Handbook of Civil Society in Japan

Simon Avenell is Professor of modern Japanese history at the Australian National University. He focuses on social, political, and intellectual developments after 1945. His books include Making Japanese Citizens (University of California Press, 2010), Transnational Japan in the Global Environmental Movement(University of Hawai’i Press, 2017), and Asia and Postwar Japan(Harvard University Press, 2022). In 2025 he will publish A History of Postwar Japan: Recovery, Prosperity, and Transformation (University of Hawai’i Press). He is currently conducting research on generational politics in contemporary Japan. Akihiro Ogawa is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His core research interest lies in contemporary Japan and Asia, focusing on civil society. His research is widely published with more than 80 publications, and his most recent solo-authored monograph is Antinuclear Citizens: Sustainable Policy and Grassroots Activism in Post-Fukushima Japan (Stanford University Press, 2023). He chairs the Asian Civil Society Research Network (https://asiancivilsociety.com/), founded in 2017, and is currently working on legislative transparency with parliamentary monitoring organizations across Asia.

• Introduction: Civil Society in Japan (Simon Avenell and Akihiro Ogawa) Chapter 1—Conceptualizations: The Idea of Civil Society in Japan (Simon Avenell) Part 1: Institutions Chapter 2—Nonprofit Organizations: Have NPOs Taken Root in Japanese Society? Public Perceptions, Media Coverage and Appearance in Education (Aya Okada) Chapter 3—Volunteering: Volunteering with Two Faces in Japan (Yoshihiro Seki) Chapter 4—Grassroots Advocacy: The Ethics of Care and Small Grassroots Minority and Civic Groups in Japan (Tin Tin Htun) Chapter 5—Philanthropy: Defining and Advancing Japanese Philanthropy: Historical and Religio-Philosophical Perspectives (Tamaki Onishi) Chapter 6—Social Enterprise: New Trends Among Social Enterprises in Japan: The Potential of Policy for “Social Firms” (Reeya Komoda) Chapter 7—Conservative Civil Society: “Small Membership with Strong Advocacy”: Conservative Civil Society in Japan (Yoojin Koo) Chatper 8—Media: Civil Society and Newspaper Journalism: The Nuclear Power Debate in Japan (Tobias Weiss) Chapter 9—New Media: Social Media Platforms and Civil Society in Japan (Muneo Kaigo) Part 2: Justice Chapter 10—Pacifism: Continuity and Change in Japanese Peace Activism: Two Challenges to the 2015 Abe “War Laws” (Adam Eldridge-Imamura) Chapter 11—Okinawa: Contemporary Okinawan Civil Society and Exploring Environmental Justice (Scott Musgrave-Takeda) Chapter 12—Nuclear Power: Rethinking Civil Society–State Relations in Japan 11 Years after the Fukushima Accident (Daniel P. Aldrich and Toshiaki Yoshida) Chapter 13—Environment: Environmental Activism in Japan After 3-11 (Mary Alice Haddad); Chapter 14—Citizen Science: Citizen Science (Aya H. Kimura) Chapter 15—Gender: Gender Inequality in Japanese Civil Society (Sae Okura) Part 3: Transnationalism Chapter 16—Transnational Solidarity: Antinuclear Activism: The Case of No Nukes Asia Forum (Akihiro Ogawa) Chapter 17—Japan-China Relations: The Strengths of Japanese Civil Society: The Views of Japan-China Civil Society Mediators (Yanyan Li) Chapter 18—Territorial Politics: Civil Society and Territorial Disputes (Alexander Bukh) Chapter 19—International Cooperation: International Cooperation on Disasters (Chika Watanabe and Shuhei Kimura)