This chapter describes civil society in Japan: its historical contexts, its present state, and the challenges it faces in the twenty-first century. Civil society is translated as “shimin shakai” in Japanese. Shimin means citizen and shakai means society. Shimin is a rather confusing concept because shimin refers primarily to the resident of a city. Of course, when we talk about shimin shakai or civil society, shimin does not mean resident of a city. In this chapter, I define the term “shimin” or citizen as “any people who participate in civic engagement.” Civic engagement here means participation in public life. I use the term civil society to express the structure or system of society which allows any person to become civilly engaged.
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- 1.
Kobe Earthquake took place on 17 January 1995. Its magnitude was 7.2 and more than 6,430 people were killed and over 100,000 houses and buildings were destroyed. Formal denomination of the Earthquake is “Hanshin-Awaji Great Earthquake.”
- 2.
Honma, M. & Deguchi, M (Ed.) (1996). Borantia Kakumei (Volunteer Revolution), Toyo Keizai.
- 3.
Han is domain ruled by lord (daimyo) in feudalistic Japan.
- 4.
After the Meiji Restoration, in 1889 a new nobility class was created which continued until 1947. They were former court nobles and former daimyo’s of feudal lords.
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Democratic citizens must be free regarding such matters as speech, assembly, and conscience. (Terchek and Conte 2001: 3).
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The Kenseito had been formed prior to 1898 election by merger of the Shinpoto (Progressive Party), which was reconstituted from the Rikken Kaishinto in 1896, and the Jiyuto.
- 7.
Magosaburo Ohara was president of Kurashiki Textile Company in Okayama Prefecture.
- 8.
Approval (kyoka in Japanese) means action at the discretion of the government.
- 9.
Toyohiko Kagawa (1888-1960) was also a great leader of labor movement and cooperative movement.
- 10.
On September 1, an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 hit Tokyo and Yokohama area and killed 140,000 people.
- 11.
Yukichi Fukuzawa was advocator of freedom and citizenship movement. He was great educator and journalist.
- 12.
See footnote 7.
- 13.
Well-known leader of rural development in late Edo period.
- 14.
Rochdale is a town near Manchster, England. The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers is established in 1844. It is known as the first successful cooperative.
- 15.
Yuteki Hayashi was a student of Yukichi Fukuzawa and well-known as the founder of Maruzen bookstore, the first foreign books retailer.
- 16.
See footnote 7.
- 17.
Zenji Nasu was successful speculator and made a fortune during the World War I.
- 18.
Recognition (ninka in Japanese) means action of the government to see if documents are legally written and business plans conform to the requirement of the law.
- 19.
Authentication (ninsho in Japanese) means action of the government to see if the documents are legally written.
- 20.
Social welfare council is an organization to promote welfare in the community. The system of social welfare council is stipulated in the Social Welfare Service Law (present-day Social Welfare Law). It consists of a national council in the capital and a local council at various local levels, and it plays a central role in private welfare activities.
- 21.
Keidanren is a membership organization of large corporations established in 1946. It became Nippon Keidanren in 2002.
- 22.
See footnote 1.
- 23.
Keizai Doyukai is an association of rather liberal corporate executives established in 1946.
- 24.
See footnote 20.
Reference
Terchek, R.J. & T.C. Conte (Eds.) (2001). Theories of democracy. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
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Imada, M. (2010). Civil Society in Japan: Democracy, Voluntary Action, and Philanthropy. In: Vinken, H., Nishimura, Y., White, B., Deguchi, M. (eds) Civic Engagement in Contemporary Japan. Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1504-7_2
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