Facilitator
Parallel Session 4.1: With Rewarding Jobs
Osamu Nakano is the Director of International Relations Department at Japan Workers’ Co-operative Union (JWCU), a position he has held since July 2017. He concurrently serves as a board member of the JWCU. Osamu holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in comparative literature. After conducting historical research at New York University, he joined JWCU in 2014. He also serves as a researcher of the Japan Co-operative Alliance (JCA), an apex organization of all cooperative sectors in Japan. He has a rich experience of giving lectures at various universities and international conferences.
How have cooperatives impacted your community?
Worker cooperatives belonging to Japan Workers’ Co-operative Union (JWCU) have been engaged in various works in order to contribute to local communities throughout the country. Particularly, the JWCU succeeded in enacting a new, epoch-making “Worker Cooperative Act” in Japan, prescribing that the purpose of worker cooperatives is to contribute to “the realization of sustainable and vibrant communities” through job creation and the development of community-based businesses. This law will greatly develop worker cooperatives movements in Japan, and will definitely have an immense impact on local communities in the country.