2018 Volume 30 Pages 81-96
The purpose of this research is to analyze how employees and their families who lived in company housing of Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company lived in two “communities”—that is, “the community firm” and the “local community”. In 1963, the Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company moved its headquarters to a rural area in Ōi-machi, Kanagawa Prefecture. The relocation of the company's Ōi head office (1963–2011) to a rural area was an experimental attempt against the backdrop of social problems, such as overcrowding, in central Tokyo. In this study, I explored historical documents related to the Ōi headquarters office and company housing; additionally, I conducted a survey (inteview format) with employees and their families who lived in Ōi-machi at the time. As a result of the analysis, the findings of this study reveal the following. First, there were many voices in support of company life, such as the high quality of Ōi-machi's natural environment and the ease of childrearing. Second, wives who were raising children below primary school age had certain relationships with local residents in Ōi-machi through schools and housework. However, their husbands who worked for the Ōi head office tended not to have any such relationships. Third, “the community firm” and the “local community” were very different, indicating that the connection between these two communities was not too strong.
