| OVAC Quarterly News Magazine Vol.18 i
, 2006 |
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| “Share the view” is quarterly publication providing current information and topics on NGO/NPO sectors in Japan and opinions of Mr. Noboru Hayase, our Executive Director and editorial writers out of our monthly opinion magazine “Volo”. Taking into consideration of the wide-ranged non-governmental activities in Japan, it also includes information on volunteering, activities & movements of non-profit & community-based groups. |
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We regret to inform you that this "Share the View"(STV) is the
last issue. There are several reasons we could not issue STV regulary,
and consequently we have reached to the decision to terminate STV.
We appreciate for your past support. We hope that you enjoy our last issue
shown below and some day we may be able to provide topics concering citizens'
activities in Japan .
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| Topics for Citizen's Activities in Japan 2005 |
PDAverage Household Donates 3,224 in 2004
On February 8, the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Office and Communications issued a preliminary report, which was confirmed on February 21, of the Survey of Household Economies. The survey found that the average annual donation per household was \3,224 in 2004. This amount was up by \430 compared to the previous year and returned to the \3,000 level for the first time in four years. The highest amount was \5,834 in 1995, when the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred. The rise in the average donation could be attributed to the donations for those who suffered from a series of typhoons and earthquakes in the fall of that year, since the giving was concentrated in October, November and December.
QDDisapproval of Trademark Filings of gNPOh and gVolunteerh
On May 10, 2005 The Patent Agency declined the application for the registration of gNPOh as a trade mark.@The next day they did the same for the trademark application of the word gVolunteerh as well.
In April 2003 Kadokawa Holdings, Inc filed for trademarks for gNPOh and gVolunteerh for newspaper and magazine titles. But against this application six organizations - Osaka NPO Center, Osaka Voluntary Action Center, Kansai NPO Alliance, Civic Action Clearinghouse, Japan NPO Center, and Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizens' Organizations - voiced their opposition to the Patent Agency in July 2003 claiming that the Kadokawa filing would place strict limits on the usage of gNPOh for titles for their periodical publications. The following month an amendment was presented saying that the trademark of the word gNPOh would be against the public interest if used exclusively.
In June 2004 the Patent Agency submitted a gnotice of withdrawalh to Kadokawa. In this notice the Patent Agency recognized that there is growing interest in gNPOh and quite a number of NPO organizations issue periodical publications with titles including gNPOh.
Kadowaka had the right to take the case to the Intellectual Property High Court within 30 days after the receipt of the notice if they wanted to express their dissatisfaction, but in June 2005 Kadokawa announced on their web site that they would accept the decision of the Patent Agency on gNPOh and gVolunteerh.
RDAverage Expenditure for Corporate Philanthropy Decreased 12.2% in 2003.
The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations has been taking surveys
of philanthropy activities of its member companies since 1991. The average
expenditure per company for philanthropy was 330 million in 2003, a 12.2%
decrease from the previous year. The main factor contributing to the decrease
is that the number of respondents to the survey has increased from 340
in 2002 to 388 in 2003. This is a result of the growing concern about Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) and the philanthropy activity that is spreading
throughout the business community. iJune 24, 2005j
SDhWhite Band" for Poverty Elimination
In 10 years the "Millennium Development Aim" that world leaders set to eliminate extreme poverty on earth in the millennium summit of 2000 will expire. Hottokenai Sekai no Mazushisa (Don't let it be - World Poverty) is Japan's national campaign for the Global Call to Action against Poverty (G-CAP). On July 2 the campaign, supported by a coalition of approximately 60 Japanese nonprofit groups, began sale of its "white band" to show support for the effort to eliminate poverty. iJuly 4, 2005j
TDNGOs Make Proposal to Japanese Government on UN Reform.
The UN is carrying out a reform for proper dealing with the problems of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terror, infectious disease and so forth. The members of NGOs (Japan International Volunteer Center, Shimin Gaikou Centre, Peace Boat), who strive for international cooperation, made a proposal to the Japanese government on UN Reform. It said that the Japanese government should emphasize security, development, and human rights and propose a philosophy, a vision, and a strategy to the UN for international peace.
UDMETI Report: The Market Scale of Social Interest Activities is 75 trillion
JulyFThe Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) released a gReport
on the Study of Prospects of the Social Sarket?High Quality of Life Supported
by Mutual Cooperationh. It reports that the intermediate area, socially
beneficial activities between the public and business sectors, is increasing.
The market scale is estimated to be 75 trillion.
With the diversification of social advances, needs in daily life and safety & security, the scope required from the public and business sectors is expanding. Consequently, this scope exceeds the social framework of gpublic interest handled by the government and private interest by enterprise and private personsh. the previously indistinct intermediate area is widening.
Organizations such as non-profit corporations now meet such issues in the social and business fields and are now taking charge of social interest activites such as nursing care, child raising, risks related to everyday life, unemployment and health problems. The report states the current status and issues related to its further development.
As for the business scale of the social market, the report estimates the
number of jobs as about 7.8 million and the number of establishments at
about 563,000, and in ten yearfs time the market scale is expected to
exceed 120 trillion.
VDCSR Research Released by JFEO
The Japanese Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) has released a report detailing how the member companies integrate CSR into the way they do business everyday. According to the report, in which more than half of the companies took part, the main reason why they start CSR activities is because of ga surge of mass media and public opinionh and the ginfluence of the actions of Economics organizationsh. They currently focus on gcomplianceh, followed by genvironmental issuesh to conduct CSR as a top priority.
W. People Value But Do Not Participate in NPOs
On October 29, the Cabinet Office published the results of its opinion poll concerning NPOs (aimed at 3,000 persons aged 20 or above; valid replies 62.1%). The purpose of this poll was to collect information for future policy making. According to the results, only 7.2 percent of the people surveyed answered that they had participated in some NPO activities in the previous five years, while about 80 percent viewed highly those activities. The reasons for non-participation were that they had "no motivation or opportunity" (50.5%), followed by "no relevant information" (29.6%); "no time" (28.8%); and so on.@The results are posted on http://www8.cao.go.jp/survey/h17/h17-npo/
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Reference SourcesFMost parts of all the articles are based on news material
provided in NPOWEB provided by Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizen's Organizations http://www.npoweb.jp/news/news_list.php?start_year=2005
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