ABSTRACT
According to various surveys of mass attitudes, the Japanese have increasingly expressed a greater concern for post-material issues. Even if post-materialism among the Japanese continues to rise unabated, there is no certainty that it will be translated into political support for Green organizations. There are a number of problems that may dampen the SC and its offspring’s growth and involvement in politics, even in a post-industrial milieu. The multitude of problems faced by the co-op includes the inexorable decline in the number of housewives, changing urban architecture which makes recruitment of members increasingly difficult, attempts by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) to clamp down on the involvement of co-ops in politics, and the elusive pursuit of alternative values in Japanese society. Unlike the German Greens, NET is too dependent on a diminishing social base of housewives, places too much emphasis on the narrow issues of “motherhood, soap, and rubbish,” and operates in a very competitive and crowded party system. NET may encounter other potential problems: vulnerability to changing voter concerns, counteractions by established parties, confinement to local politics by the nature of the electoral system, and the inability to project itself as an authentic female organization. These are key reasons why the “Greenest” party in Japan is likely to remain a marginal political force.
