The State of Nonprofit Sector Research in Japan ― A Literature Review

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.

Aya Okada is Associate Professor at Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kanazawa University in Japan. She holds PhD and Master of International Development from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as MA in Social Sciences from Hitotsubashi University. Her research focuses on nonprofits’ communication strategies in encouraging voluntary actions. Yu Ishida is Associate Professor at Faculty of Project Design, Miyagi University. He holds PhD from the Osaka University and Master of Policy Studies from the Kwansei Gakuin University. His research focuses on behaviors of nonprofit organizations from an angle of provisioning of public service and management of public finance. Takako Nakajima is Lecturer at Faculty of Business Administration, Osaka University of Commerce. She holds PhD and MA in International Public Policy from the Osaka University. Her research focuses on financial aspects of management and nonprofit fundraising. Takako is the managing editor of The Nonprofit Review, the journal of JANPORA. Yasuhiko Kotagiri is Associate Professor at Faculty of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Tokushima University. He holds PhD and MA in Policy Science from Doshisha University. His research focuses on cross-sectoral partnership and inter-organizational collaboration in public policy process, government-nonprofit relations, and network governance. He is a board member of JANPORA.