About Musicians’ Union of Japan
Musicians’ Union of Japan, MUJ is the labour union represents 5,200 Musicians performing in Japan.
We are working on behalf of our members for betterment of their working conditions, to promote live music, to protect musicians’ rights and to make political suggestions and proposals to the Japanese Government and other concerned organizations.
Besides the above, we also help people find appropriate musicians for their events as go-between under approval from the Government.
MUJ activities
1. Established Japan Arts Fund in cooperation with the League of Representatives and Senators for Issue of Music formed by members of the Diet from various political parties. As the result, 60 billion Yen was collected and 2~3billion are spent for artistic activities every year.
2. Promoted to construct the New National Theatre. Now we are working to make it a full-scale opera house with it’s own orchestra and chorus.
3. Dealing with the problem that so many foreign musicians visit Japan to give their performances freely. We ask musicians’ unions all over the world to enter into agreements to charge such musicians “temporary membership fee”.
4. Prompting local authorities to increase subsidies for orchestras and to construct music halls and facilities for their practice.
5. Negotiating with TV and record companies to raise performance fees, which grew 5~8 times during these 25 years as the results.
6. Also negotiating with the boards of orchestra directors to raise fees for extra performers and it’s successful.
7. Making efforts to make the agreement of minimum performance fee.
8. Organised “Orchestra Committee” to cope with various activities for orchestra members.
9. Took an important part in establishing the statutory Neighbouring Rights.
10. Made a mutual aid system and a financial assist system for our members. (The budget of 40 million Yen is granted a year.)
11. Fixed the Music Day (3/19) to popularize live performance.
12. Helping musicians contract friendship with each other and publishing a monthly bulletin “Musicians Union Journal”.
Nations of the musicians’ unions entered into Agreement of Friendship with MUJ
The United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Hungary, the United States etc.
The number of MUJ members: about 5,200 in total
The number of the members specialised in Classical Music: about 1;400
members of almost all Japanese orchestras; conductors; soloists; members or free-lance players for chamber music groups, etc.; orchestra extras
The number of the members specialised in Jazz and Popular Music: about 2,200 recording
musicians; members of main big bands and groups; solo musicians; free-lance instrumentalists
The number of the members in Other Genres: about 200
composers; arrangers; solo vocalists; musicians working for hotels and clubs; educators for music colleges and teachers’ colleges; instructors for private music lessons at home or in classroom, etc.
Miscellaneous: about 1,400
professionals who prepare individual parts from a full score; clerks for orchestras; others in music-related businesses
Advisers:
Toru Funamura (composer)
Nobuo Hara (Sax Player & Band Leader)
Norio Maeda (composer, arranger)
Takao Okamura (opera singer)
Shigeaki Saegusa (composer)
Idumi Yukimura (singer)
(in order to Japanese syllabary)
Legal Advisors
Tokyo Law Firm (30 specialist lawyers)
Accounting Counselor:
Kyobashi accounting firm(certified public accountant and licensed tax accountant)
Domestic Organizations with which MUJ participates:
FIM(International Federation of Musicians)
GEIDANKYO (Japan Council of Performers’ Organizations)
This council consists of 90,000 members of 69 organizations for performing artists (musicians, actors, dancers, variety artists, etc.)
MIC-Unions (Japan Congress of Mass Media, Information and Cultural Workers’ Unions)
This congress consists of 100,000 members of 9 unions for workers in newspaper, broadcasting and advertising industries and music-related companies.
MUJ Head Office
Geinokadensha. 2nd Floor, 6-12-30 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023
Tel: +81-3-5909-3062 Fax: +81-3-5909-3063
MUJ Local Branches
Hokkaido Branch:
Geinokadensha. 2nd Floor, 6-12-30 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023
Tel: +81-3-5909-3062 Fax: +81-3-5909-3063
Tohoku Branch:
Sengoku Kata, 1-30-20, Aoyama, Taihaku-ku, Sendai-shi, 982-0834
Tel: 022-220-1123 Fax: 022-220-1123
Kanto Branch:
Geinokadensha. 2nd Floor, 6-12-30 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023
Tel: 03-5909-3457 Fax: 03-5909-3458
Chubu Branch:
Funaki Pro 2-18, Higashi-Mizukiricho, Kita-ku, Nagoya-shi, 462-0828
Tel: 052-961-1651 Fax: 052-961-1652
Kansai Branch:
2-2-1-8F, Nakazaki-nishi, Kita-ku, Osaka-si, 530-0015
Tel: 06-577-1588 Fax: 06-577-1590
Chugoku-Shikoku Branch:
Hiroshima Road Bldg. 202,2-9-24, Hikaricho, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, 732-0052
Tel: 082-262-2070 Fax: 082-262-2070
Kyusyu Branch:
Yoshiura Kata,2-4-10, Kasumigaoka, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka-shi, 813-0003
Tel: 050-3488-8760 Fax: 050-3488-8760