Suchergebnisse

Hitherto, little detailed research on Japanese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has been carried out neither in Japanese nor in Western academic disciplines. This article is based on the interim results of a comprehensive study on about 500 NGOs in Japan, which are respectively active within the fields of international cooperation and development aid. As far as their history and present situation, activities or internal organizational structures are concerned, the research on NGOs currently depicts a rather wide and complex diversity. Moreover, at present they represent a large proportion of citizen-initiated organizations outside the established political system. However, despite their growing number and various activities, they can hardly be seen to have any political impact. The large majority of these organizations seems to exert neither direct nor indirect influence on political decisions related to the offical international cooperation of Japan. This can be attributed partly to the structure of the organizations themselves – particularly the motivation of most of their activists or active members, who are mainly interested in creating some kind of meaningful leisure activity through their voluntary actions rather than in any true political involvement. Also, the actual possibilities for NGOs to participate in political decision-making inside the established political structures are very limited. In consideration of these facts, the majority of Japanese NGOs can hardly be regarded as a significant political movement.