JAPAN: Misunderstood Man

"There is no need for legality, since Ohmi Mills are built on honorable kindness," cried the owner of Ohmi Mills, fat, feudalistic old Kakuji Natsukawa. He could not understand what his girls were striking about (TIME, July 5). Promises of honorable kindness—no time clocks to punch, free schooling, dormitories, libraries—had lured thousands of young girls off farms to work at $10 a month, and built his silk mills into Japan's sixth largest textile company. But honorable kindness, also meant that officials penned them up in their dormitories, opened their mail, blocked romance,...

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