ABSTRACT
Advanced industrial democracies have experienced a significant shift in their values and social structures. According to the theory of value change, this transformation underpins the rise of social movements and Green parties as the political mode of social change. This hypothesis is supported in varying degrees by the experiences of certain West European countries. Japan has also experienced substantial changes to its values and social structures; various Japanese social movements and political parties have also adopted certain principles and practices that are associated with the West European Greens. But no significant Green parties have arisen in Japan. NET, the “Greenest” party in that nation, lacks certain characteristics that qualify it as a full-fledged Green party; it appears to be more hierarchical than most European Greens. Moreover, unlike the Greens in certain West European countries, no Japanese New Politics party has won elections at the national level.
