Civil society in Japan is a large and multifaceted sphere with a diversity of actors pursuing various social, political, and economic objectives. The sphere has experienced major waves of transformation in the post-1945 era, especially in the 1990s when volunteering and nonprofit activities came to the forefront of political and popular attention. This handbook brings together twenty-one leading experts to provide comprehensive and up-to-date analyses of civil society in Japan. What is the history of Japanese civil society and how has it evolved in recent decades? Who have been the key participants and what are their objectives? How have international actors and conditions influenced civil society in Japan? More broadly, what do recent developments in Japanese civil society tell us about the condition of democracy, state-society relations, and the public sphere in the country? And how might Japanese civil society develop into the future? The contributions to the handbook offer innovative perspectives based on the most-recent fieldwork and data available. The handbook is divided into three sections: Institutions, Justice and Transnationalism. Topics include nonprofit organizations, volunteering, philanthropy, new media, gender, pacifism, nuclear power, territorial politics, international cooperation and transnational solidarity. The volume will be valuable for scholars in both research and teaching as well as essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the diversity and vibrancy of Japanese civil society today.
Introduction: Civil Society in Japan (Simon Avenell and Akihiro Ogawa)
Chapter 1Conceptualizations: The Idea of Civil Society in Japan (Simon
Avenell)
Part 1: Institutions
Chapter 2Nonprofit Organizations: Have NPOs Taken Root in Japanese Society?
Public Perceptions, Media Coverage and Appearance in Education (Aya Okada)
Chapter 3Volunteering: Volunteering with Two Faces in Japan (Yoshihiro Seki)
Chapter 4Grassroots Advocacy: The Ethics of Care and Small Grassroots
Minority and Civic Groups in Japan (Tin Tin Htun)
Chapter 5Philanthropy: Defining and Advancing Japanese Philanthropy:
Historical and Religio-Philosophical Perspectives (Tamaki Onishi)
Chapter 6Social Enterprise: New Trends Among Social Enterprises in Japan:
The Potential of Policy for Social Firms (Reeya Komoda)
Chapter 7Conservative Civil Society: Small Membership with Strong
Advocacy: Conservative Civil Society in Japan (Yoojin Koo)
Chatper 8Media: Civil Society and Newspaper Journalism: The Nuclear Power
Debate in Japan (Tobias Weiss)
Chapter 9New Media: Social Media Platforms and Civil Society in Japan (Muneo
Kaigo)
Part 2: Justice
Chapter 10Pacifism: Continuity and Change in Japanese Peace Activism: Two
Challenges to the 2015 Abe War Laws (Adam Eldridge-Imamura)
Chapter 11Okinawa: Contemporary Okinawan Civil Society and Exploring
Environmental Justice (Scott Musgrave-Takeda)
Chapter 12Nuclear Power: Rethinking Civil SocietyState Relations in Japan
11 Years after the Fukushima Accident (Daniel P. Aldrich and Toshiaki
Yoshida)
Chapter 13Environment: Environmental Activism in Japan After 3-11 (Mary
Alice Haddad);
Chapter 14Citizen Science: Citizen Science (Aya H. Kimura)
Chapter 15Gender: Gender Inequality in Japanese Civil Society (Sae Okura)
Part 3: Transnationalism
Chapter 16Transnational Solidarity: Antinuclear Activism: The Case of No
Nukes Asia Forum (Akihiro Ogawa)
Chapter 17Japan-China Relations: The Strengths of Japanese Civil Society:
The Views of Japan-China Civil Society Mediators (Yanyan Li)
Chapter 18Territorial Politics: Civil Society and Territorial Disputes
(Alexander Bukh)
Chapter 19International Cooperation: International Cooperation on Disasters
(Chika Watanabe and Shuhei Kimura)
Simon Avenell is Professor of modern Japanese history at the Australian National University. He focuses on social, political, and intellectual developments after 1945. His books include Making Japanese Citizens (University of California Press, 2010), Transnational Japan in the Global Environmental Movement(University of Hawaii Press, 2017), and Asia and Postwar Japan(Harvard University Press, 2022). In 2025 he will publish A History of Postwar Japan: Recovery, Prosperity, and Transformation (University of Hawaii Press). He is currently conducting research on generational politics in contemporary Japan. Akihiro Ogawa is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His core research interest lies in contemporary Japan and Asia, focusing on civil society. His research is widely published with more than 80 publications, and his most recent solo-authored monograph is Antinuclear Citizens: Sustainable Policy and Grassroots Activism in Post-Fukushima Japan (Stanford University Press, 2023). He chairs the Asian Civil Society Research Network (https://asiancivilsociety.com/), founded in 2017, and is currently working on legislative transparency with parliamentary monitoring organizations across Asia.
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