Enabling Civil Society in Japan: Reform of the Legal and Regulatory Framework for Public Benefit Organizations

Abstract:     
During the last decade of the 20th Century and the first decade of the 21st, the legal and fiscal enabling environment for civil society in Japan moved from a 19th Century paradigm that inhibited its growth to a more modern model. The new model recognizes the importance of civil society for domestic economic growth, for addressing modern social issues, and for working with the government to meet societal needs as the demography of Japan ages and changes. This article draws on the experience of the first wave of reform in the area (the creation of a new legal form called the Specified Nonprofit Corporation or SNPC), but it concentrates on the more recent reforms that have revised a century old Civil Code and made Japan an example of an excellent legal and fiscal environment for the not-for-profit sector.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 48

Accepted Paper Series