The Industrial Welfare Society (Sangyo-Fukuri Kyokai), founded in November 1925 and dissolved in March 1936, was an organization which aimed to promote the welfare of factory workers by taking measures to prevent occupational disasters and labor disputes. The Society began as an extra-departmental body of the Home Ministry and, after changing into a juridical foundation in February 1929, continued until it was incorporated into the Harmonization Society (Kyocho-Kai) in April 1936. This paper examines the relationship between the capital-labor cooperation and occupational safety during the prewar period by investigating how the Industrial Welfare Society performed in various areas involving personnel, finance, projects, and philosophy. First, the paper will argue that during this decade the Society was under the control of the Home Ministry's Social Affairs Bureau (Shakai-kyoku), and that, during this time, it was embarrassed by financial difficulties which were growing more and more serious due to the Society's dependence on membership fees which were not stable and not constantly increasing. In April 1936, the Industrial Welfare Society was merged with the Harmonization Society, and the former continued as the Department of Industrial Welfare of the latter. Second, this article maintains that while the Industrial Welfare Society tried to overcome its financial difficulties, the Harmonization Society branched out into new projects of industrial welfare and, as a result, the merger brought their interests together. Kawarada Kakichi (1886-1955), former chief director of the Industrial Welfare Society and managing director of the Harmonization Society, along with Gamo Toshibumi (1883-1966), activist of the Safety Campaign, both played prominent roles not only in the realization of the merger of 1936, but also in the activities of the Industrial Welfare Society. The Industrial Welfare Society had a profound effect on the Harmonization Society, not only in the sense that it caused the latter to make a policy about-face in 1936, but also in the sense that it led the Harmonization Society to emulate its philosophy. This was the philosophy that Kawarada shared with Gamo. In conclusion, the Industrial Welfare Society existed for the purpose of preventing labor disputes and occupational disasters. The Society tried to turn factories into arenas of social welfare for the factory workers, on the understanding that occupational safety is necessary for cooperation between capital and labor.
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