Sales surge for '29 book about labor movement

BY KOKI HAYASHI, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Perhaps reflecting discontent about current labor conditions, a 79-year-old novel about exploited laborers banding together to revolt against a violent foreman is proving a big hit, particularly among young readers.

"Kanikosen" (The Factory Ship) was written by Takiji Kobayashi (1903-1933) and is widely considered a representative work of Japan's proletarian literature.

"Kanikosen" is put out by several publishers and comic versions are also available.

Shinchosha Publishing Co. printed 7,000 copies of the paperback in April, 2,000 more than in a regular year. But the publisher decided to print an additional 50,000 copies to meet surging demand.

"We did not expect this many members of the younger generation, who are said to shun reading, to pick this book," an employee handling paperbacks at Shinchosha said.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Kobayashi's death. Many events have been organized around the country in memory of the novelist, a staunch proponent of the labor movement who was tortured to death under police detention in Tokyo in 1933, four years after "Kanikosen" was published.

The novel is set in the frigid waters off Kamchatka, Russia, aboard a crab-fishing and canning ship. The workers toil under brutal conditions, and they eventually learn that strength through unity can bring about change.

Sanae Yamaguchi, a 26-year-old woman from Tokyo's Nakano Ward, bought a copy last summer and said she was touched by the novel.

Her essay won the grand prize in January in a contest organized by the Otaru University of Commerce, which was called Otaru Higher Commercial School when Kobayashi graduated there in the 1920s, and other groups.

"I am envious of the laborers featured in the novel because they stood up together against a common enemy," Yamaguchi said.

Yamaguchi graduated from college in 2004, but she struggled to find a job.

A year later, she landed a full-time accountant's position. During busy periods, she worked for 15 hours a day without overtime pay.

But only 10 months into the job, Yamaguchi said, she was fired after refusing her boss's order to falsify documents.

"A person who sits next to you at the company is a rival contract worker sent by a job placement agency," Yamaguchi said. "It is hard for our generation to identify who our enemy is."

In Japan these days, young people have found it increasingly difficult to land full-time jobs as companies opt to use part-time workers and temporary staff services to save on personnel costs. These "nonregular" workers are often denied the perks, job security and higher salaries of their full-time counterparts.

Book Express Dila Ueno, a book shop inside JR Ueno Station in Tokyo, began displaying paperback copies of the novel in a section for popular books in early February.

It was the idea of Hitomi Hasegawa, a 28-year-old book shop employee who had also experienced hardships in finding work. "I figured that the book may resonate with people in my generation," Hasegawa explained.

The novel currently ranks among the top three in terms of paperback sales at the store, selling nearly 100 copies a week.

Initially, most of the buyers were older men, but the number of people in their 20s and 30s purchasing a copy is increasing, Hasegawa said.(IHT/Asahi: May 14,2008)