Japan Teachers Union

Japan Teachers Union

Nihon Kyōshokuin Kumiai
Founded	1947
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan
Location	Japan
Members	290,857 (2009)
Key people	Ryosuke Kato, president; Yasunaga Okamoto, general secretary
Affiliations	Rengo
Website	Official website

Japan Teachers Union (日本教職員組合, Nihon Kyōshokuin Kumiai, JTU), abbreviated Nikkyōso (日教組, Nikkyōso), is Japan's oldest labor union of teachers and school staff. Established in 1947, it was the largest teachers union until a split in the late 1980s. The union is known for its critical stance against the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on such issues as Kimigayo (the national anthem), the Flag of Japan, and the screening of history textbooks during the LDP's near continuous one-party rule since 1955. Today Nikkyōso is affiliated to the trade union confederation Rengo. It had 290,857 members as of December 2009.^[1]