This study aims to reveal the working conditions and problems experienced in the process of occupational achievement through a case study of rock musicians intending to make a living from musical activities. In particular, this investigation focuses on the network they form for live performances. Accordingly, data were gathered from interviews with 24rock musicians, who performed in various concerts. Of those 24, the narratives of 8rock musicians are included in this paper. The results revealed the following. First, rock musicians form their networks strategically; they change their connections with the people in their network depending on the differences in the cities in which they perform. Second, the networks they form carry out the following instrumental and expressive functions: give the opportunity to appear in live concerts, provide concrete advice on live performances, and support their positive self-image. Third, these networks exploit the musicians’ labor and make it difficult for them to achieve success in their occupation. This study notes that rock musicians are exploited both at live music clubs and in management offices, even when the exploitation is not intentional. As a result, musicians find it challenging to work there, and these problematic situations are difficult to address due to the uncertainties of the music industry.

This paper aims to show how un-interactive labor is carried out in contemporary retailing through examining a case of study of Company A. Since 1980’s, Labor Process Theory （LPT） has shown characteristic of service labor. It shows that service labor process is composed of interactive labor and un-interactive labor. Interactive labor is the labor that occurs when they face-to-face to customer like selling. On the other hand, un-interactive labor is the labor that occurs through attending selling （shelf stacking, cleaning, organizing commodities etc···）. However, many previous studies mainly have examined interactive labor. In Company A, sales clerks mainly carry out un-interactive labor because Company A adopts self-service for small number of store operations and efficiency of work. Therefore, this paper focuses on the un-interactive labor of part-time sales clerks and analyses them through the participant observation method. This paper shows two characteristic store management systems and reveals how these systems compel overwork sales clerks. Finally, this paper concludes that two store management systems cause scientific management of un-interactive labor.

Disparities between regular and non-regular workers in Japan have become a prominent issue in recent years. One solution in the spotlight is pay equity—equal pay for equal work—but there has been little progress on this front. We studied the situation at the FCO-OP consumer cooperative society Fukuoka Japan （FCO-OP）, which has successfully implemented pay equity. Our research found that FCO-OP had made considerable progress on equal pay principle. This initiative applies to over 70% of the overall organization’s workforce, and none of the employees is on a fixed-term contract. Comparisons of hourly rates for workers under different forms of employment also show the progress that has been made. From the very start, the managers thought they should promote pay equity to redress gaps between regular and non-regular workers. They also sought to reduce the portion of wages based on individual characteristics, such as age-based pay, as much as possible. Meanwhile, the labor unions strongly supported wages based on individual characteristics but decided to support the move to pay equity in order to resolve the disparity between regular and contract employees, as they viewed this as an important element in livelihood security. Further, some part-time union members opposed the pay equity measures because they did not want to leave their fellow workers behind and become managers, preferred to retain their status as dependents for tax purposes, or opposed being subject to performance reviews. After heated discussions in the workplace, they agreed to accept the measures, given the institutionalization of pay rises. We also found that encouraging executives to use their imagination to understand those in a different position through workplace discussions was important for consensus building.