You may have seen him on TV, commenting on Nova teachers who lost their income and housing when the language school went bankrupt in November 2007. Or you may have seen him marching through Shibuya, leading a chant of "Tatakau zo! (We'll fight!)" and calling for solidarity and action among workers. Or you may have seen him on the streets, handing out fliers he penned himself calling for an end to unfair dismissal.
On any of the above occasions, Louis Carlet, the vice secretary general of the 2,600-member-strong National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu (NUGW), of whom 15 percent are foreigners, is at ease with himself, pursuing his cause in flawless Japanese.
Yet, the 43-year-old labor organizer says it took him a long time to learn and adjust to predominant mindsets in Japan, which he found were completely different from those of his native United States.