News

The ‘Big Society’ is by now an embedded and accepted feature of the policy landscape in the UK, as the Coalition government’s narrative and guiding approach to public service reform and decentralisation. Within Japan however, efforts are proceeding among the new administration of the Democratic Party of Japan under Prime Minister Naoto Kan towards an almost similar approach (although not entirely coupled to the decentralisation agenda, as in the UK) known as ‘New Public Commons’.

Put simply, the ‘New Public Commons’ aims to realise a “vibrant civil society in which people support one another”, drawing upon long-established traditions in Japanese society of voluntarism and community action:

In this society, everyone has a place to go and a role to play. People value the pleasure of helping others, and by generating new markets and services they allow economic activity to thrive. When the fruits of such activities are properly returned to society, people can live better lives. Thus, such a society develops in a virtuous cycle.

However, it is felt that such traditions are in danger of disappearing among the fragmentation of Japanese society as it copes with the demands of the modern era and two decades of economic stand-still, as well as a realisation that government alone (nor the private sector) cannot cope with the advancing demographic challenge.

The most recent meeting of the Council on the New Public Commons last month, chaired by the Prime Minister, considered the idea of incentivising charitable giving through the tax system, including at local authority level. Local authorities are also being asked to promote social innovation in their area through regulatory reform. The agenda has a strong political lead among the Japanese Cabinet in the form of a Minister for New Public Commons within the Cabinet Office, who have recently prepared a briefing paper in English which can be downloaded here (PDF), as well as an action plan (here, also PDF).