ABSTRACT
Does Japan have a “civil society” in the Western sense of the word? Is there a non-state “public space” in which autonomous individuals act for the collective good while self-serving, private interests are suspended? These are not easy questions, but whatever qualifications, complexities, or subtleties one may raise in an attempt to answer them, the meaning of “public” in Japan, as in any other place, is not insignificant, because it is intimately related to questions of state legitimacy, selfhood, and taken for granted assumptions about sociopolitical relations and economic practices. In this chapter, I contend that it is misleading to assume that a “civil society” or “public” in the Euro-American (specifically the Anglo-American) sense of the word exists in Japan. 2 I do not claim that there is no sense of collective interest in Japan, nor do I contend that some type of “public” or “civil society” is lacking in Japan. However, I do argue that the ideological supports of collective life in Japan are different, and that we should apply terms such as “civil society” or “public” – as usually understood – cautiously in discussions of Japan. But before proceeding, one caveat. The word “civil society” – like “democracy” – has a strong evaluative tone of a positive nature. But civil society can also be understood in a non-evaluative way, and it is in this sense that I employ the term: as a social region positioned between state and society.
