The police and prosecutors’ crackdown on Kan-nama is characterized by its goal of destroying the organization. The charges cited in the indictment are merely pretexts. This is evident from the fact that detectives and prosecutors have repeatedly pressured, arrested and detained union members to withdraw from the union.

That method is despicable.

They offered to release the detainees if they left the union. They also called the family of the detained union member and asked them to persuade the family members to quit the union. These were intimidation backed by their investigative powers.

The most despicable thing is to threaten union members by saying, “Are you willing to let your child suffer?”

A former union member who was arrested by Shiga Prefectural Police gave an interview.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Shiga Prefectural Police say as they search the house

When I was active as a member of Kan-nama, there was an atmosphere that they were going to come for me soon, because people around me were being arrested.

One morning, the moment I opened the front door of my house to go to work, the police were waiting for me outside. It was the Shiga Prefectural Police. They said something like, “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

The house search started and lasted about an hour and a half, maybe two hours. I don’t think they would have found anything in the house, but it felt like they were harassing me.

I was living alone with my son, who was 14 and in his second year of junior high school, and I had told him in advance, “I didn’t do anything bad. I am doing proper union activities. You might not understand it yet even if I said it was oppression, but they’re here to crush the union, and they might even take me away.”

The police even searched my son’s room. There were no documents about the union there, and it was a room that had nothing to do with the incident. My son was in his bed the whole time. When I saw his face, he was crying in bed.

The police were saying things like, “You will be detained for a long time, so we’re going to put your child in a foster home.” I was sure my child heard them.

It’s unfair to target a child. Everyone is shocked when they hear the word “foster home.”

Also, I grew up in a foster home, so I pretty much know what it’s like. There were virtually no rules, and there was a lot of violence. It was not just the students who were violent, it was the teachers who did it too. A lot of those experiences stay in my mind. At night, I could hear people sobbing from all over the place. They must feel lonely. They were soaking their pillows. The police must have known about my history.

I told them not to put my son in a foster home. But the police said loud enough for my son to hear, “You’re going to be detained for a long time, so we’re going to throw your child in a foster home.” In the end, I left my son with my ex-wife.

Shiga Prefectural Police: “Let me see your child”

After my arrest, a police officer came into the interrogation room and said, “Sorry to keep you waiting. Will you quit the union?”

After that, I received a lot of persuasion to leave the union. Like, “If you had left the union, you wouldn’t have been arrested,” or “If you hadn’t joined the union, you would have only been prosecuted without being arrested.”

They also said, “We’re going to tell your child’s school that you’ve been arrested.” I heard from a lawyer who came to visit me that the police had called my ex-wife, who was taking care of our son, and said, “Let us see your child.” They also said something like, “Please persuade him to quit the union.”

During the month or so I was detained, I was not allowed to meet with my family, and my biggest concern was not being able to see my son.

“I want to go back to Kana to be honest”

Nonetheless, union activities are important. I joined Kan-nama about 20 years ago. I think it’s amazing that you can speak your mind to the company, even when you’re dealing with big capital. The union negotiates all the things I can’t say, and raises wages, obtains holidays, and improves other working conditions. And it’s simply fun to be in an union.

But after I was released, the company I was working for told me they didn’t want to have anything to do with the union anymore, and told me, “If you stay with the company as a Kan-nama union member, we’ll fire you.” So I quit the union.

My working conditions have gotten a lot worse than when I was in the union. I have to come in an hour earlier, but my finishing time remains the same. My bonus has been cut by about 40%.

I want to go back to be honest. But if I do, I’ll be forced to quit my job. And I’ll have to find another job if I want to go back.

The current trial must also result in an acquittal. In the first place, being arrested for union activities is wrong. I want to win an acquittal and return to the union with honor.

[Reporter’s Postscript] Infuriating Shiga Prefectural Police’s actions / Reporter Nanami Nakagawa

When I heard the testimony of the former union member, I was furious.

They intimidated a crying child with the threat of putting them in a foster home and demanded that he withdraw from the union. This is not just a lack of ethics or morals. The words and actions of the police officers are distorted as human beings.

What kind of organization is the Shiga Prefectural Police?

I opened the Shiga Prefectural Police recruitment pamphlet. On the cover was the phrase, “Now, kindness turns into strength.” In the background was a photo of a police officer facing a child of about elementary school age. There were photos of children throughout the pamphlet.

I turned the page and saw a family photo of a police officer and his wife and their young children. Next to it was the caption, “We are able to have a fulfilling life with our family while having a rewarding job.”

Why do they treat their own children with care, but then hurt the children of Kan-nama members without a second thought? Why do they think it’s okay to destroy the lives of Kan-nama members? Is this what the Shiga Prefectural Police call a “rewarding job”?

The son of the former union member has now entered the workforce, and the father and son are still living together.

He says they won’t talk about his arrest at all.

(Originally published in Japanese on April 2, 2025. Translation by Mana Shibata.)

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