Hand in Hand or Under the Thumb? A New Perspective on Social Welfare in Japan

The nature of the relationship between state and nonprofit organisations in Japan is usually described in one of two ways. It is either disparaged as an example of co-optation and state domination, with nonprofit organisations always having been the subservient partner, or lauded as the apotheosis of co-operation and interdependence. By focusing on the historical background of the welfare system in Japan, and particularly on the legal framework in which the nonprofit sector has developed, this paper attempts to explain how each has influenced the other and highlights key factors which may have been underestimated or misinterpreted in the past.