Restructuring of the Japanese National Railways: implications for labor.

This study traces the restructuring of the Japanese National Railways from the first, ill-fated rationalization programs of the 1960s to the privatization of the first independent railway company in 1993. Focusing on employment and industrial relations, it shows how the railway workforce was gradually scaled down and how mighty trade unions opposed to reform were eventually tamed. Yet, while favorable macro-economic trends facilitated the restructuring process in the 1980s, the downturn of the 1990s has delayed privatization plans and highlighted that indebtedness of the newly established r