ABSTRACT
The tenth item of the Potsdam Declaration – which Japan had accepted when it surrendered – clearly stipulated that Japanese war criminals would be punished. For Eisaku Sato, the Allied occupation of Japan began with the ordeal of Kishi and Matsuoka’s arrests. The Railways Volunteer Fighting Corps that Sato had assembled just a few months earlier was gone, with labor unions appearing as if in its place. Although not much time had passed, the status quo of the Osaka Railway Bureau had changed utterly. While trying to manage the strike, Sato was also sounding out the possibility of entering Yoshida government as transport minister. He had never served as vice-minister and had not yet entered politics. Becoming a minister despite these factors would be a feat worthy of the old “triple-jump Eisaku.” Sato’s greatest achievement as administrative vice-minister was concluding a collective bargaining agreement with the National Railways Workers’ Union in connection with the enactment of the Trade Union Law.
