News

Over 30 delegates participated in the tour about the history of printing in Nagasaki, which was organized by The Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers Unions (Shimbunroren)



The tour was hosted by Bro Tokairin Satoshi the President of Shimbunroren and Yamada Kazuo, Secretary of Nagasaki Prefecture Printing Union.



The tour commenced with a video clip that traced the history of printing in Nagasaki, and also showed the development of type and how fonts were first carved from wood and then the use of metal through to computerization. The Union has a very interesting collection of typographical and printing equipment, including the first wooden type fonts. Pictured above are 2 well known Graphical officials, Leonardo del Roy from Brazil and Mongi Abderrahim from Tunisia.



The group then did a walking tour of historical sites including where the first private printing house in Japan was established. There was also a visit to the Nagasaki Newspaper office and an inspection of the printing facilities.



The Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Union produced a 4 page special edition called the ‘Nagasaki Peace Times’ that reported on the events that occurred on that fateful day on August 9, 1945 at 11.02am. The reproduction was made on the assumption that a paper was produced the day after the bomb fell…….it contains moving and graphic descriptions of the impact and effect of these attacks, all reported from accounts that have been chronicled since that day.



Special thanks to the Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Union for not only producing that supplement but also organizing a very informative tour of the historical aspects of the Nagasaki printing industry.



Further information contact steve.walsh@uniglobalunion.org