-mixed concrete at a low price, cement producers aim to sell cement at a high price. This implies that ready-mixed concrete companies, caught between large corporations, have little profit.

In response, ready-mix concrete companies have formed cooperatives to supply cement and sell ready-mix concrete so that they do not become exhausted by price competition. As a labor union, Kan-nama has fought against the cooperatives, which represent the management side, but it has also worked with them to increase the cost of ready-mix concrete for the benefit of the entire industry. This has led to a positive cycle whereby worker wages have increased and the ready-mix concrete sector as a whole has prospered.

However, the managers betrayed us. The managers of cooperatives, including the Ready-Mixed Concrete Cooperative of Greater Osaka, claim that the strike and collective bargaining by Kan-nama are “obstruction of business” and “extortion,” and are colluding with the investigative authorities to set up this scenario. One of the reasons behind this is that if the ready-mixed concrete industry cooperates with labor and management, the profit margins of cement companies and general contractors will decrease, so the economic and political power have taken action.

The detective demanding, “You have to apologize to my boss”

This crackdown began on August 28, 2018, when I was arrested by the Shiga Prefectural Police. Neither I nor my mother were at home in Kyoto, but the police called my mother. “We’re going to search the house, so come back home.” My mother was not feeling well at the time, and was being looked after by my sister. She told the police, “I’m not feeling well and I can’t come back, so please call him,” but the police called my mother many times. I never heard from the police.

So my mother called me. When I rushed to my house, there were already 12 or 13 officers from the Shiga Prefectural Police there. When they were taking me out of my house, I said, “Are you going to handcuff me in front of the neighbors? That’s enough,” but they said, “No, I’ve already put out a wanted poster.” Even though the police didn’t call me directly, I was made to look like a fugitive because I didn’t come home right away.

In any case, those in power have no awareness at all that Kan-nama is a labor union.

The Shiga Prefectural Police’s Organized Crime Control Division, which is responsible for investigating organized crime, was called in. The detectives pressured me to leave Kan-nama, as if they were forcing me to leave the gang. They said, “You’re still young and have the ability, so why don’t you do something else?” When I explained the union’s philosophy, they just ignored me like this is how it is.

While I was arrested many times by the Shiga Prefectural Police, one time a detective said to me, “You have to apologize to my boss.” “Actually, Mr. Yukawa, we were thinking of charging you with one more thing, maybe with hiding a criminal or something. My boss is persistent, so you have to apologize.” The “head” must have been Kenichi Haneda, the head of the Organized Crime Control Division at the time.

The “detention judge” who decided on detention also had no knowledge of labor unions.

When I was in custody in Shiga, I asked the detention judge at the Otsu District Court, “How many times are you going to detain me? Do you understand the Labor Union Law?”

The judge was a veteran, but she said, “I don’t really know the Labor Union Law.” She also said something incomprehensible like, “It’s hard on me too.” It didn’t seem like she was being forced to make the decision because someone in a higher position told her to, but rather that she couldn’t change the detention decision because it was a habit.

There were times when I felt like the interrogation was conducted knowing the details of the incident.

For example, I once asked Kazuma Saito, a prosecutor at the Otsu District Public Prosecutors Office, “Why did you suddenly arrest me?” We are engaged in legitimate labor union activities, but if the investigative authorities consider there is a problem, they should first summon me to the police and listen to what I have to say, and if they find our activities criminal, then they should arrest me. So it seems unnatural to skip that process and suddenly arrest me.

Prosecutor Saito’s answer was “I will remain silent.” This may be because they know their faults and therefore cannot blurt out anything unwise.

A scene in hell 

I was detained for a total of 644 days in detention centers and prisons in Shiga, Kyoto, and Wakayama, but I was not allowed to meet anyone other than my lawyer. My lawyer told me about the situation at Kan-nama.

As other union members were arrested one after another, it would have been better if we could continue to fight by remaining silent, but the police, prosecutors, and management were uniting in their oppression. The police and prosecutors offered Kan-nama members their release in exchange for their withdrawal, and management hired those who withdrew to their own companies. Each had their own role to play, and they started to undermine Kan-nama. The number of union members decreased rapidly. Ultimately, the union members could no longer resist because they could not make a living if things continued like this, and so they sought a place of safety. This situation of losing their rights in order to make a living continued day by day.

Not only did some people quit the union, but some even supported the management and criticized Kan-nama. It was like a scene from hell.

I saw the side of people that I did not want to see. The members who shared the good times and the bad times with me betrayed me to justify himself. He sold out the members by saying something that never happened. Honestly, I can’t swallow it. I don’t think I’ll ever recover from the emotional wounds I’ve suffered from being betrayed.

The reason why war is absolutely bad is because it drives people to the point where they have to kick others down in order for themselves and their families to survive. If your family is killed and there is a rifle there, you will be driven by the urge to shoot them. A desire for revenge takes hold, and people go crazy. Oppression is the same.

During the interrogation, I was told things like, “Lots of union members in Kan-nama are quitting,” and “Without you, we can do whatever we want with the union.” While I and other union leaders were in detention, it was painful to think about the members who were holding out in Kan-nama. We couldn’t do anything. During the detention, we were locked in a small room and could only stare at the wall.

If you make a statement that fits the police and prosecutors’ story, you will be released. As Kan-nama was being steadily cut down, if I had compromised, I might have been released and could have returned to the organization and reorganized it.

But if I did that, I would be denying everything I had done with the union members. What have we done? There is nothing that violates the criminal law.

First I had to believe in myself, believe in the members who are standing firm, and believe in my lawyers. I had no choice but to maintain this and keep fighting.

“I didn’t do anything wrong”

I’m worried about my mother who lives alone. I was sentenced to four years in prison by the Otsu District Court and am currently appealing the sentence. The Kyoto District Court will decide on February 26, 2025, and the prosecution is seeking a 10-year sentence. It’s hard to believe, but even for a fabricated case like this, there’s a chance I’ll have to go to prison. I wonder if I’ll ever see my mother before she passes away.

I have a partner and two sons, and I tell them everything honestly. “I was arrested, but it was oppression and I didn’t do anything wrong.” However, there is a possibility that I will serve time in prison, so I always tell them, “When that time comes, the three of you have to stay strong.”

My sons are in their second year of high school and first year of junior high school, so they are in their impressionable years. I wonder if they will be okay if I’m gone, especially my younger son who is a bit mischievous. I also want to teach my older son a lot of things before he becomes an adult.

But I feel really sad that I might not be able to do that. My two sons are not related to me by blood, but they think of me as their father and look up to me.

I think it’s important what kind of state the society is in when they enter the workforce.

People are struggling to find decent jobs and the number of low-income earners is increasing. There is also concern that young people will be drawn into crime when they cannot make a living. With a high elderly population and few young people, the tax burden will increase and the pension system will collapse. I feel terrible for the future generations when I think about this. There may even be a war. In such a situation, if I end up in prison, I will not be able to give my sons any advice, and I feel very sad about it.

Establishing industrial democracy

In Japan, no industry has been democratized.

Company-based unions are the norm, and things like non-regular employees facing more risks than full-time employees bring further classification among the workers. They are completely divided.

I only see Rengo (the Japanese Trade Union Confederation), which has power in Japanese politics, as a collection of company-based unions. For example, you might see news like Toyota is in the red and has cut 1,000 temporary workers. If it were an industrial union, it would have to strike and protect the jobs of workers. Rengo itself is described as an industrial union, but I don’t consider it to be an industrial union.

In this situation, even if political and economic power runs out of control, there is no way to stop it.

As the chairman of Kan-nama, I will not let the flame of industrial labor unions go out. I want to make them mainstream in Japan. To that end, I want to learn from and interact with industrial unions from all over the world.

[Reporter’s Postscript] The big difference between Prosecutor General Unemoto and Chairman Yukawa / Editor-in-Chief Makoto Watanabe 

Chairman Yukawa’s beliefs are not clouded in the slightest.

That’s why he can tell his sons, “I didn’t do anything wrong,” and “Even if I’m in prison, the three of you have to stay strong.”

On the other hand, it is precisely for this reason that he is troubled by the fact that some of the union members are leaving Kan-nama because they cannot stand the oppression. Not everyone is strong. They want to live a peaceful life. He understands that. However, some even lied about Kan-nama in an attempt to save themselves. He is angry with those members because he has shared both good times and bad times with them.

However, the remaining members are united, thanks to the leadership of Chairman Yukawa, who, though agonizing, ultimately makes decisions for the future.

I believe there are things Tansa can learn from him. No matter how big the opponent is, he fights cheerfully. He believes in the members. He keeps “other people’s pain is my pain” at the center of his heart.

This time, Tansa sent a letter of inquiry to Prosecutor General Naomi Unemoto, Minister of Justice Keisuke Suzuki, National Police Agency Commissioner General Yoshinobu Kusunoki, Supreme Court Secretary General Atsushi Ujimoto, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The letter of inquiry questions responsibility for “hostage justice,” such as the interrogation that forced the withdrawal of Kan-nama and unnecessary detention. The letter also lists examples, such as the names of prosecutors.

Although the answers were as expected, “As this is a matter related to an individual case, we will refrain from answering,” there was one sentence in the letter from the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office that made me laugh. The following was written as a preface to the answer:

“The following is a response from the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, so we appreciate your understanding.”

We have submitted a letter of inquiry to the Attorney General, Unemoto, but the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office as an organization needs to protect the Attorney General. Is that what that sentence meant?

I believe that leaders who fight with conviction are stronger than “powerful people” who are busy protecting themselves within large organizations. I would like to ask those responsible for this crackdown.

“Can you be proud of what you are doing to your family and loved ones?”

(Originally published in Japanese on February 19, 2025. Translation by Mana Shibata.)

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