Japanese 'Small Business Cat' Appears at Samjeon General Strike
Japanese Black Company Exposure Meme Emerges at Union Rally
Originally Drawn as On-Site Safety Promotion Cartoon
Transformed into Character Mocking Harsh Working Conditions
On the 8th, as the largest labor union of Samsung Electronics, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno), launched a general strike, a so-called 'Small and Medium Enterprise Cat' brought out by some union members emerged as a scene-stealer among netizens.
The Small and Medium Enterprise Cat is a Japanese meme that gained popularity by depicting the hardships of employees at small businesses and subcontractors as a cute cat character. Recently, it has gained cult popularity in Korea as well, and has become influential enough to be actively used at rallies of domestic large corporation labor unions.
On this day, Jeonsamno held a general strike rally at 11 a.m. in front of the H1 main gate of Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Plant in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province. It was reported that about 3,000 union members attended despite the pouring rain.
A union member holding a 'Small Business Cat' placard at the Samsung Electronics general strike resolution rally on the 8th [Image source=YouTube capture]
The much-talked-about 'Small and Medium Enterprise Cat placard' also appeared at the rally. It showed a gray and white mixed-fur cat wearing a safety helmet, standing on two legs and cheering "Joassseu!!" (a Korean exclamation of excitement). Above the cat character were messages targeting management such as "Company in deficit, PS of employees 0% despite being outpaced by competitors," and "Executive bonuses 389.9 billion won."
This character, which emerged as the 'scene-stealer' of the union rally, is called Small and Medium Enterprise Cat or Jungso Goyangi in Korea. However, the original character in Japan has the official name 'Shokugyo Neko' (Job Cat). It was created by Japanese illustrator and manga artist 'Kumamine.'
The real name of the small and medium-sized enterprise cat is "Jigeop Goyangi" or "Ilnyangi." Originally, it started as a labor safety promotion character, but now it is used as a meme to expose the poor working conditions of Japanese small and medium-sized enterprises. [Image source=Captured from online community]
In Japan, this character is also used to expose unfair practices in industrial sites and companies. Especially in Japan, the issue of so-called 'black companies' exploiting workers has long been a problem, and Shokugyo Neko has appeared as a character that self-deprecatingly expresses the hardships of black company workers and criticizes Japanese labor culture. Considering the symbolism of Shokugyo Neko, its appearance on placards representing the union’s stance is quite consistent.
However, Shokugyo Neko was not originally created as a social critique character. In fact, Kumamine has drawn industrial accident prevention comics featuring this character. It now has significant influence and impact, appearing in booklets and promotional materials of the Japan Central Labor Accident Prevention Regional Association. This is also why Shokugyo Neko always wears a yellow safety helmet.
A domestic post translating the Japanese professional cat meme. [Image source=Online community archive]
But at some point, local netizens began using this character to point out dangerous working conditions in certain industries and subcontracting sites in Japan. Even when the work environment clearly violates labor safety regulations, the work cat strikes its characteristic pose and says "Joassseu!!" to gloss over the issue.
This character shows the unique Japanese sense of black humor and serves as a bittersweet symbol that labor safety issues remain an ongoing problem even in advanced countries like Japan.
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