University Teachers Union

University Teachers Union

The University Teachers Union (UTU, 大学教員組合) is a member union of the 2,200-strong National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu (NUGW Tokyo Nambu, 全国一般労働組合東京南部), an affiliate of the National Trade Unions Council, Zenrokyo (全国労働組合連絡協議会).


UTU represents both part-time and full-time university teachers in the Tokyo area. Our aims are:

  • to maintain and improve the working conditions of our members
  • to offer solidarity to fellow trade unionists in Japan and overseas
  • to challenge discrimination based on ethnicity, age, gender or sexual orientation
  • to work towards the creation of working environments in which professionalism and quality education are promoted

UTU’s two primary functions are:

  1. To act as an English-language forum for teachers to express views about problems that affect all university instructors openly and without fear of reprisal—a concern for teachers in many school-organized unions.
  2. To negotiate between schools and union members through our parent union NUGW Tokyo Nambu.

Anyone, regardless of nationality, currently teaching or working as a researcher full- or part-time at a national or private university in Japan, is eligible for membership in UTU.