Five Trends of Transformation Undergone by Japan's Non-profit Sector during the 1990s

Abstract

This article describes five major trends observed in changes undergone by Japan's non-profit sector during the 1990s. During this decade, in a sharp contrast with the failure of political reforms on the part of the national government which is often called "the lost decade", the nature of Japanese citizens' activities and movements changed drastically.
All trends are related to the "institutionalization of the social movement". First, NPOs have been enabled to acquire legal status provided that they meet certain conditions. Following the establishment of the NPO act in 1998, approximately 4000 organizations have been certified as corporations by the competent authority in the last two and a half years. Secondly, citizens watch dog movement has developed nationwide and has succeeded to bring about reforms in many local governments by requesting disclosure of official information. Thirdly, efforts for implementing public referenda on controversial issues such as nuclear energy policy, industrial waste problem and national security policy has become one of common campaign strategies for citizens. Referendum has been held in several municipalities and prefectures, starting with the nuclear referendum held in Maki in 1996. The forth trend is a rapid increase of policy oriented movements which seek to propose alternative policies in collaboration with governments, experts and businesses. The fifth trend is the effect of the advancement in information technology and globalization of the non-profit sector. By daily communicating with international citizen's organizations through internet, some Japanese NPO/NGOs have gained a lot of knowledge and information on recent foreign trends and situations, and they have learned how to participate in the decision making process. Thus, strategies and goals of Japan's non-profit sector have become more policy-oriented and business-oriented in recent years.