[Feature: 20 Years of NPOs] Roundtable Discussion: Re-examining the Role of NPOs Today

It has been 20 years since the Act on Promotion of Specified Non-profit Activities (NPO Act) came into effect in 1998. What role have NPOs played in Japanese society during this time? Today, I would like to look back on these 20 years with all of you and discuss the outlook for the future.

Let me start with a brief summary. In 1995, just before the NPO Act started in 1998, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred, and this year is often called the "First Year of Volunteering." At the same time, it was also called the "First Year of the Internet." Events from this year acted as a trigger for the enforcement of the NPO Act.

Going further back, shortly before that, discussions were happening globally about what was called "A Global Associational Revolution" or a non-profit revolution. The term "NPO" was introduced to Japan around this time.

Even further back, in the mid-80s, organizations were emerging that balanced business viability with social activism—activities that we would now recognize as NPOs. At the time, there was a debate over "paid volunteers," with some arguing that taking money meant it wasn't volunteering or non-profit activity. This was the situation prior to the enforcement of the NPO Act.

On the other hand, a major characteristic since entering the 2000s is that a younger generation of social entrepreneurs, like Mr. Kojima—completely different from previous generations—has been developing various activities with unique ideas one after another. From around this time, interest shifted significantly from NPOs as activist movements to NPOs as business entities.

A symbolic event was the 2003 amendment to the NPO Act. Here, things like "economy," "employment," and "consumption"—which were previously thought to be worlds apart from NPOs—were incorporated into the NPO Act. Since this was also the era of the "First Year of CSR" for corporations, I feel there are linked aspects.

After that, from the beginning of the 2010s, social media became widespread and crowdfunding attracted attention. The biggest factor was the "New Public" (2010) initiative under the Democratic Party of Japan administration, which Mr. Kaneko was also involved in. This suddenly positioned the world of NPOs near the center stage of society. In the Great East Japan Earthquake immediately following, support activities were carried out based on the premise of NPOs and intermediary support.

Also, one major point regarding the legal system is the transition to the new public interest corporation system starting in 2008. This allowed for various corporate forms to be chosen for private non-profit activities, not just NPO corporations, but also general incorporated associations and public interest incorporated associations.

In 2015, the number of NPO corporations exceeded 50,000, but among social entrepreneurs, some are NPO corporations while others are in the form of joint-stock companies. We have entered an era where the question of "What is an NPO in the first place?" is being asked again.

This year has seen many disasters, and volunteering has attracted a lot of attention. Recruitment for Tokyo 2020 volunteers has also begun and is being debated. In that sense, I feel the situation surrounding NPOs and volunteering is changing once again.

First, Mr. Kaneko, you have observed this world for a long time, and I believe your communications had a very large impact on the discussions and positioning of NPOs and volunteering in the mid-90s. Looking back, what are your thoughts?

Since I first learned about NPOs while I was in the United States, I feel that NPOs in the US and Japan are quite different. Lester Salamon, a famous American scholar in the field of NPOs, says that "In America, local communities were formed before governments or administrative organizations." It is different from Japan starting from this point.

The first representative non-profit organizations in the US were universities. Harvard University in 1636, followed by the founding of Princeton, then the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Red Cross. As early as 1878, a court case regarding tax incentives occurred at Harvard University. Then in 1954, Harvard University took the initiative regarding tax incentives for non-profit organizations. In Japan, there was no tax incentive system for NPOs until 2012.

The person who quickly created a draft for the NPO bill in Japan and played a central role in the passage of the law was Akira Matsubara of an organization called "C's." At that time, NPOs were not well known in Japan and were modest entities, but he clearly stated the necessity of an NPO law before 1998. Later, the certified NPO system was created, and in 2012, the approved NPO system, which allows for tax incentives, was also launched.

When the approved NPO system was created, the government introduced the Public Support Test, and the donation tax system was realized. I was involved in that content to some extent. In fiscal 2018, there were over 50,000 certified NPOs and over 1,000 approved NPOs.

Various NPOs are growing in Japan as well. For example, Katariba and Florence, founded by SFC alumni, are well known as wonderful business-oriented NPOs.

Also, though you may not know it, there is a very wonderful group home called "Group Fuji." Ms. Kimiko Washio, an energetic person over 80 years old, is vigorously handling everything from building acquisition to management; she is an amazing person who borrowed 900 million yen from a bank in Fujisawa City to build a second group home for the elderly.

NPOs like these have grown in Japan, and many non-profit activities are now being implemented independently of the government. There are also business-oriented NPOs that work together with corporations. I see that interesting developments are gradually starting in Japan as well.

Could you talk a little bit about the time of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake?

I think the trigger for NPO activities becoming active was indeed the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. I also went to the site with many SFC students. At that time, I started a system called "Inter-V-Net." By negotiating with various companies like Nifty and IBM, people with an interest were able to view the network and conduct support activities from anywhere.

In an era when PC communications were at their peak and the internet was not yet widespread, and you could only do your own communications, you opened it all up.

However, Mr. Kaneko, I don't think you had any connection to the world of volunteering until the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake. In that era, where did you place your expectations and what did you find attractive that led you to commit to this field?

At that time, I just thought, "Let's go to the site anyway." Then, dozens of students from my seminar gathered in no time. I just put out the call.

There was no deep thinking; I just said, "Anyway, let's go," and various people gathered. Companies also moved quickly. So, I felt that Japan could actually pull this off.

So it was spontaneous rather than strategic?

Yes, no strategy at all. Everyone was having fun.

In 1995, I was a third-year student at Mita, but I didn't know about those movements at all.

I was in the first graduating class of the SFC graduate school, and I was building relations in Hanshin-Awaji with my classmates. A total of over a hundred Keio students went. SFC students responded immediately, but several people from Mita also came saying, "Let us join you."

The students had much lighter footwork, and it was like we were being dragged along by them. It wasn't us saying, "Do this according to this agenda," but more like, "Let's just go and help."

At that time, since it was an era when not everyone had a mobile phone, Mr. Kaneko went to NTT and said, "Give me mobile phones for free" (laughs).

I got about 300 of them.

We gave them to everyone and they went into the site. Every night, they would call the SFC graduate school where we were, saying, "There aren't enough people here" or "There aren't enough supplies here." We would turn that into text and upload it to the website. We were doing something like the precursor to information volunteering. That was the utilization of the "Inter-V-Net" you mentioned earlier.

I gained a new appreciation for the power of students.

Ms. Hagiwara has also been involved in this field in various ways for a long time. How did you enter the field of NPOs in the first place?

Initially, it was from the late 70s to the early 80s, an era when the term NPO had not yet entered Japan. The trigger was participating in an organic farming group in Hino City, Tokyo, to write my master's thesis. This group was receiving a grant from the Toyota Foundation's "Civic Research Contest: Let's Observe Our Immediate Environment" (hereafter, Civic Research Contest), which was the first program in Japan to provide grants for civic research activities. It was probably the first program in Japan to give money to civic activities, and research activities at that.

When was that?

It continued from 1979 to 1997. It was started by the Toyota Foundation, established in 1974, to commemorate its 5th anniversary. It was a program created primarily by Yoshinori Yamaoka, who was a program officer at the Toyota Foundation at the time.

Providing some kind of grant to civic activities really activates those activities and leads to social recognition of the organizations. I was involved in the Civic Research Contest as an associate program officer after finishing graduate school, and I felt firsthand how the perception of the grant recipients changed from people around them thinking "they're doing something strange" to "it seems they're doing something socially good."

You have been active from a very early stage.

It was said that I was a bit too early (laughs). Later, in the late 1980s, the "Japan Networkers Conference" was established and I was a member. At that time, the agenda was how to introduce a system to Japan that would allow civic groups to obtain legal personality. I served as the chairperson of a subcommittee on "NPO Management."

People like Mr. Yamaoka were already saying constantly since the 1980s that they wanted to make it easy for civic activity groups to obtain legal personality to solidify their foundation. This was because the public interest corporation system was very old, and including associations and foundations, they were tied to competent authorities and couldn't necessarily carry out activities as they wished. The idea was that if citizens could develop their activities more freely, various activities based on diverse problem awareness would be nurtured, and they wanted to create such a civil society.

At the time, it was said that it would be impossible to have a system in place within the 20th century, but that moved all at once with the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in 1995.

During the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, various people entered the disaster area, but they couldn't develop their activities without a receptive framework.

As for where that framework was, I suppose people who had been doing regional or welfare activities since the 70s and 80s had successfully built networks. So, while the "First Year of Volunteering" seems to have happened suddenly, I have the impression that it was well-prepared.

At the time of Hanshin-Awaji, I think the existence of organizations like the Osaka Voluntary Action Center was significant. For example, even if students or citizens joined, they wouldn't know where to go, what to do, or how to do it. Volunteer coordination was absolutely necessary. I think that became the trigger for the movement to create a law together.

Intermediary support organizations become necessary.

That's right. I think that was the trigger that also led to the establishment of the Japan NPO Center.

I see. Even though we say we are looking back on 20 years, the pre-history of those 20 years is long.

One more thing: when creating the Japan NPO Center, Mr. Yamaoka and others went to investigate American NPO organizations as part of research for NIRA (National Institute for Research Advancement). They learned about donation tax systems and legal personality to understand what was necessary for Japan to properly create a civil society and how to solidify that foundation, and they wrote it in a report.

Now, Mr. Yamada, could you also share your thoughts?

I graduated from Keio in 1996 and got a job at The Nippon Foundation. I became involved with NPOs in earnest in 2005, when I took charge of welfare. In 2006, The Nippon Foundation created CANPAN, a system to promote information dissemination and disclosure by NPOs, where they disclose information in an organization database and post information on blogs. From there, I began to be involved in earnest in the form of supporting NPO information dissemination.

Blogs started becoming popular in Japan around 2005, but until then, NPO activities basically only disseminated information in the form of business reports saying "we did this." It became an era where they could use the internet to share the progress of their projects, saying "we are doing this now."

By using information dissemination tools like the internet to actively share information, NPOs themselves create connections with various people. I am currently providing information dissemination support for that purpose.

I imagine you often interact with active people from the standpoint of intermediary support; has the change during this time been significant?

In an era where you can actively disseminate information using the internet, it becomes easier to connect with people different from before. Also, whereas NPOs used to be in a position of being supported by corporations, we are now in an era where corporations come to NPOs seeking expertise. For example, an organization called "Madre Bonita," which carries out postpartum care activities, frequently receives approaches from companies wanting to know their postpartum care expertise.

At Keio, there is an organization called "ADDS" that supports children with developmental disabilities, started during their student days by two women, Yumino Takeuchi and Hitomi Kuma, who were psychology students in the Faculty of Letters. I have introduced that organization to companies like Benesse because they wanted to know the expertise for supporting developmental disabilities. In this way, NPOs that provide expertise to corporations are gradually increasing.

It's true that the Japan NPO Center also receives inquiries from corporations. Regarding the development of information dissemination tools, what I experienced during my time at the Toyota Foundation was that initially everyone wrote by hand and sent documents by mail, but with the advent of the fax, the speed and spread of information dissemination changed significantly.

We became able to exchange information with grant recipients speedily via fax. Of course, active organizations also became able to send announcements and such to various places all at once, which greatly expanded civic activities and allowed information to gather from all over the country.

Around what time was that?

From around 1988 or '89. The 90s were truly the era of the fax. It wasn't the era of the internet yet. The evolution of information tools is very significant in developing NPO activities. I think things like what Mr. Kaneko did—providing 300 mobile phones—played an enormous role in activating civic activities.

So media caught up with the effective operation of networks.

There was an interesting case on the "CANPAN Blog." There was an NPO for forestry activities in Miyagi run by an elderly couple; although the two of them couldn't use a computer, they were updating their blog. They would fax their handwritten manuscripts to their son in Tokyo and have him upload them.

That's interesting. Certainly, the perspective of media is very important.

Hearing the stories so far, Mr. Kojima might feel like, "Oh, so that happened" (laughs). What do you think?

I run a small organization called the NPO "Nou School" (Agri-School). Specifically, we work to connect farmers facing labor shortages with homeless people, welfare recipients, and shut-ins who want to work but have no job. Others, such as those on probation or those who have developed mental illnesses, also come to us.

My main business is as a vegetable farmer, producing and selling vegetables as a joint-stock company and providing agricultural experience services to citizens. Within that, I was working to connect people who have difficulty working with the agricultural industry facing labor shortages. For that part, I thought making it an NPO would create more reach and allow everyone to participate more loosely, so I created the NPO Nou School.

In fact, by making it an NPO, I think it has become easier for citizens to participate in our activities than if it were a joint-stock company.

It's not that I particularly wanted to start a company or run an NPO. I had the desire to connect "people who want to work but have no job" with "farmers suffering from labor shortages," and within that, I thought about what form would be best in this country and created an NPO.

So the purpose came first.

That's right. I just looked for which form would be easiest to do that.

Does it work well even when doing it together with a joint-stock company?

Ultimately, a company works by looking toward the customers who pay them. They maintain the quality of their service by looking toward the customers who come for the farming experience or those who buy their vegetables. So, I think it is possible to operate as a joint-stock company if you frame it as a 'farm for the homeless.'

However, the reason we chose to be an NPO is that we don't operate by taking money from the homeless individuals themselves.

That is true. Even during the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, it wasn't a case of starting with 'Let's form an organization.' It started from a desire to do something, and as we did it, the question of how to maintain it arose, so the systems and organizations followed later.

In terms of systems, a system for supporting the independence of people in need through agricultural work has now been established as a joint project between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

That's 'Agriculture-Welfare Collaboration,' right?

Yes, our organization became a leading example of that. It made me realize that even if you work steadily and quietly, if the times deem it necessary, the government will create a system like this.

I see. So systems are created as those leading examples build up a track record.

Conversely, everyone is looking for those kinds of examples now.

The Long-Term Care Insurance system is exactly like that.

However, it is strictly a system 'for people in need.' Since we have people coming with all sorts of circumstances, if we join the system, we can no longer maintain the form where 'everyone can come.'

For example, under the Agriculture-Welfare Collaboration system, the target is people with disabilities, and homeless people or hikikomori (social recluses) would no longer be able to participate. That's why I feel some resistance to changing our activities to fit the system. While expanding the scale might have more social impact, I want to realize a society where everyone has a fair chance through the hands of citizens, even if it's on a small scale, so we operate small without using the system.

I was at the Miyagi Prefectural Government for two years. The government is inevitably bound by laws and regulations, so as in the story just now, when various types of people come, they no longer fit into a single legal system. Kayoko Soman is the one who created the 'Toyama-style Day Service,' which provides day services where children, the elderly, and people with disabilities are all together. Because the legal systems for each were different, it was apparently difficult to get government officials to understand at first. But she worked with city and prefectural officials toward deregulation and moved the national government. Now, 'Toyama-style Day Service' has spread not only within Toyama Prefecture but across the country.

Just as Mr. Kojima is doing, as you give shape to your vision, the system gradually catches up. Then, marginal areas emerge again, and a new movement arises in response. It's a cycle, but it's the NPOs with passionate visions that exist at the start.

What I noticed while at the Miyagi Prefectural Government was that there is a range of human discretion in the interpretation of legal systems and ordinances. Meeting government officials who are willing to be a bit flexible—to the extent that it doesn't become a violation—and support your activities is also important for expanding your work. Discerning that and knowing how to get along well with the government through cooperation rather than confrontation is vital.

For NPOs and the government to work well together, they must understand each other's cultures. Since NPOs often don't understand how government mechanisms work, the bridging aspect is important.

There are also some outrageous NPOs out there. That is the problem.

Elements of cross-cultural communication are necessary.

Collaboration with the government is one of the major topics. It's not just a relationship of writing papers and receiving grants or subsidies. It's important to be able to build a relationship where you can ask 'Can we do this?' and they say 'Yes, you can.'

It's a relationship of trust. The belief that they won't do anything outrageous. Basically, that's all it takes.

I think the role of an NPO is that of 'local media.' For example, it is an important role for an NPO to speak on behalf of people in the community who are struggling and cannot speak out via the internet or other means. Even in disaster-stricken areas, support often doesn't arrive unless the situation of those in need is communicated.

Also, it's important that there are people waiting for information on the other side of the internet. Currently, when we talk about NPO information dissemination, the focus on fundraising or volunteer recruitment for the organization's own sake has become too strong. However, I think what's originally important is how to provide appropriate information to the people beyond that who are waiting for it.

That is an important point. The 'local media' you mentioned has a symbolic meaning, right? In other words, it's media in the sense that their very existence connects and mediates between people, and the fact that they are active is communicated as information.

You could say that the affinity between media and NPOs is quite an essential value.

Yes. I think a major role of NPOs is how to make society aware of things it hasn't noticed. It's important for local NPOs on the ground to communicate the issues they find within the community.

The reason children's cafeterias have spread so much is likely because NPOs and volunteer groups working hard in the community are active and communicating the local situation. That's why more people can learn about social issues.

Recently, the number of local 'third places' (ibasho) has been increasing, and because information gathers there, companies approach them asking, 'Is there anything we can help with?'

I think the government comes to see Mr. Kojima's case because that kind of information exists.

For that, I think it's important to be rooted in the community and have a strong sense of being on-site and being a stakeholder. Therefore, it's important for the NPO itself and the people involved to become media.

To achieve this, we need NPPs (Non-profit persons) who discover local issues—in other words, 'people who take the lead in doing things that don't make money.' When an NPP moves, other NPPs gather. Those people gather and become NPGs or NPOs. Then they connect local stakeholders, saying, 'There's this problem, so let's have the government, companies, and neighborhood associations all work together to solve it.' They truly become media, don't they?

Listening to the discussion, I get the feeling that over the last 30 or 40 years, there's a sense of finding a niche, or that narrow areas are starting to work well.

You look at the niche. Then, various companies and local governments also find and expand those areas, spreading them to the community. In a sense, those areas have become very powerful. While I don't think they are a massive success as a whole, aren't there quite a few Japanese NPOs that are succeeding by working steadily like that?

That's right. The Japan NPO Center, as a support center, is connected with support centers in each region, but it's not an organization at the top of an umbrella; rather, I think of it as having a role like a facilitator.

By collecting information from each region, organizing what the problems are, and communicating that, or by introducing the collaborative projects between companies and NPOs that the Japan NPO Center conducts, collaborations are born from ideas like 'If they're doing this, maybe we can do it too' or 'It might be interesting to connect this and that.'

I feel that NPOs have come through a struggle between networks and hierarchies. 50,000 corporations were created, but that doesn't mean 50,000 branch offices were created.

Nowhere does anyone think about 'let's go create our own branches.' Intermediate support organizations also understand this well and don't try to 'make everyone gather.' They operate in a way that says, 'We'll help you out.'

That is collaboration. It's what is often called 'knot working' now. When a problem is found, you tie organizations and people together to solve it, and once solved, you untie them. But that becomes a connection, and a loose link—a network—remains. I call it the 'tie and open method' (laughs).

Now, much is said about the 'New Public' policy during the Democratic Party of Japan administration, but I think there are many points that should be properly verified. Mr. Kaneko, having been deeply involved in this policy, what are your thoughts?

I am close with Yukio Hatoyama because we were in Doctoral Programs at Stanford University together for three years. He is a person with a great many ideas.

However, while he doesn't mean any harm, I realized he is a person who doesn't follow through to the finish line (laughs). In that sense, I feel it's a bit of a shame.

In the 'New Public' project, an amount of money that was said wouldn't be seen again for another 100 years was distributed nationwide. I was involved in the project in Kanagawa Prefecture, and while management seemed to vary by prefecture, I think it was significant that it made the existence of NPOs known throughout Japan.

That's true.

After all, NPOs still have a weak foundation.

That's right. I was also involved in Hyogo Prefecture, and what was impressive was that for places that would have been supported as a single NPO until then, the scale was so large that it was a bit difficult for a single organization to apply.

That's why it was done as a partnership/collaboration project, right?

Yes. I think there was an effect in trying to involve the community or changing the framework slightly. The size of the amount was effective.

By setting things up so that organizations in the same region that had no contact with each other would 'do it together,' communication was born. So, I think we must appreciate that it expanded the narrow definition of NPOs to include the community.

In that sense, the 'New Public' made a major contribution, and I think a good foundation for some percentage of what we talked about today was built there.

Mr. Yamada, I think you have various concerns regarding the acquisition of funds. Considering the sustainability of NPOs, the issue of resources and money is naturally unavoidable. How do you view the current situation?

I think organizations that are good at fundraising have emerged, and because they can now use various IT services, costs have come down. For example, where they used to print and mail newsletters, organizations that are savvy now use free services for NPOs, like those offered by Google, to keep costs down while they work.

Also, an increasing number of organizations are utilizing crowdfunding to raise funds widely from various people.

Crowdfunding also attracted a lot of attention in the beginning, so I think it was relatively easy to gather funds, but now that everyone is doing it, isn't the competition fierce?

However, the pie itself isn't that large yet, so both the number of projects and the amounts are growing. What's good about crowdfunding is that it can be a catalyst for finding your own supporters.

There are also ways to transition people who have supported you once into, for example, monthly supporters who contribute via monthly donations. Some places are actively working to create a starting point through crowdfunding and then keep people involved continuously from there.

That's the key, isn't it? Not just 'it's over once they give once,' but how to connect them to your circle of companions.

Yes. Creating connections becomes important.

For example, someone who supported through crowdfunding might get involved as a volunteer next time. Even with the Great East Japan Earthquake, people who first supported through donations might visit the area as tourists during the reconstruction phase. Since there are aspects that create such connections, I think it's worth the effort for NPOs to be creative.

From the perspective of business operations, how is it at Mr. Kojima's place?

We are also becoming able to lower costs. But regarding fundraising, I feel we haven't been able to do it well at all, and I think we need to do a better job of communicating information. Listening to the discussion just now, I even thought I'd like to try crowdfunding (laughs).

How about people's participation?

There are many people who want to participate. For volunteers, we get a fair number of applications from homeless people and hikikomori as well.

But those are people who are quite difficult to approach, aren't they?

Homeless people have quite a bit of horizontal connection, so it's word of mouth, like 'It was good to go there.' Of course, they don't use the internet...

Doing this activity made me think that the claim that Japan's literacy rate is 90-something percent must be a lie (laughs). There are quite a few homeless people who cannot read. They can read hiragana, but they can't read kanji. Writing a resume can be quite difficult for them.

That is also the discovery of a new issue.

So, homeless people come through word of mouth or support organizations. Hikikomori come after looking us up online, but they don't have horizontal connections. However, when they do farm work together, the hikikomori kids actually become quite good friends with each other.

Who else comes besides them?

They are people with mental illnesses, people on public assistance, or people on probation. Support groups bring them to us. Regarding those on probation, rehabilitation facilities are currently full, so the Ministry of Justice is also relying on the private sector. Those who participate tell us that "farming is fun."

Is it good because it becomes a place where they belong and can make friends?

I think it is becoming a place where they belong. They can make friends, and it also seems to be serving as a safe zone. Some people live while their lives are being threatened and cannot trust others.

Children who are shut-ins (hikikomori) are also withdrawn because they are afraid of being criticized by others if they go out into society, but if they come to us, there is no one to attack them. It is a space where they can say anything.

I think it's thanks to the fields. There is a sense of openness, so they don't feel so on edge and just focus on working up a sweat. The work itself isn't easy, though.

Touching the soil must be good for them.

A child who had been a shut-in for many years used to get out of breath during work at first. But because they wanted to come here, they started walking at night to build up physical strength, became able to come, and eventually became a farmer.

I actually think that just sharing that person's existence could give hope to shut-ins all over Japan, but they say they don't want to go public yet.

That is the difficulty of information dissemination for NPOs. Even if you achieve great results, there are many cases where you cannot have that person appear.

Some people are being chased by former associates, so there are those who cannot appear in the media.

In terms of management, it is very easy to collect money for easy-to-understand causes, such as supporting children. Conversely, places like intermediary support centers have the hardest time. It is often said that people don't understand what they are doing.

The most important thing is how many members can be gathered to allow for free activities. Also, how to obtain grants for each project. It is often said that it is desirable to have a good balance of donations and contracts. I believe the role of grant-making foundations and the dormant bank accounts—whose usage and distribution are currently being deliberated—is to support areas where it is difficult to collect money.

Regarding fundraising, experts are definitely needed. In places like the US, there are proper fundraisers. It has long been said that we must further root mechanisms like a donation culture in Japan. Since many NPO corporations are dissolving, I feel it will be difficult from now on unless we instill a consciousness of everyone supporting civil society. Japanese NPOs have not yet become strong activity groups.

How to provide multi-faceted support—financial, human, and informational—so that civic groups can engage in the original free activities based on the NPO Act. I think that will become important in the future.

It is said that Japan has no culture of donation, but there are actually various examples of donations.

Since the Meiji era, there has been Christian culture, Eiichi Shibusawa went to the US to inspect philanthropy research, and Juji Ishii, who was called the father of child welfare, collected donations in many different ways. It's not that there is no donation culture; we can see that there are various examples of donations.

We certainly have preconceptions. There was a time when it was said that volunteering would not take root in Japan because there is no religious backbone, but that was not the case.

In the past, it was about "hidden virtue" (intoku). The Japan NPO Center does collaborative projects with various companies, and some say, "Let's spread this more," while others say, "No, no, you don't have to spread it that much." It's very Japanese, so to speak. But there is also the evaluation of companies that are globalizing, and many companies are changing their awareness, saying they must turn it into "visible virtue" (yotoku).

Also, we experienced during the Great East Japan Earthquake that not only companies but also citizens find it easier to donate if it is clearly understood that "this money will be used in this way."

That's right. There are people in various places who want to be involved, so I think it is also the role of the NPO side to provide various ways to get involved, such as volunteering or donating.

When I lived in the US for a short time, I met someone whose child had a disability. They said, "I want to hold a charity concert for disability awareness," and went around town saying, "Please donate."

What surprised me a little was that everywhere they went, the first thing they were asked was, "What are you going to do?" They didn't ask "Who are you?" or "Where are you from?" In Japan, if you go to a company wanting to ask for a donation, the first things they ask are "Who introduced you?" or "What company are you from?"

That's true.

Since these are supposed to be activity organizations that start from "what to do," I feel it's important to go back to the basics and think about it.

Since after 2000, many younger generation NPOs that now represent the sector, such as Katariba and Florence, have emerged. Many groups have come out of Keio SFC. Is this a characteristic of SFC, or a characteristic of the generation? Mr. Kojima, you are from the closest generation; why did you start social activities in the first place?

I am from a rural area in Kumamoto Prefecture. My parents were teachers, but farming was familiar to me. When I was in the second or third grade of elementary school, I saw a documentary program from overseas and learned that there are countries without food, and I thought I would go to such a country and be a farmer.

In high school, I took the entrance exam for the faculty of agriculture, but it didn't go well, so my cram school teacher recommended SFC. Since Katariba and Florence are from the same generation, I think SFC had become positioned as a place where people who want to do NGOs or NPOs apply.

That is certainly true.

Conversely, does that mean there was nothing else at the time?

The Rikkyo University Graduate School of 21st Century Social Design was established in 2002 as a graduate school where one can specialize in non-profit and for-profit management and obtain an MBA. I think it was probably the first MBA in Japan to put non-profit organization management at the forefront. It was around the time when classes related to NPOs started being offered at various universities. The fact that the NPO Act was created was a big factor, wasn't it?

As mentioned earlier, many people are triggered by watching overseas documentaries. When they think about going, they realize, "Wait, that problem exists in Japan too."

That's right. I had never seen a homeless person in Kumamoto, so when I came here and saw one for the first time at Yokohama Station, it was a shock. I realized there are people in Japan without food or homes, and I thought I should do what needs to be done in Japan first. I intend to go to Africa in a little while, though.

In Kansai, people who experienced the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake were creating NPOs around this time.

Yes. The first student to create an NPO corporation was a student at Kwansei Gakuin University. They wanted to support children affected by the disaster, and while helping them with their studies, they realized "their issues aren't just there," and started the NPO.

From the perspective of someone who studied at Mita, SFC has many academic fields where you go out into society and see various things, so I think people who discovered issues there are aiming to be social entrepreneurs.

Certainly, rather than drilling in discipline first, there was an educational style of "just go to the field for now."

No, maybe that's all there is (laughs). Teachers almost never say "do this."

Is it like finding interests and theories from there?

It's about having students find them on their own. Whether or not they can properly notice those things is quite significant.

Also, SFC didn't have vertical silos of academic fields from the start, so issues emerge vaguely from within that, and later they connect, like "that's actually a welfare issue."

I think the atmosphere of "it's okay to say vague things" was good. I wasn't told, "That's an interdisciplinary study, so you have to choose one or the other."

If the role of an NPO is precisely to turn vertical things into horizontal ones, then in the case of SFC, they were doing that in an academic setting.

People who learned there go out into society, and Mr. Kojima is playing the role of breaking down the vertical silos and existing values. By acquiring that, you are truly changing society.

Because he's doing it himself. I'm not doing anything at all (laughs).

It's flexible. Including myself, the older generation tends to have a bit of a "must-do disease."

I serve as a selection committee member for the "Women's Challenge Award" implemented by the Gender Equality Bureau of the Cabinet Office since 2004. Kumi Imamura of Katariba was the recipient of the 6th award. However, when she received the award, she felt a sense of discomfort, as if she were being told, "You're doing well for a woman." It was like, "I don't know why I'm receiving this." I was stunned (laughs). But after hearing the speeches of senior women at the ceremony, she said she realized that thanks to the hardships of her predecessors, we are now able to choose our jobs without feeling that discomfort.

I think she discovered the social meaning of what she was doing there. That's why there isn't that weight of "this is socially important" from the start.

I think that's what's inviting empathy and participation from various people, especially young people.

That is symbolic.

So, the idea of young people is "it would be nice if this existed," and they are doing what they want to do. Mr. Kojima, you are also more about "will" than "must."

I thought it would be good because both the homeless and the farmers would be happy, and no one would be troubled.

Because, compared to the content of what you're doing, it's incredibly refreshing.

That's true. It's like, "Is this really okay?" (laughs).

You say it so casually, but you're doing something amazing. It feels like the image of a new generation of NPOs.

They are light on their feet.

But if they're just light, they'll fail somewhere, so there's definitely strength. That kind of thing is good.

Also, it means the number of people who want to support what young people are doing has increased.

Local farmers learned about my initiatives, and when shut-ins or homeless people come, they say things like, "You're working hard despite the heat." That gives me a lot of confidence. I think a trend is emerging where the community supports the next generation of NPOs starting new things.

The good thing about SFC might be that accessible role models have been created. Newly formed groups can ask their seniors about fundraising methods and organizational management know-how.

Certainly, there is a connection between seniors and juniors, a network in that sense. Now, similar things can be seen with students from other faculties, and young social entrepreneurs have increased even more. I think it's fair to say it has become a culture of Keio as a whole, transcending the framework of SFC.

Today, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the NPO Act, we had people from different generations gather, and the discussion eventually reached the role played by universities. At the time, it was certainly a situation that could be called a boom, but what's important is what came after, and it may not be generally known that it has steadily taken root.

I believe it is also an important role of the university to not let it end as a temporary fad, but to face it calmly and discuss it on occasions like this. Thank you very much for the wide-ranging talk.

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.