Japan National Report 2007

Presented at the 11^th IAVE Asia-Pacific Regional Volunteer Conference, Nagoya-Aichi
December 9, 2007

National Report: Japan
“From Particular People to General Society: The Pathway of Volunteerism in Japan”
By Dr. Chi-Trung Bui
Chief Executive Director, Shimin Forum 21 NPO Centre
Professor of Multicultural Studies, Aichi Shukutoku University, Japan

20 years ago, in this City, the 1^st IAVE Asia Pacific Conference was hold, and this time is the 11th.  I’m stirred to be here with you and sharing about the circumstance of voluntary activities and its environment in Japan today.

In the 1^st Conference, reported on the origin of Voluntary Spirit, the late Jitsujo Arima mentioned about the activities of Buddhist monk EISON.  In 1269 at Hannyazaka, an outskirt of Nara, more than 6 thousand people gathered to hear his speech.  Half of them were those living in the slum with Hansen’s disease and other half were followers and believers of Eison.  Among his believers many of them were the peerage and samurai.

  “It was prophesied that Buddha will make his appearance in this world among the poverty-stricken and lonely people.  If you want to meet a living Buddha, be merciful to those poor and lonely souls, because only people that have mercy on the poor and isolated people, they can meet with Buddha on Earth.  Watch this slum, there are so many Buddha being disguised as patients in front of us.  We are given this opportunity to provide them food and good bath”.  It means to share pains, sadness and sufferings with each other, to show mercy with each other, it made us to be a human being behavior.

  Eison also held an uncommon type of tea ceremony, now still continued at Saidaiji Temple also in Nara, where he served green powder tea in a big bowl that was 50cm in diameter.  In those days, green tea was medicine and expensive.  All the participants including inhabitants of slums, Hansen’s disease people had to drink tea using the same bowl.  Naturally, the upper class people among them hesitated to put their lips on the same spot of the bowl where the lower classes or the diseased had done so.  Eison said to them.  “We ideologically know the importance of equality and the absurdity of discrimination.  But if we never try to act on these ideals, it is nonsense, isn’t it?  First of all, we have to notice ourselves discriminating against people, and then fight against our own feelings of discrimination.”  Eison really wanted to state that people helping others are equal even to those receiving their help, and moreover they should abandon the idea of “I’m helping others”.

   I some time visited Hannyaji and Saidaiji Temples, now still standing to remember Eison when I felt blue or faced difficulties in social works.

   Through such a tradition, volunteerism in Japan penetrated into society and developed in good direction but not get out of the individually limits.

 Japan had much of movements all over the country as keeping and developing this beautiful traditional as helping people in hard time,　let people participate to voluntary or social activities.  The point is that Japanese have a spirit on voluntary work but it can not expand wider because they do not have such a regime to promote the voluntary activities, like so many Asian societies.

   Today I would like to give a brief report on the development of voluntarism, in other words as “citizens and nonprofit activities” in Japanese society recently, particularly after the WW2. 

    There had an early modern growth of a public sphere proved crucial to the dramatic rise of new social forces in the wake of the Meiji Restoration of 1868.  Fukuzawa Yukichi, the founder of Keio University, who had toured the USA and Europe, resumed in his book “Conditions in the West” (Seiyo Jijo, 1867) and when mentioned about the necessary of individuals in society, he said that “Independent individuals make for an independent country”. 

 After then, many of civil society organizations were established and accelerated the growing in public-interest activities.

   Many of researchers mentioned that Japan’s civil society has been analyzed from two contrasting perspectives.

1. The institutional-statist perspective emphasizes the relatively strict regulatory environment created either by a strong, interventionist state or, conversely, by a social organizations to compensate for its weak legal power.   Public-Interest Corporation (Koekihojin) and institutions play an important role in regulating civil society organizations.  From this perspective, Japan’s civil society is relatively small and under rigid state control until the 1970s.
2. The social-pluralist perspective focuses on emerging citizens’ activities and movements by NGOs since the 1980s.  A kind of “NGO/NPO Boom” and “Volunteer Revolution” was clearly observable in the 1990s, at least in terms of media and scholarly coverage.  This trend culminated in the Passing of NPO Law in 1998.

   Before the 1970s, at the grassroots movements, some of organizations operated in fields of women’s rights, anti-atomic experiments and also protest pollution and other quality-of-life problems.  In those days, intellectuals and journalists called these groups “citizens’ movements”, expecting them as the core of a new grassroots democracy in which ordinary citizens took part in decision-making.

   Governments tend to appropriate these activities and organizations of citizens’ movements to reintegrate a great many civic groups into local administration.  And as the passions in anti-movements of the early 1970s cooled, citizens’ movements often turned to assisting local governments in tidying up parks, furnishing school-crossing guards, or helping the elderly.

 In the 1970s, in comparison to western developed countries, a very small number, few % of people joined voluntary activities in Japan.  The local governments and also the society make voluntary activities up the deficit in welfare services as non-pay workers.  In those times, almost the voluntary activities were done in this area, individually or some time groups established, worked in some disabled or elderly institutes or hospitals.

 But from the 1980s, Japanese society changed and developed itself days after days, it has low birth rate, increased in number of elderly people, globalization and so on, and in result, this society became more complicated, more diversity, and at last, voluntary activities can not answer to the needs of society.

 Japanese society developed in a high speed, especially in the area of economy and information.  Many of young Japanese went to developing countries, touched the life of the lower classes but as majority there, back to Japan, establishing or joining NGOs, and we can say that citizens’ movement in Japan bloomed to start an era of international cooperation.

   Through getting information internationally, Japanese society faced new needs in develop of the perspectives in education, welfare, women’s rights and so on.  In this period, many of delegations were sending overseas, particularly western and northern Europe, brought back knowledge in dealing these issues but the society still not matured yet due to the activities from citizens’ side weren’t spread, and also the system to support citizens’ activities weren’t steady. 

 In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, many of organizations and activists, researchers were concerned about networking and non-profit activities in the USA, and introduced information, systems, development processes, and also the structure of NPO and their contribution to society.

 Due to the activities of Japan Networkers’ Conference which played an important role in this area, continued by C’s and other NPO promoting, supporting organizations, Japanese society had an understanding and interesting in voluntary, NPO and furthermore, citizens’ activities in order to promote the new function of society.

  After the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake hit in January 1995, Japanese society were strongly impressed that more 1.3 million of volunteers all over the nation gathered to the disaster area to rescue, support, help, assist the victims and also worked in town reconstruction while central and local governments were not enough possibilities to deal.  The necessary of voluntary activities, also with the system for that, furthermore the nonprofit or citizens’ activities is mentioned, discussed, appreciate throughout various people and sectors. 

 Like a roller spreading all over Japan, voluntary activities penetrate into various fields, from welfare to education, ecology to city planning, from disaster relief to international cooperation and so on.  This was also started a period of understanding from both central and local governments to voluntary activities and citizens’ movements, with many of supports in both promotion and system establishments.

 At the same time, private (it means business) sector also have operation in support voluntary activities in and out of their companies.  The employees and employers are working together in those activities, particularly in local community relations.

   Nippon Keidanren started their 1%Club in 1990 to promote the majority of big Japanese entrepreneurs in philanthropy activities, reported that 408 member companies used 144 billion Yen in the fiscal year 2005 for the purpose of social contribution activities.  A large part of activities are in the fields of education, technical researches, arts & culture, and recently focus on environmental preservation as well as on community services.  Also, the general concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is rapidly spreading among entrepreneurs from the early 2000s and was a trend in Japanese private sector at present.

   From December 1998, the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (NPO Law) was enacted, opening a new era of voluntary and citizens’ activities in Japanese society.  Japanese civil society organizations got the corporate body status, now counted as over 33,000 bodies, easier to establish organizations, access to local governments, entrepreneurs and also to a large public to enhance their community and wider services in contributing their abilities to a matured society.

 On the other hand, about more than 200 intermediated NPOs are now making efforts in support the activities of a growing NPO sector in Japan.  Their activities are mainly focusing on the collaboration among NPOs and governments as well as with entrepreneurs.

   Some advanced examples on the collaboration between NPOs and governments:

1. Aichi Collaboration Rule Book 2004:  In reference of “The Local Compact” in England, A board including NPO representatives and Aichi Prefecture government sit together to discuss and issued a regulation to promote the collaboration.  Governor of Aichi Prefecture and NPO Representatives signed the Rule Book in August 2004 and from then, assigning projects, contracts and grants were increased to NPOs.
2. 1% Resident Tax for Citizens’ Activities Scheme of Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture:  According to the declaration of reporters, the City Hall collecting 1% of their resident tax and raise fund to support local NPOs’ activities.
3. Volunteers in Large Scale Events Organized by Governments:  In Aichi Expo 2005, more than 30.000 volunteers participated in hospitality and management.
4. Most of local governments open a section in order to take charge in support voluntary and NPO activities.  Governmental managing NPO centers are also operated in many of large scale cities.

 At last, in a survey done recently showed that with a number of more than 130.000 community/civil society organizations and 8 million of volunteers in working, more than 65% of adults and students wishing to participate voluntary work, I would like to mention that in Japan today, voluntary activity is not a specific behavior from a small group of particular people but it was widely spreading into general society and Japanese, from old to young, are enjoy themselves in contributing their abilities to societies, in and out of Japan.

References:

1. Jitsujo Arima, Origin of Volunteer Activities in Japan.  In Towards a Fuller Human Life - Learning from Asian Volunteers, First IAVE Asia Pacific Conference Proceedings, Edited by Chi-Trung Bui et al.  Ikoi-no-Ie, 1990.  69-70.
2. Tsujinaka Yutaka, From Development to Maturity: Japan’s Civil Society Organizations in Comparative Perspective.  In The State of Civil Society in Japan.  Edited by Frank J. Schwartz & Susan J. Pharr.  Cambridge University Press 2003.  83-115
3. Sheldon Garon, From Meiji to Heisei: The State and Civil Society in Japan. Ibidem. 42-62.