ABSTRACT
The multiple disasters of 11 March 2011 resulted in a large inflow of resources and a surge in civic activity in a region of Japan facing both ongoing challenges and limited non-profit sector development. The response of Japanese non-profit, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to the disasters was wide reaching but often constrained by insufficient capacity and the scale of the devastation. After an overview of the development of the non-profit NGO sector in Japan and the Tohoku context, the chapter introduces the non-profit response and the impact of the disasters on sectoral development. Japanese NGOs became adept at employing outside pressure by focusing international attention on contentious issues such as gender inequality, when they pushed for the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law to comply with, the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women. Non-profit NGOs responded by focusing their efforts on community building, providing food, daily necessities and services in the transition from relief to recovery.
