Posted on August 01, 2018
At Japan NPO Center, we have been creating a mid-term vision every five years. Since we celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2016, this is the first post-anniversary mid-term vision. 2018 also marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities (NPO Law) in Japan. Today, with 20 years behind us, we wanted to return to a passage in our foundational vision which states, “We find it necessary to re-visit the values of our everyday lives and to create a new wave for reconfiguring society based on how everyday persons envision it.” We have also noted how this foundational vision defines an ideal society, stating that “the society we aim for is a civil society with diversity and individual autonomy; one that is just, transparent, and open.” Within the past 20 years, the social conditions that surround us have changed significantly. However, the importance of reconfiguring society and of conceptualizing a civil society with diversity and individual autonomy not only remains a firm commitment of ours but has become an even greater priority amidst these new social conditions.
In the “Report from the Taskforce for Thinking about Japan NPO Center’s Future,” which came out in 2011, it is written that we consider community and solidarity to be key words in our endeavors. Furthermore, the report pointed out that “Japan NPO Center will not be especially concerned with terms like sector or NPO, as we aim to connect all individuals and organizations involved in civic activities as a broad network, bring their thoughts and wishes together, and strive to become an opinion leader who can address the larger society with our thoughts and ideas.” These ideals have been carried forth into this mid-term vision as well.
Today, the Japanese media uses the term NPO quite regularly. Yet, we must admit that the impact of the values NPOs advocate is not as large as we would like. We begin our mid-term vision with the humble awareness of this realization, as we think about the role of our organization as an “infrastructure organization for the private nonprofit sector. We reaffirm that we aim to strengthen the social infrastructure of NPOs and to establish new partnerships with businesses and governments as collaborators who bear the joint responsibility for developing civic society.”
JNPOC Mid-Term Vision 2018-2022: Table of Contents
I: Reaffirming Our Foundational Vision and Mission
II: What World Today as We See It
III: Our Initiatives