2002-08-14 - 10:56 a.m.
Yesterday I had a unique opportunity to see an interesting sector of Japanese society -- the non-profit world. I accompanied Rena to her job at an NGO which works on development and sustainable environment issues to give her a hand with proofreading some English documents.
I was curious about non-profits in Japan because when I've tried to tell people that I'd like to do non-profit or social service work back in America, it usually provokes confusion and takes some explaining. The most common response I get is "You mean you want to volunteer?" I could usually get the point across by mentioning well-known organizations like Amnesty International or the Red Cross, but I could tell that we were talking on different conceptual terms.
Like vegetarianism, non-profit work seems to be a concept that many people have heard of but aren't all that familiar with. "Non-profit work" is not defined by the same boundaries in Japan as it is in the U.S. Rena tells me that her co-workers don't make the same distinction between corporate and non-profit employment that we do in the States (as in, "I'd never work for a corporation!") Another reason for confusion might be that non-profits are very low-profile here. Run on a shoe-string, Rena's organization, which is an important NGO in Japan, gets most of its funding from overseas. Also, the tendency to sweep social problems under the rug makes the work of social service organizations practically invisible.
I was curious to see if a Japanese NPO would be run like a Japanese business -- morning meetings, hierarchical seating arrangements, office ladies in uniforms. I only visited one, and a small one at that, but the office environment seemed similar to that of American non-profits. Crammed into a tiny office, the half-dozen or so staff and interns were casually dressed and seemed to come and go on no particular schedule. One characteristic of the Japanese workplace -- long hours -- was present. Often the staff at this organization will work until 9 or 10 at night, and on Saturdays if necessary, eating both lunch and dinner together.
I have a lot more thoughts on this and Rena and I had some really interesting converstations about non-profit and social service work in Japan, but I don't want to make this too long. I'll be home soon so I can discuss it with the six of you who read this in person.
