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(Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5)
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Series: Understanding the Japanese Nonprofit Sector (1)
"Hello, Imai-san, You're Not the Only One"
by
Katsuji Imata, Executive Director
In late January, Mr. Takashi Imai, the
Chairman of Federation of Economic Organizations (keidanren),
the most well-known corporate federation in Japan, said at an
economic forum in Switzerland that he did not understand whose
interest NGOs (non-governmental organizations) represent. In
the backdrop was the WTO Conference in Seattle in November,
where a large presence and powerful protest of NGOs led to the
falling apart of the Conference. For Mr. Imai, NGOs must be
a collection of disruptive entities that prevent a new global
economy from prospering.
His remarks were strongly criticized by U.S. and European corporate
representatives at the forum. Also, since he was in a position
that could represent the whole Japanese corporate sector, Japanese
press reported the story as a tale of another Japanese leader
who lacks the understanding of internationally accepted norms
-- this time, the role of NGOs in the new world economy. Basically,
he was laughed at.
Poor Imai-san, because I think he just doesn't get it, and nobody
was really answering his question. For example, an Asahi Shimbun
reporter wrote in response to this question, "as civil society
matures, new values and needs also emerge; people thus become
less and less satisfied with an undifferentiated set of social
and other services commonly provided by the government and corporations
Ēc That's where nonprofits come in." (February 6, 2000) If I
were Imai-san, I would say, "But I just wanted to know who they
represent!"
 In
other words, he is questioning the legitimacy of the nonprofit
sector. Why should voices and opinions of a small number of
people who say they are NGOs carry any weight in an international
setting, for example? If a U.S. President and a Japanese prime
minister agree on something, it's an agreement between two nation-states,
and as a representative of Japan's private for-profit sector
he should not only listen to it but abide by the new rules.
But what is the basis that makes him listen to the voice of
NGOs as legitimate bodies?
Yes, he can be laughed at easily. Especially in the past few
years, the Japanese press has been reporting the value of nonprofit
organizations and you see the term "NPO" very frequently in
Japanese newspapers. NPOs are important, NPOs can play a major
role in the society, NPOs will bring an alternative way of doing
things, etc. So it's very easy to jump on the bandwagon and
take for granted why NPOs are good. But for Mr. Imai and for
many others, some important questions are still left unanswered.
 This
is a snapshot of Japan's nonprofit sector today. Since the passing
of "the NPO law" in 1998 which allowed for the incorporation
of nonprofit entities, there still exist doubts, misunderstandings
and simple, innocent questions among citizens in Japan. With
this series, we bring you to Japan and to the excitement that
is developing over the role of the nonprofit sector both in
Japan and in a global society.
Series:
Understanding the Japanese Nonprofit Sector (2) Whose Interest
is "Public Interest"?
by
Katsuji Imata President / CEO
The
translation of "public interest," koeki, is a tricky word in
the Japanese lexicon. You would imagine that public interest
is public interest. But in Japan, whose traditional nonprofit
sector has been serving a supplementary role to the government,
koeki usually carries the flavor of "government interest."
Take koeki hojin (public interest corporations), for example.
It is a form of nonprofit organizations which were created under
the Article 34 of Civil Code, enacted back in 1896. When people
in Japan see the word koeki hojin in newspapers these days,
it is typically about mismanagement, improper use of funds,
lack of transparency or some kind of collusion with government.
Since public interest corporations are heavily regulated by
the government, we generally tend to have the view that they
are only quasi-governmental bodies or outposts of government
interest. This is contrary to recent research which found that
about 72 percent of public interest corporations are "private
initiative" type while 28 percent are "substitute of governmental
functions." (Chikio Hayashi and Akira Iriyama, Koeki Hojin no
Jitsuzo, Diamond-sha, 1997, p. 62) Probably because the image
of public interest corporations has been quite tarnished by
the mass media, those which were started by private initiative
have to fight the uphill battle to prove that they are indeed
formed by private, not-for-profit, voluntary endeavors.
In 1998, the Japanese Diet passed the Law to Promote Specified
Nonprofit Activities. This law opened the door for grassroots
or community-based groups to be incorporated as nonprofit corporations.
Despite the lack of meaningful tax advantages, as of this July
28, 2,290 organizations became incorporated under the new law
(the English outline of the law is provided in Japan's Economic
Planning Agency's homepage at http://www.epa.go.jp/98/c/19980319c-npo-e.html).
Before this law took effect, these smaller organizations would
not have thought about incorporating themselves, because of
very high asset requirement and/or tight regulatory oversight.
Many citizens' groups pushed for the legislation of this new
corporate status.
 In
this process, many from those citizens' groups expressed their
dislike of the word koeki, again because they did not want to
be associated with its implications towards government interest.
They did not want to see the word in the text of the law. In
the end, however, the word "public interest" was included in
the purpose section of the law.
When the 1998 Law was passed, there was a mention in the addendum
that the Diet will revisit the tax issue for these nonprofit
corporations in two years. Since the Law took effect on December
1, 1998, it will be two years at the end of November this year.
That is why we hear a lot about providing tax advantages to
these organizations these days. In particular, giving tax deductions
to donors is considered to be a big issue, since it is expected
to boost private donations to nonprofit organizations.
Yet, it is not correct to assume that this will be a totally
new system in Japan. There is in fact a tax deduction system
for donors. Not many people in Japan know this because it is
not utilized enough. Also, as you can imagine by now, it is
very hard to obtain this special status. As of 1996, only about
17,000 nonprofit organizations qualify for this status, as compared
to about 600,000 501c3 organizations in the U.S. in 1994 which
have the similar tax advantages including tax deduction for
donors. How an organization qualifies for this status is not
clear, except for some sets of organizations that belong to
a specific status such as social welfare corporations and private
school corporations. The general rule for the qualification
is "those which significantly contribute to the promotion of
public interest."
There you go, we see the word koeki again. And of course,
the government gets to decide who indeed "significantly contributes
to the promotion of koeki." Are you getting tired of this word
by now? Then you know how people in the nonprofit sector in
Japan feelĒc
Bridging
Common Causes: Research and Activism on Homelessness in Japan
and the U.S.
Interview with Matthew
Marr
Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at UCLA
by
Scott Sugiura
FCP Senior Program Associate
Matt
Marr, NPOP 1999, recently co-authored a report on day labor
and homelessness in Tokyo. After reading the report I spoke
to Matt to get an understanding of how Japan and the U.S. compare
regarding homelessness and day labor and what nonprofits are
doing to address the problem. While participating in the NPOP
program Matt interned at Sanyu-kai, a homeless and day laborer
support organization in the San'ya district of Tokyo. NPOP gives
Americans the chance to work in a Japanese nonprofit through
a 1.5 month internship and gain first hand knowledge about issues
and the nonprofit sector in Japan. Prior to his internship Matt
set-up a comparative research project on day labor in Tokyo
and L.A. with Professor Abel Valenzuela from UCLA's Center for
the Study of Urban Poverty. His study is part of a larger research
project comparing day labor in Los Angeles and Tokyo.
 Though
Matt had worked extensively with homeless populations in the
US and some in Japan as well he had not conducted research on
this scale in Japan before. "I stayed on for a while after June
to conduct a survey of day laborers in San'ya. I didn't think
I'd be able to get people to respond given that we had to survey
while laborers were looking for work on the streets from 5 AM
to ensure that we sampled day laborers actively seeking work
and not discouraged workers. With the help of some volunteers
and the kindness of the laborers who responded, we were able
to pull it off."
Part of what made Matt's data collection so successful was
the close relationships he developed with the volunteers and
day labor community in San'ya, he is also fluent in Japanese.
He surveyed 119 day laborers in the yoseba, or day labor ghetto,
in San'ya. "Responses from workers in our sample paint a grim
picture of day labor in San'ya, which is enduring a prolonged
recession. This market is ridden with unemployment and homelessness
and only able to meet the employment needs of a select few laborersĒcStructural
barriers, mostly age discrimination and the lack of available
jobs, prevent day laborers from obtaining full-time employment
or even semi-consistent employment in day labor."
Historically, homelessness in Japan has been equated with
day labor. Currently about 70% of the homeless in Tokyo are
day laborers who have not recently had work and have fallen
into homelessness. The remaining 30% are beginning to look more
like homeless populations in the U.S., including women and those
individuals who have never engaged in day labor. There is a
need for housing and employment services among Japan's homeless
and day laborers. Matt noted that "there are probably less than
100 beds provided (for the homeless) by nonprofits throughout
Japan, while L.A. county has between 14,000 and 15,000 on any
given day." While these numbers speak to the difference in scale
between homeless populations in the U.S. and Japan it also highlights
the resources available to address homelessness. Matt estimates
that Tokyo's homeless population increased by approximately
2,000 people over the past year - an increase of 30%.
Despite growing similarities to the U.S., Japanese organizations
dealing with homelessness and day labor face very different
circumstances compared with their U.S. counterparts. For example,
Matt has worked at Shelter Partnership in Los Angeles as an
intermediary between private and government funding and about
300 service delivery organizations. In Japan there are far fewer
organizations, little infrastructure, and almost no funds to
pay for the services provided by nonprofits. Among the 30 to
40 organizations working with the homeless in Tokyo, most raise
funds through individual contributions - many from the congregations
of local churches. These funds are often insufficient to cover
expenses for rice and other basic needs provided to the homeless.
Sanyu-kai has managed to maintain a stable funding stream by
Japanese standards in part through its connection to the non-Japanese
community in Japan.
Although
Japanese nonprofits working with the homeless face numerous
challenges, Matt hopes that government and business can work
to increase labor available to help day laborers earn enough
to stabilize their living situation and prevent them from slipping
into homelessness. Matt also sees less competition between Japanese
nonprofit homeless organizations, in part because there are
fewer resources to compete over. As a result there is more potential
for collaboration between groups than in the U.S. In the U.S.,
the services and organizations created to address issues of
homelessness have become largely institutionalized to the point
where the root causes of homelessness are no longer the primary
focus. The scale of the problem has become so large that infrastructure
and many organizations focus more on numbers served in a homeless
population that has essentially become a permanent fixture in
the demographics of the U.S. Matt and many Japanese homeless
activists see this as something that Japanese organizations
and the government can and should avoid before the scale and
complexity of the problems in Japan increase.
Matt's future research will focus on raising awareness in
both countries about the need for durable solutions to homelessness
and will hopefully bring community activists and researchers
of poverty to a better understanding of the global patterns
of homelessness and day labor. Matt is currently working on
a Ph.D. in sociology at UCLA while he continues to work at the
Center for the Study of Urban Poverty. If you'd like more information
on Matt's research you may contact him at m_marr@hotmail.com.
Working
Toward Common Goals:
U.S.-Japan Collaborations
Interview with Elissa
Leif
Director of Asia-Pacific Development, Children's Express
by
Akiko Yuda, Outreach Coordinator
When I started working for JUCEE
back in the fall of 1998, Elissa Leif, then the Program Director
at JUCEE, was preparing to move back to the East Coast after
three years of working with JUCEE. Elissa speaks, reads and
writes Japanese. In the U.S. nonprofit sector, she is considered
a unique professional who understands Japanese culture and society.
Elissa discovered Japan when
she was selected to participate in the Japan-America Student
Conference in 1987 while at Yale University. "I was always interested
in the role of education in society, and that was one of the
topics of the Conference," Elissa recalls. In 1988, she returned
to the Conference as an American Executive Committee member.
Following that, she took up Japanese for the first time to learn
more about the Japanese education system and culture.
After obtaining a Master's Degree in Comparative Education
at Harvard University, she went to Japan to continue her research.
While in Tokyo, she was hired by the National Federation of
UNESCO Associations in Japan (NFUAJ) as one of the managers
of its World Terakoya [literally "temple school"] Movement,
a program supporting grass-roots literacy activities of local
NGOs in developing countries while educating people in Japan
on literacy issues. While she was inspired by NFUAJ's mission
and the many NGOs throughout the world with which she came into
contact, she became increasingly aware that Japanese nonprofits
needed to acquire management skills to make their greatest possible
contribution.
Elissa returned to the U.S. to launch JUCEE with Katsuji Imata,
the Executive Director of JUCEE, in 1995. In her role as Program
Director, Elissa developed the vision of the Fellowships Creating
Partnerships (FCP) program which brings together U.S. and Japanese
organizations to collaborate on projects of joint concern. It
was out of her experience running JUCEE's internship programs
that she realized that some U.S. organizations wanted to work
with Japanese organizations "in a more significant way" than
hosting interns. Elissa notes that for organizations to think
about collaboration before FCP "there were huge financial, structural,
language and cultural obstacles to making this collaboration
happen." She knew already from her work in Japan that Japanese
nonprofits were interested in U.S. nonprofit management techniques
and thought that a Japanese-U.S. nonprofit collaboration program
would provide a way for organizations on both sides of the Pacific
to "grow in a much larger way through working together intimately
and sharing a common vision."
 Luckily
for JUCEE, Elissa continued as a consultant for the FCP program
while she was in Washington, D.C. and now works with Children's
Express (CE), one of the 3 U.S. organizations involved in the
FCP program. As part of her job, she works closely with CE's
Japanese partner organization, Network for the Convention on
the Rights of the Child (NCRC), through the FCP program. They
are working together to integrate youth voices into the annual
NCRC Forums and the broader society in Japan and to assess the
viability and lay the foundation for establishing a CE news
bureau in Tokyo, thus amplifying the voices of children through
the adult media.
When asked why Japan-U.S. relations, Elissa sees these two
particular cultures as "so different and subject so easily to
misunderstandings." Nonprofit collaboration, however, provides
a chance to remedy this, she feels, because "people share a
vision that goes beyond profit or national interest to what
people really believe in or feel passionate about as human beings."
JUCEE Core Programs:
(IP)Japan-U.S.
Nonprofit Internship Program
Program Structure>Program
Updates>Download
Brochure
(NPOP)Nichibei Pathfinding Opportunity Program
Program Structure>Program
Updates>Download
Brochure
(FCP)Fellowships Creating Partnerships Program
Program Structure>Program
Updates
JUCEE
Alumni
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