"What is an NPO? From Disaster Volunteers and Community Spaces to Climate Change Countermeasures"

2024/10/25

When I say in class, "Keio University is also an NPO," the students all look puzzled. This is likely because it doesn't overlap with the "image of an NPO" that many people tend to have. However, if an NPO is defined as an organization where people with a common purpose voluntarily associate, independent of the government, and work together for the benefit of society, then the very origins of Keio University were exactly that. Furthermore, it is an entity that has given birth to many NPOs.

Long before they were called NPOs, such private, non-profit public interest activities have existed in our society. They have strengths in areas where government response is difficult and for-profit activities are unsuitable, and their presence has grown as intermediate groups such as families and local communities have declined. In fact, they are more diverse than one might imagine; for example, Wikipedia, where volunteers create articles, is operated by a U.S. NPO.

In Japan, 1995 was the "First Year of Volunteering" following the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which served as a catalyst for drawing public attention to NPOs. NPO corporations were born from this trend, and their number currently stands at just under 50,000. Today, corporate forms have diversified, and many of the 100,000 associations and foundations also engage in public interest activities, so "NPO" does not necessarily mean "NPO corporation." While they are a universal presence in society, NPOs in a systemic sense change depending on the country and the era.

However, diverse and complex entities are difficult to understand and therefore tend to be viewed with prejudice; the public image and the reality of NPOs sometimes diverge significantly. In particular, the term "non-profit" makes them appear somewhat self-sacrificing (and thus easily invites the impression of being hypocritical), but "non-profit" here means that the purpose is not to maximize profits and distribute them to stakeholders; it is a misconception that everything is unpaid or without compensation.

Naturally, there are problematic organizations, but the entire NPO sector tends to be judged based on a single case. Just as there are trusted and untrusted governments, or popular companies and "black companies," such things likely happen because a sufficient understanding has not yet been reached.

Just as Keio University is, there are surely many organizations that will become indispensable to society. I would be happy if this book helps, even a little, in understanding that world.

"What is an NPO? From Disaster Volunteers and Community Spaces to Climate Change Countermeasures"

Gen Miyagaki

Chuko Shinsho

288 pages, 1,078 yen (tax included)

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