The Two Citizen Legislations in Japan

• In Event: Shape Shifters: The Influence of Civil Society on Public Policy

Abstract

This article deals with the two Citizen Legislations in Japan (the NPO Law and the Law to Support Victims’ Rehabilitation in 1998 with regard to the Great Hanshin - Awaji Earthquake in 1995). As a result of the catastrophe, the NPO Law and the Law to Support Victims’ Rehabilitation were legislated in 1998. NGOs/NPOs were considered the agents of the civil movement and civil society by Japanese academia’s mainstream. However I grew skeptical about the idea in terms of these agencies’ over reliance up on the Japanese government. The NPO Law provides a top-down explanation for the rapid growth of NGOs/NPOs in Japan since the ‘NPO Law’ was enacted in 1998. The interview with Oda Makoto positioned me to grasp the discrepancy between NGOs/NPOs and traditional civil movement groups at the time of the Great Hanshin - Awaji Earthquake (the Kobe Earthquake). Both laws are called as ‘citizen legislation (simin rippou).’ The term ‘citizen legislation’ was coined by Oda Makoto for ‘the citizen and assemblyman legislation realization promotion movement’ from the Great Hanshin - Awazi Earthquake.
Whereas the former law is well studied, the latter one has not been researched. This is why I have shifted my interests to the latter. The latter one, the legislative process of the Law to Support to Victims’ Rehabilitation. Therefore I reveal that the Japanese Government played key role in the NPO law’s legislation, contrary to its ‘citizen legislation’. started from Oda and citizens’ movement. He separated his voluntarism from NGO/NPOs based on its financial independence and unique political structure. The very existence of dual citizens through two cases of citizen legislation clearly shows how the Japanese government’s policy has been shaping its civil society on its own will.

Author

• Jewon Hong