The sad story of a factory girl

This is a record of the realities of female factory workers in the spinning and weaving industries under the large mechanized factories that were the driving force behind the economic development of modern Japan. Written by Hosoi Wakizo. Published by Kaizosha in July 1925 (Taisho 14). Even after the Factory Law was enacted in 1916, night shifts continued in the spinning industry and other industries, and many female factory workers were forced to work under harsh working conditions and live in dormitories where their freedom was restricted. This book is written with a humane eye and precisely describes the realities of the recruitment law for female factory workers, the employment contract system, working conditions, abuse, dormitory life, and welfare promotion facilities, as well as the psychology and pathology of female factory workers (including a transcription of a female factory worker's song), while also providing a sharp scalpel to the organization and management of factories. It was written based on documentary sources, the author's own experiences as a worker, and the experiences of his wife, Toshio Hori (now Takai), who lived in a dormitory. After its first publication, it quickly went through multiple editions and became the foundation for the abolition of late-night work and the development of the textile labor movement in the late 1920s, with royalties being used to fund labor liberation. It is still read today as a classic document.

[Tsunehisa Abe]

"The Sorrowful History of a Factory Girl (Iwanami Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近代日本の経済発展を担った大機械制工場下の紡績業・織布業の「女工」（女子労働者）の実態を描いた記録。細井和喜蔵(ほそいわきぞう)著。1925年（大正14）7月改造社刊。1916年の工場法施行後も紡績業などでは深夜業がなくならず、「女工」の多くは過酷な労働条件、自由を拘束される寄宿舎生活のもとに置かれていた。本書はヒューマンな眼(め)で、「女工」募集法、雇傭(こよう)契約制度、労働条件、虐使、寄宿舎生活、「福利増進施設」などの実態と、「女工」の心理や病理を精緻(せいち)に描き（「女工小唄(こうた)」も採譜収録）、あわせて工場の組織と経営実態についても鋭いメスを加えている。文献資料とともに著者自身の職工体験、寄宿舎生活を送った妻、堀（現姓高井）としをの体験などをもとに書かれた。初版刊行後たちまち版を重ね、深夜業廃止および20年代後半の紡織労働運動発展の礎(いしずえ)となり、その印税は労働者解放の資にされた。古典的文献として今日も読み継がれている。

［阿部恒久］

『『女工哀史』（岩波文庫）』

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