Despite a long history, the organized field of research on voluntaristics in Japan has emerged only in the past two decades. This article presents a comprehensive review of voluntaristics research in Japan through an overview of past studies and recent hot topics. Nonprofit sector and voluntary action research, now termed voluntaristics (Smith, 2016), is reviewed here using four approaches: organizational, economic, employment, and charitable giving. Discussion of recent changes in the political-legal environment for nonprofit agencies and associations as well as of collaboration among nonprofits, governments, and businesses are presented. The article also covers some of the key topics in recent years, including rising social movements and advocacy, social impact bonds, social capital, and information and communication technologies (ICT) and social media. In discussing the emergence, expansion, and diversification of nonprofit research in Japan, the article makes two main arguments. First, we argue that studies of voluntaristics are rather recent in Japan, still in pursuit of their own originality. Second, we argue that nonprofit research in Japan is constantly looking for an ideal relationship with practice. Research appears to have not fully caught up with the changing landscape of nonprofits in action, and research has not been able to guide practice into the best next steps. The article highlights characteristics of nonprofit sector research in Japan as well as suggesting key questions for future research.

This volume provides the first systematic analysis of the Japanese nonprofit sector ever undertaken. Using a broad range of qualitative and quantitative data, the authors show that Japan has a much larger nonprofit sector than is recognized, even in Japan. Three-quarters of all university students attend nonprofit institutions, significant shares of hospital beds are in nonprofit institutions, and nonprofit agencies are active in the field of social services. Yet in comparative terms the Japanese nonprofit sector lags significantly behind that of other developed economies. One reason for this, the authors argue, is the generally hostile attitude the government has historically taken towards nonprofit organizations in Japan; nonprofit organizations wishing to attain legal status, have to secure the approval of a "competent Ministry," and this is often given begrudgingly or not at all. The nonprofit sector in Japan has only just begun to "flex its muscles" as an independent force in very recent years, and is now on the brink of a new phase in its development.

A look at the voluntary sector in Japan, which has emerged strongly only in recent years.

A Publication of the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium This collection of reports written by local experts from ten Asian nations (Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) compares the laws and public policy that regulate and influence the nonprofit sectors in these countries. As international organizations play an increasingly central role in world development and change, their success becomes contingent upon understanding the complex legal disparities between nonprofit sectors of varying societies. Philanthropy and Law in Asia provides international audiences with timely insights into these legal incongruities as well as the regulations affecting the nonprofit sector in Asia. The essays in this comprehensive volume are the culmination of extensive legal research and analysis inspired by the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium's Comparative Nonprofit Law Project. Each essay shares a common analytic framework, helping both practitioners and scholars to understand the ways in which nonprofit legal systems are regulated and structured throughout Asia. With this knowledge, international legislators, government officers, policy makers, nonprofit leaders, and legal counselors will be able to develop better intergovernmental cooperation and legal synergism. Philanthropy and Law in Asia is the up-to-date resource for those who wish to strengthen and improve the nonprofit sector in this significant region of the world. The Asia Foundation is part of the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium and one of the driving forces behind Philanthropy and Law in Asia. It is a private, nonprofit, non-governmental organization dedicated to building leadership, improving policies, and strengthening institutions to foster greater openness and shared prosperity in the Asia Pacific region. The Asia Foundation has provided substantial assistance for the development of legislative systems in 16 countries and has supported more than 800 public interest, non-governmental organizations in the region.

Civil Society and Japan's Foreign Aid examines the changing relations between the Japanese state and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in promoting effective aid policies and analyzes the changing nature of policy making and governance in Japan. It is based on extensive research in Southeast Asia and Japan, investigating the role of Japanese aid in fields such as education, health care, environmental protection, and economic development. It analyzes the key players in aid policymaking, including donor governments, multinational organizations, international and local NGOs, the business community, and aid recipients.

Publisher Description

Over the past three decades or so, the nonprofit, voluntary, or third sector has undergone a major transformation from a small cottage industry to a major economic force in virtually every part of the developed world as well as elsewhere around the globe. Nonprofit organizations are now major providers of public services working in close cooperation with governments at all levels and increasingly find themselves in competition with commercial firms across various social marketplaces. This transformation has come with ever-increasing demands for enhancing the organizational capacities and professionalizing the management of nonprofit institutions. The Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Management is the first internationally focused effort to capture the full breadth of current nonprofit management research and knowledge that has arisen in response to these developments. With newly commissioned contributions from an international set of scholars at the forefront of nonprofit management research, this volume provides a thorough overview of the most current management thinking in this field. It contextualizes nonprofit management globally, provides an extensive introduction to key management functions, core revenue sources and the emerging social enterprise space, and raises a number of emerging topics and issues that will shape nonprofit management in future decades. As graduate programs continue to evolve to serve the training needs in the field, The Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Management is an essential reference and resource for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners interested in a deeper understanding of the operation of the nonprofit sector.