Civic Engagement in Contemporary Japan : Established and Emerging Repertoires

Civic engagement is a concept of action that has become part of common vocabulary, not only in the West but also in many other regions of the world as well. A growing, yet still small number of scholarly works has recently emerged showing how in Japan citizen activism, volunteering, and social action for a public cause are dev- oping. This present volume is another, and in my view, important addition to the body of knowledge on civic engagement in Japan. The majority of books on related issues in Japan take on the perspective of organized civic life, in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or nonprofit organizations (NPOs): we know quite a number of things about the quantitative trends in these organizations, on their positioning, on their difficulties, and on the institutional contexts in which they have to work. We know relatively little – except for a small number of topical qualitative case studies – on broad issues that relate to civic engagement in Japan, inside or outside these formal organizations. This volume is the first to offer a wide scope of broad variety of forms of civic engagement in contemporary Japan. The volume is quite forceful in counterbalancing oversimplified ideas on an “ideal” civil society in which state, market, and civil society organizations are in- pendent and at best take on oppositional stances.

With a variety of contributors from throughout Japan, involved in a range of both established and emerging forms of civic engagement from NGOs, NPOs, to other less mainstream organizations, the Editors have compiled a comprehensive volume to give a thorough insiders’ look at the state of civil society in Japan.

Established forms of civic engagement include labor unions, and resident and citizens’ movements dating back centuries. In more recent years, Japan has seen a rise in third sector groups that parallels a rise worldwide, especially grassroots community organizations. From political engagement, to underground media, the authors of this volume closely examine Japans’ development in civic engagement.

The lessons gleaned from the successes and shortcomings of civic engagement in Japan have strong applications internationally. The detailed and comprehensive coverage of this volume make it a useful resource for understanding not only Japanese social and political issues, but also the emergence of third sector organizations worldwide―what works, what does not work as well, and what organizational structures are possible.