October 1946 strike
Nichi-ei-en planned a general strike within the film industry for October 15, 1946, issuing a series of demands including each company's recognition of Nichi-ei-en as their employees' collective bargaining agent. On October 6, a group of fifty workers broke away to form an alternative union, which would not take part in the strike. The first Toho union went on strike alongside the unions of Daiei and Shochiku and the rest of Nichi-ei-en, but by October 25, Nichi-ei-en had abandoned collective negotiation, and each union was left to negotiate individually with their company.
The strike at Toho continued into November; but on November 13 the "Society of the Flag of Ten" — actors Denjiro Okochi, Kazuo Hasegawa, Susumu Fujita, Setsuko Hara, Hideko Takamine, Isuzu Yamada, Takako Irie, Toshiko Yamane, Ranko Hanai, and Yataro Kurokawa — alienated by the militancy of the main Toho union and wanting to return to work, formed another union and were joined by around 450 studio employees, including directors Kunio Watanabe and Yutaka Abe.[1] Takeo Itō, who was elected union chairman, later characterized the split as a conflict between eager, rising directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Sekigawa, and Satsuo Yamamoto, emboldened by the end of the war, and the established stars who disliked being forced to do things by the union such as parading in the streets, and wanted to produce entertaining films.[3] The original union, reduced to nearly a third of its original size, reopened negotiations with management on November 18.
The contracts offered by both union and management were based on Occupation government samples from the American auto industry and their contents were similar, and the two sides came to terms, ending the strike on December 3. Among the terms were an eight-hour day, shop steward system and union involvement regarding administration, personnel affairs, and the production of films. Due to a closed shop provision with the first union, Toho negotiated separately with the second and third unions, which split off to establish Shintoho in March 1947.
For 1947 Toho management had planned to produce 24 films. However, production was controlled by a committee including union members, which approved only 13 films through 1947, compared to 18 films in 1946. Filmmakers were given unprecented creative control, as well as generous shooting schedules and generous budgets, two or three times higher than the average film budget of ¥5 million. While many of the films were critically acclaimed, Toho lost ¥75 million in 1947. Yoshio Osawa was removed as president by investors in March, and replaced by Tanabe Katamaru who fell ill in December after eighty-three all-night negotiations in his time as president. Tetsuzo Watanabe, a specialist in labor law, was appointed as president in December 1947. Under the leadership of Watanabe, who stated his aim of defeating "the two kinds of reds at Toho: communists and red budgets", Toho management announced a return to producing 24 films per year, with the budget of each film limited to ¥6.5 million. In addition, the union's contract would be revised to reverse the gains made by the second strike, including the abolition of the shop steward system. The union refused to co-operate.
Third Toho strike
In April Toho management announced the dismissal of 1200 employees, including 287 studio staff, with the publicized aim of both cutting expenses and eliminating Communist members of the union.[4] Watanabe explained that Toho would bankrupt within half a year if these surplus workers were not fired. In response, the union issued a "manifesto of disobedience," and made calls for support throughout the country, attracting a "joint defense group" of around 3,000 sympathisers, including activists from the Japan Communist Party, Communist Youth League and Industry Labor Association, and North Korean Association, that helped to occupy the Kinuta studio on April 15, erecting barricades and closing the main gates.
On May 1 Toho announced a one-month suspension of studio operations, froze funds for all active productions, and demanded the closing and return of facilities to company control, which the union refused. Two to three hundred outsiders entered the studio every day, and were screened films. With the announcement coming on May Day, the unionists and their supporters sang songs, danced, held group discussions and marched around the lot. On May 8, Nichi-ei-en filed a protest against the closure of the studio before the Tokyo District Court, and Toho filed a counter-protest on May 11. On June 1, Toho suspended production indefinitely and stopped paying workers' salaries. Union members found jobs elsewhere, with directors Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse and Senkichi Taniguchi forming touring theatre troupes to raise funds for the union. Actors including Ryo Ikebe, Yuriko Hamada, Takashi Shimura, and Ichiro Ryuzaki contributed their fees from acting in films of other studios.
