Abstract
Before 1970, most women's groups in Japan were organized like men's groups in their rigid boundaries of membership, vertical structure of power and decision-making, concern for titles, and unequal financial contributions based on positions within the organization. During the 1970s, feminists and some other non-mainstream groups began to develop new styles of leadership (rotating various roles among the members), decision-making (reaching a consensus), and financial management (expecting equal contribution).
In the 1990s these new-style NGOs faced challenges to their theory of group formation. Before and after the Beijing Conference, new-style NGOs began making petitions and policy proposals to submit to the Cabinet, ministries and local governments. These NGOs therefore had to have a named representative to pay for fax, printing, postage, and often office space, as they could no longer operate at the members' kitchens.
Additionally, under the Japanese law, organizations are granted incorporation status only if they satisfy a number of requirements-requirements sometimes met by old-style women's groups organized in the pre-1970s manner, but not by the new-style NGOs. New-style groups were not eligible for tax deduction, while some old-style women's groups were. The Bill Providing Nonprofit Organizations with Incorporation Status (NPO bill), pending in the Japanese Diet, is unlikely to benefit new-style women's NGOs.
As a result of these changes, however, women have increased their legal literacy. Since 1995, old-style women's groups have been occasionally cooperating with new-style NGOs. Some local governments and male-centered groups are beginning to show "tolerance" and "understanding" toward the new styles of group formation and occasionally modifying their own established styles. This trend will contribute to more flexible attitudes by the Japanese in certain aspects of their international interaction.
