The State of Civil Society in Japan (review)

Civil society has become a hot topic in Japan. The country's newspapers regularly report on the growth of shimin sanka (citizen participation) and borantia katsudō (volunteer activities). English-language acronyms such as NGO (nongovernmental organization) and NPO (nonprofit organiza-tion) have become household words at least as well known in Japan as in the United States. Reflecting this surge in public interest, a number of scholars—both inside and outside the country—have begun to pay closer attention to the state of civil society in Japan.

Indeed, Japanese civil society represents a fascinating object of study. Japan is an advanced industrial democracy with an interventionist bureaucracy. The country differs from many Western democracies in that, despite constitutional guarantees of freedom of association, popular activism has traditionally been significantly curtailed by government regulation and restrictions. An examination of Japan's developing civil society thus raises vital questions regarding the role of the state and of state-society relations in today's world.

The State of Civil Society in Japan tackles these critical issues. The volume, edited by Frank Schwartz and Susan Pharr, sets out to clarify the concept of civil society, examine the rise of civil society in modern Japan, and explore the role of the state in shaping civil society over time. For the most part, the book accomplishes these goals. In particular, the volume successfully illustrates how the state has shaped Japanese civil society. Pharr's concluding chapter clearly portrays Japan as an "activist" state (p. 324), summarizing the matter from a comparative perspective: "Perhaps the most striking feature of Japan's civil society over the past century, dating from around 1900, has been the degree to which the state has taken an activist stance toward civic life, monitoring it, penetrating it, and seeking to steer it with a wide range of distinct policy tools targeted by group or sector" (p. 325).

How has the state shaped the development of Japanese civil society? Many contributors to the volume illuminate how the state has obstructed the maturation of civil society in Japan. Frank Schwartz's introduction provides a clear and succinct overview of Japan's strict regulatory environment. Robert Pekkanen, in a chapter on the state's molding of civil society, details Tokyo's regulatory role from a political-institutional point of view, arguing that state laws and regulations have prevented many independent civic groups from gaining legal status and access to resources and tax exemptions. Kim Reimann, in her chapter on NGOs in international aid, echoes Pekannen by showing how institutional barriers hinder international development groups from gaining legal recognition.

At the same time, the book moves beyond a simplistic exposé of state control to document the multiplicity of ways that Tokyo influences civil society. Pharr's conclusion points out four main roles that states play in affecting civic life: they "inspire civic activism," "enable the formation of groups by means of a wide range of policies," "constrain or bar group formation by means of repressive measures or by creating high hurdles to gaining access to resources," and "create or sponsor associations" (p. 323, italics in original). All but the third of these functions are often neglected when analyzing Japanese civil society, but are addressed in this volume.

One means of Japanese influence over civil society is through the types of groups the state favors. As Pekkanen's chapter points out, the state promotes small community groups, such as neighborhood associations that provide services to local citizens, through provision of financial incentives. At the same time, Tokyo has actively discouraged the formation and operation of independent advocacy groups. The result of this discriminatory policy, according to Pekkanen, is a dearth of large, autonomous, and professional advocacy organizations and an abundance of small local groups that have almost no impact on national policymaking.

Pekkanen's analysis is complemented by that of several other contributors who demonstrate how the state does work closely with groups...