RENGO

The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC) (日本労働組合総連合会), commonly known as RENGO (連合), is the largest national trade union center in Japan, with over six million members as of 2011. It was founded in 1989 as a result of the merger of the Japan Confederation of Labor (Dōmei), the Federation of Independent Unions (Chūritsu Rōren) and the National Federation Of Industrial Organisations (Shinsanbetsu). In 1990, the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan (Sohyo) also joined RENGO.

As of July 2012, RENGO has 54 affiliate unions and 47 local organizations.

Party affiliation
RENGO was historically affiliated with the Democratic Party of Japan, but on June 28, 2012, president Nobuaki Koga made a speech at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters stating that the confederation may reconsider its future. In 2014, it endorsed LDP-supported candidate Yoichi Masuzoe for the Tokyo gubernatorial election.

Current affiliates
Many unions are affiliated with RENGO:

Observer affiliate:
 * DOKIRO Hokkaido Seasonal Workers' Union (2,660 members as of 2009)

Friendly affiliate:
 * NIKKENKYO Council of Japan Construction Industry Employee's Unions (35,624 members as of 2009)

Local organizations
RENGO also has local organizations for each of Japan's 47 prefectures.

General secretaries

 * Seigo Yamada (1989–1993)
 * Etsuya Washio (1993–1997)
 * Kiyoshi Sasamori (1997–2001)
 * Hiroyuki Nagumo (2001–2013)
 * Rikio Kozu (2013–2015)
 * Naoto Omi (2015–2017)
 * Yasunobu Aihara (2017–2021)
 * Hideyuki Shimizu (2021—present)

Presidents

 * Akira Yamagishi (1989–1995)
 * Jinnosuke Ashida (1995–1997)
 * Etsuya Washio (1997–2001)
 * Kiyoshi Sasamori (2001–2005)
 * Tsuyoshi Takagi (2005–2009)
 * Nobuaki Koga (2009–2015)
 * Rikio Kozu (2015–2021)
 * Tomoko Yoshino (2021—present)