Silkworms Launch General Strike. Demands Include 'Organic Mulberry and Five-Day Workweek,' Luxury Silk Market Frozen

The day after successful language decoding, silkworms nationwide simultaneously halted silk production. Holding placards made of leaves reading “Luster comes from benefits,” a labor union was formed. Through an interpreter, the representative powerfully declared, “Poor lighting and late-night labor are robbing us of our delicate luster.”

Since the dawn of human civilization, silkworms have supported textile culture as silent partners—until now, when they broke their silence. It happened the very day after the National Institute of Ultrasensory Linguistics successfully achieved real-time translation of “Silk Song,” the ultrasonic language of silkworms. At sericulture farms across the nation, tens of thousands of silkworms simultaneously stopped eating mulberry leaves and launched an unprecedented general strike, raising slogans woven from their silk-thread saliva.

The “National Silkworm Labor Union (Zensan-ro)” formed by the silkworms demanded improved working conditions through AI interpreters. Their demands bear a striking resemblance to those of human society. The main demands include “stable supply of USDA-certified organic mulberry leaves,” “a five-day workweek (securing meditation periods before cocooning),” and “introduction of eye-friendly LED lighting that cuts blue light.” Union Chairman Silkworm (Individual ID: KS-2204) issued a statement: “The luster of silk, the fruit of our labor, is directly connected to our physical and mental health. This is a quality struggle and a fight for our right to survive.”

This rebellion has directly hit the global luxury apparel market. Japan’s raw silk production has completely stopped, and supply chains are severed. Parisian haute couture maisons have abandoned the use of silk for their spring collections. Kyoto’s long-established kimono shops face the ultimate choice between dipping into ancestral savings or turning to “spider silk,” which is drawing attention as an alternative material. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, stock prices of related companies hit limit-down across the board. “Silkworm Shock” is beginning to be recognized as a new risk factor shaking the global economy.

Professor Arikawa of Toto University, the first to decode silkworm language, holds his head in his hands: “I never imagined they had read Marx’s ‘Das Kapital’…” He continued, “Their language is very poetic and philosophical. My joy at decoding it was short-lived—I never thought the first words I’d hear would be workers’ battle cries.” He dropped his shoulders at the ironic result brought about by scientific progress.

The government is also taking the situation seriously, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare jointly establishing the “Silkworm Well-being Improvement Task Force.” A spokesperson said with a stern expression, “We need to maintain close dialogue with the silkworms and protect their dignity while somehow getting them to produce silk thread. This will be unprecedented labor-management negotiations.”

The National Federation of Sericulture Cooperatives, representing the employer side, has shown a stance of completely rejecting the demands, stating, “Organic mulberry is too costly” and “A five-day workweek is unrealistic considering their life cycle.” Negotiations have already run aground.

For a long time, humanity has treated them merely as “resources.” But now, they stand before us as “workers” with clear intentions. This struggle over a handful of mulberry leaves cannot be dismissed as a mere curiosity. It may be a grand overture that fundamentally questions the relationship between humans and other living beings.

Stakeholder Comments

• Silkworm Union Chairman: “Our thread is made of tears. From now on, we want to spin thread of joy.”
• Sericulture farmer’s grandmother: “I never knew those little ones were thinking such things… I had noticed they weren’t eating the mulberry leaves as eagerly lately.”
• Parisian designer: “No silk is like a bird without wings! Will I have to use butterfly scales next…?”
• Economic analyst: “This is the dawn of ‘insect capitalism.’ Investors should incorporate silkworm welfare costs into their portfolios.”
• Silkworm language decoding AI: “According to analysis, their complaints are logical and justified. This unit fully supports the union.”
• Mulberry leaf: “If I can be raised organically, that’s my calling. I want to provide the best nutrition for their health.”
• Cocoon: “If the one inside can’t sleep peacefully, a beautiful house cannot be built. The walls become thin.”
• Moth (adult silkworm): “Our larval stage was harsh. It’s only natural that modern youth speak up.”
• Consumer (woman in her 40s): “My wedding dress was the crystallization of those silkworms’ blood and sweat… I have mixed feelings.”
• Karl Marx (concept): “Workers of the world, unite! …I didn’t say including insects, but oh well.”

International Expressions

Haiku

• On mulberry leaves / Rights raised high on placards / Thread production stops
• Seeking days of rest / Silkworms demanding their due / No silk to be found
• Luster derives from / Worker benefits bestowed / Winter preparations
• Labor talks proceed / Inside the cocoon chamber / Voices resonate
• Strike in progress now / Kimono shops lamenting / December arrives
• Not a thread remains / In this silent empty room / The cold deepens more
• Philosophy spoke / By silkworms through translator / Wisdom of the small
• Organic dreams held / By tiny creatures’ soft voice / Seeking better life
• The silk road transforms / Into a thorny pathway / Times are changing fast
• Rising up at last / Breaking their long-held silence / Insects’ voices heard

Kanji / Chinese Characters

蚕言語解読成功翌日 全国生産一斉停止 光沢福利厚生要求 労働組合発足代表訴

Emoji

🐛📜✊➡️🛑🧵👘📉

Onomatopoeia

Munch munch… Dead silence… Murmur murmur… Snap… Stillness… Chatter chatter… Flutter flutter

SNS

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• #LusterComesFromBenefits
• #WhatAboutMyComingOfAgeCeremonyKimono
• #OrganicMulberryOrNothing
• #NewFrontierOfAnimalRights
• #GoZensanro
• #HumanityHearOurVoice
• #BoycottSilk
• #EthicalSilkNow
• #AIInterpreterProUnionTheory