Japanese Investment and British Trade Unionism: Thatcher and Nissan Revisited in the Wake of Brexit

207 Pages·2020·2.895 MB·English

by  Hitoshi Suzuki

Japanese Investment and
British Trade Unionism
Thatcher and Nissan
Revisited in
the Wake of Brexit
Hitoshi Suzuki
New Directions in East Asian History
Series Editors
Oliviero Frattolillo
Roma Tre University
Rome, Italy
Yuichi Hosoya
Keio University
Tokyo, Japan
Antony Best
London School of Economics
London, UK
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More information about this series at
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Hitoshi Suzuki
Japanese Investment
and British Trade
Unionism
Thatcher and Nissan Revisited
in the Wake of Brexit
Hitoshi Suzuki
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Tokyo, Japan
ISSN 2522-0195 ISSN 2522-0209 (electronic)
New Directions in East Asian History
ISBN 978-981-15-9057-3 ISBN 978-981-15-9058-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9058-0
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In memory of Sir Hugh, who bridged the two countries
Acknowledgements
In the wake of Brexit, many have debated Japanese industry in Britain,
both past and current standoffs, let alone its future. For me, the issue
first arose during my time as a Ph.D. candidate at the European Univer-
sity Institute in Florence up to December 2007. My research topic was
German trade unions and the Schuman Plan. During a tutorial, the late
Alan Milward, as supervisor and official historian, mentioned foreign
directinvestmentandmultinationaloverseasplantsasatradeunionissue.
At the moment, for shame, Alan’s comment did not strike me. However,
when Pascaline Winand arrived as my new supervisor and focused on the
EC/EU’srelationswithAsia/Japan,whatAlanmeantgraduallycameinto
focus.WhywouldEuropeans(orAmericans)wantto“welcome”Japanese
plantstotheircountry?IfIwereintheirshoes,Iwouldnotwishtowork
“liketheJapanesedoinJapan.”Myanswerremainsnegativeaslongasmy
employmentissecure.Ifitwerenot,theanswercouldchange.Itbecame
the topic of this book, thanks to both of my supervisors.
As a motorcyclist and slight petrol-head, I have always been fascinated
by cars and motorcycles. Shortly after leaving Florence, my topic natu-
rally shifted from coal and steel to trade negotiations on cars between
Japan and Europe. Despite possessing a Honda VTR SP1 and a modi-
fied Jazz/Fit, I chose Nissan as my next research topic. The story of the
Nissan–Sunderland deal was first published as a Japanese article in 2013.
I thank Jyunko Tomaru, Yuichi Hosoya, and Toshiro Tanaka for their
guidanceandhelp.AJapanesemonographfollowedshortlyfromYoshida
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Publishing,forwhichIowethankstoShinyaYoshida,NaotakaKimizuka,
andYukoHosoda.Throughoutmyresearch,Iamheavilyindebtedtothe
archivists in Europe and Japan who kindly guided me to useful sources.
After publication, I received helpful comments and encouragement—
includingbookreviewsbytheEUSI,TheJapan-BritishSociety,andDiplo-
macy (Gaikou)—fromIzuruMakihara,HarukataTakenaka,YoichiKibata,
Ariyoshi Ogawa, Oliviero Frattolillo, Toshio Masuda, Tomoichiro Aoki,
Susumu Sato, and Michiru Ishihara, who was kind enough to deliver his
grandfather’s book.
Shortly before the June 2016 referendum on Brexit, the JSPS funded
a year’s leave (No. 15KK0126), enabling a stay at the Department of
InternationalHistory,LSE.ThanksgotoAntonyBest,JanetHunter,and
Piers Ludlow for their warm hospitality and academic input, and espe-
cially to the late Sir Hugh Cortazzi, who was energetic and passionate
in sharing his thoughts. From the beginning of his career as an RAF
officer in occupied Japan, Sir Hugh’s memories of Tokyo and else-
where were surprisingly clear, considering that his age was not far from
reaching a century. This book is devoted to his memory. During my stay
in London and afterwards, I was provided with numerous occasions to
presentmyresearchandreceivehelpfulcomments.IthankWilfriedLoth,
AntonioVarsori,ChristopheBouneau,DavidBurigana,JanvanderHarst,
AnjoHarryvan,MarieConte-Helm,FrancesLynch,PaulJamesCardwell,
PatrickFridenson,TommasoPardi,andYoshimiIgawa.Specialthanksgo
toConnieLie,whokindlyguidedmetopublication.Theusualdisclaimer
applies.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, Yuki and Hana,
for their company and warmth. Driving from home to a university three
hundred kilometres away after every weekend was not always easy but
never failed to be rewarding on the way back. The analyses of this book
are those of the author himself and do not represent the official position
of the Japanese government.
Praise for JapaneseInvestment
andBritishTradeUnionism
“Fascinating account of an important economic relationship. Invaluable
contribution to our knowledge of contemporary political economy and
the EU’s external relations.”
—Finn Laursen, Honorary Professor, University of Southern Denmark,
Denmark
“A ground breaking book focusing on one of the most important issues,
settingnew standards for multi-archivalresearchonJapan-EUrelations.”
—Katsuhiro Shoji, Professor of European Union Law with the Jean
Monnet Chair ad personam at Keio University Law School, Japan
ix
Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 Japan’s Post-War Reconstruction, the Car Industry,
and Nissan/Datsun 9
1 Introduction 10
2 Reconstruction and Nissan 10
3 Nissan and JAMA 17
4 Japanese Trade Unions 19
5 US Plant Project 21
3 TheBritishCarIndustryandAnglo-JapaneseRelations
in the Post-War Period 25
1 Introduction 25
2 British Leyland, the “British Disease,” and EC
Membership 26
3 The Queen’s Visit to Japan 29
4 The Labour Government’s Response to the Japanese
Challenge 32
5 The CBI’s Japan policy and Margaret Thatcher 34
6 Power Change in Nissan 36
xi