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It Could Be Worse

The Life of a Japanese Factory Worker

Figure 1: From the CIA, this map shows the major islands and principal cities of Japan.

 

 

Figure 2: This is the package of lead on which this paper is based.

Introduction

      Pencil lead, for the most part, is something that is taken for granted; we don't think about it until one of our mechanical pencils runs out of it and we need to borrow a piece from a friend. For some people, however, it defines an entire period in their lives. This paper focuses on the daily life of a factory worker in the city of Koami-cho , in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo, Japan , where Pentel manufactures mechanical pencil lead. It explores the socio-economic environment, prevalent religions, and gender roles of this region.

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Context of Japan

      The nation of Japan , as is evident in Figure 1, is an archipelago which consists of several thousand islands and is comparable in size to the state of California . It is located off the coasts of Russia , China and Korea . The majority of Japan 's size belongs to the four largest islands: Honshu , Hokkaido , Kyushu and Shikoku . Physically, Japan is both strikingly beautiful and highly volatile. Japan Guide (1996) explains that roughly half of the geographical area of the nation is covered by forests and mountains. Due to the great difference between the northernmost and southernmost latitudes of Japan , the climate ranges from a harsh, wintry environment in the north to a humid, subtropical environment in the south. Most of the major cities in Japan are located in the temperate to subtropical region where winters are very mild and summers are hot and humid. Being that it sits on the convergence of many continental plates, Japan has a high level of volcanic and seismic activity.

      Japan 's population is estimated at roughly one hundred twenty-seven million people. Ten percent of this population lives in the capital city, Tokyo , where the product in question is produced. Tokyo is situated approximately at the latitudinal center of Japan on the eastern coast. According to Japan Guide (1996), it began as a small castle town, named Edo , in the 16 th century. It became the functional capital of Japan in 1603 when the most powerful man in Japan , Tokugawa Ieyasu, made it the center of his feudal government. In 1868, the emperor moved to Edo , making it the nominal capital, as well. It was at this point that Edo was renamed Tokyo , which means “Eastern Capital.” Tokyo is now one of the most populous cities in the world and has a highly developed economy that is very similar to our own.

     Nihonbashi, the region of Tokyo in which Pentel produces its lead, is often called “the Center of Japan .” Nihonbashi, which literally means “ Japan Bridge ”, is home to the Nihonbashi Bridge which, when Japan 's highway system was being developed, was used as the zero mile marker. Nihonbashi has long been one of Japan 's most economically developed areas. In fact, it is both the site of Japan 's first department store and the headquarters of the Bank of Japan.

http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1000.html

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Brand: Pentel

      Pentel is a world leader in writing instruments. They invented both the roller ball pen and graphite lead. They produce these two items, as well as ball point pens, mechanical pencils, highlighters, erasers and correction fluid. According to Pentel (2001), they are the largest producer of mechanical pencil lead in the world.

      Pentel is truly an international corporation; its World Headquarters is located in Tokyo , with regional headquarters located in California , British Columbia , France and New South Wales , Australia . Pentel (2001) lists twenty-three additional plants and offices which are scattered about the globe on every continent except Antarctica .

www.pentel.com

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People

      As do most nationalities, the Japanese practice a wide variety of religions. Unlike most, however, the Japanese do not draw strict lines of division between these religions. There are five main religions which exist in Japan : Shinto, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity. Although a Japanese person might affiliate with one religion or another, they experience each of these five religions throughout their life because traditions from each of the religions have rooted themselves deeply into the everyday life. It is impossible to study these religions separately because “they do not have separate histories, for they are not separated in Japanese religious life. It is well known that the same Japanese person can be… married in a Shinto shrine and buried in a Buddhist temple.” (Earhart 1974: 1) To try and gain an idea of the religious fabric as a whole by viewing each individual religion is like being “in a butcher shop looking at all the different cuts of beef, trying to understand what a cow is.” (Earhart 1974: vii) This creates an environment in which there is little to no religious tension.

      In Japanese culture male offspring are valued much more highly than females are. Daughters are sometimes referred to as “ gokutsubishi , literally “grain wasters”.” (Lo 1990: 7) As such, in Japanese society, parents “tend to be more supportive of male education than female education.” (Lo 1990: 9) “In Japan , education is only compulsory through grade 9.” (Hamamatsu City Nanyo Junior High School 1996) At this point, the sons in the family usually continue their schooling through high school and university. Men that graduate from university often go into the workforce as salarymen in businesses. They start as low-level salesmen and climb the corporate ladder to management positions as they gain seniority. Families with the means to do so will often continue the education of their daughters through high school and possibly junior college or university. Women with continued education are tend to be hired as “office ladies.” As “office ladies,” women “support [the salarymen] by performing secretarial, housekeeping, or hostess duties.”(Lo 1990: 11) Corporate management is structured in such a way that it is nearly impossible for these women to gain promotion. As a result, women in these positions will work the same job for several years until they get married and become housewives.

      It is more commonplace, however, that families will send their daughters out into the workplace once they have completed their mandatory schooling so that they can contribute to their families, rather than continue to live off of them. For this reason, many of the women coming into the work force in Japan are between the ages of fourteen and twenty. These young women are quickly hired up by factories. Most Japanese companies will hire these women “for on-line assembly work, since they [are] a cheap form of labor” (Lo 1990: 9) due to the fact that wages are based heavily on gender and degree of education.

      The gender stratification in the Japanese workplace is such that these women have very little room for promotion and are fated to remain in positions of monotonous and menial labor. As such, it is the goal of these female employees to work until they are able pull themselves out of the factory. One way they do this is by saving up enough money for their dowries. Then, they can get married and start families and become sengyo shufu , or professional housewives. Most factory women will work the assembly lines between three and five years. This rapid turnover rate keeps wages relatively low because there is little time for women to gain seniority, thus meriting higher wages.

      In Japan , men are seen as very independent, while women are seen as just the opposite. Accordingly, many Japanese companies will house their female employees in dormitory-style housing. This provides a social support system for the women until they become married. While living in the dormitories, women share the responsibilities of cleaning on a weekly rotation schedule.

      On an average morning, the workers will wake between 6:00 and 6:30 A.M. They receive a bland but nutritious breakfast at 7:00 and then get ready to leave for work. The factories open at 8:00 and work begins promptly. The women are allowed a one minute break every hour and a five minute break every third hour. At noon they are given a forty minute lunch break. They eat in a cafeteria which is attached to the factory. They are given the option between three different meals which range in price from $1.00 to $3.50. Lunchtime gives the women time to chat amongst themselves as well as to meet the company's new salarymen that are working in the factory as part of their training. They return to work and continue the hourly break schedule until 5:00 P.M. At this point the women return to the dormitories to eat, shower, and sleep.

     Japan has a highly developed economy and, as a result, the cost of living is very high. Finfacts (2004) estimates the cost of living in Tokyo to be more than 30% greater than that of New York City . To compensate for this, wages are high as well. I have been unable to find out just how much Pentel pays its employees, but Economist.com (2004) estimates that the average factory worker in Japan earns roughly $3400 per month. This equates to an annual income of $40,000. Due to the quick turnover of employees in unskilled production line positions, such as Pentel's, I imagine that the young workers in the lead factories make a good deal less than this figure. National Geographic (2004) approximates the per capita GDP of Japan to be $28,700 so it is likely that the Pentel laborers earn in this range. This income allows the workers to live fairly comfortably while still being able to send some money back to their parents. Additionally, some of the women put their income to work for them by paying for night-schooling in hopes that they can earn degrees, rise up out of the factory, and become office ladies.

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Process

     The first step in my research process was emailing Pentel. I sent them a pleasant email that stated who I am, what I am doing, and what information I was hoping to gain from them. I even assured them that I was not trying to write a scathing exposé about their labor practices, of which I knew nothing. Their response was tightlipped and far from helpful. They simply stated what I already knew and dismissed me saying “Pentel's leads are produced in Japan at the World Headquarters. Sorry, we do not have the information you need regarding our factory employees in Japan .” I have since emailed Pentel again and asked if they could pass along the name or email address of someone who might be able to provide the desired information, and am currently waiting on another response. Finding information concerning factory workers in Japan has proved challenging at the library, as well. Most of the books which discuss Japan 's economy tend to focus on the managerial side rather than the production side.

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Conclusion

      This project has opened my eyes to new possibilities. When I began, I expected to find that the workers who make my mechanical pencil lead work in the kind of dark, cramped sweatshops that produce Nikes and Kathy Lee Gifford's K-Mart clothing line. I was amazed to discover that, instead, the workers are earning a living wage and are provided housing conditions similar to those provided by most universities. I had always assumed that the only way for company to be competitive in its market was to manufacture its goods in a third world nation where the employees earn next to nothing. In light of my findings, I now wonder why, if Japan , and Pentel, can pay its factory workers adequately, can other countries and businesses not do the same.

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Internet References Cited

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Peer-Reviewed References Cited

  • Earhart, H. Byron

    1974 Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity. Encino: Dickenson Publishing Company.

  • Jacoby, Sanford M.

    2005 The Embedded Corporation: Corporate Governance and Employ Relations in Japan and the United States . Princeton , NJ : Princeton University Press .

  • Lo, Jeannie

    1990 Office Ladies, Factory Women: Life and Work at a Japanese Company. Armonk , NY : M. E. Sharpe, Inc.

  • Matthews, Gordon and Bruce White                                                                   2004 Japan's Changing Generations: Are Young People Creating a New Society. New York: RoutledgeCurzon.

  • Tsuya, Noriko O. and Larry L. Bumpass

    2004 Marriage, Work & Family Life in Comparative Perspectives: Japan , South Korea , and the United States . Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press.

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