Japan

Overview
A large number of people in Japan give through the chonai-kai or community groups. Chonai-kais have been instrumental in the creation of Community Chest since 1947. Forty-seven chapters of the Community Chest, including some in the rural areas, collect ¥17.5 billion annually through chonai-kai house-hold collections.
The volume of private contribution in terms of the percentage of people's income is, however, very low, and has been decreasing in the recent years. The major reasons for its smallness are the low tax incentive available to individual charitable contributions, the low profile of the third sector, and the high level of government support available for the provision of public service. There is a new report on culture of giving by Japanese people.

Private philanthropy received a real boost during the tragic earthquake of Kobe-Awajishima in January 1995. The event drew 1.2 million people (60,000/day) at the scene to participate in the emergency rescue and relief efforts, and demonstrated the growing popular commitment of the people to civic participation. This relief effort received donations amounting to ¥173 billions.
Apart from giving within the country Japanese people are encouraged by the government to give in international charity, as well. In response to the growing need for international NGOs, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications instituted the Kokusai Volunteer Chokin (Postal Savings for International Voluntary Aid) program in 1991. The Program provided an opportunity for citizens of Japan to make a voluntary contribution to international relief efforts. Under the program the depositors agree to donate a specific percentage of the interest earned on their savings to international NGO activities. In 1997, 239 projects run by 209 NGOs received approximately ¥1.6 billion in aid from the interest contributed by the depositors nationwide.

Corporate Giving and Corporate Volunteer Activities. The volume of direct corporate giving in Japan is considerably larger compared to the giving of the grant-making foundations, which are established mostly with corporate funding. The 'One Percent Club', created by the Federation of Economic Organizations, Keidanren, has made a significant effort in this regard. Organizations like the Association for Corporate Support for Arts based on the concept of mecent or corporate citizenship has been formed to sponsor philanthropic activities. Further, the Council for Better Corporate Citizenship, formed by the Keidanren, has made arrangements for the interested corporations to make tax deductible donations to overseas recipients.
The statistics shows that despite the economic recession of the 1990s, the involvement of the business communities in philanthropic activities has been steady. The survey conducted by the Keidanren in 1999 for its 1,054 corporate members, including 281 'One Percent Club' members, reveals that the total corporate giving and volunteering by 357 companies (that responded to the survey), in fiscal year 1998, was ¥137.6 billion (with 64% giving, and 36% volunteering). The total expenditure on philanthropic activities per company, however, has declined from ¥414 million in 1997 to ¥382 million in 1998, or about 7.7 %. (Source: Keidanren website)
 

References:
Trust Companies Association of Japan website: news release in Japanese.
Amemiya, T. (1999). 'Japan', in Thomas Silk (ed) Philanthropy and Law in Asia: A Comparative Study of the Nonprofit Sector in Ten Asia Pacific Societies (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers) pp. 131-62.
Amenomori, T. (1993). Defining The Nonprofit Sector: Japan Working Papers of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, IPS (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University).
NPO Law in English is available from the JCIE website, or the Economic Planning Agency website.
Yamamoto, T. (1998). The Nonprofit Sector in Japan (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Yamaoka, Y. (1999). 'Japan', in Thomas Silk (ed) Philanthropy and Law in Asia: A Comparative Study of the Nonprofit Sector in Ten Asia Pacific Societies (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers) pp. 163-98.
Yamauchi, N. (1998). 'Corporate Philanthropy in Japan', in Working Papers on Philanthropy (Kanagawa Japan: The Graduate University for Advanced Studies).

History
Throughout Japan's early periods, Buddhist temples and monks played a major role in providing charity to the masses. As early as in the 6th century AD, certain Buddhist temples provided charitable relief activities to the public.
Buddhist temples were also involved in organising kanjin, fundraising campaigns for orphanages, aged care homes, or other public service provisions. Over the years the influence of Buddhism and its involvement in charity works both decreased, while the influence and involvement of other religions as well as the government institutions in public service provision increased.

During the Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603 to 1868) Japan was transformed to an urban and commerce oriented society from a basically agricultural, feudal society. This transformation helped in the creation of many wealthy merchants who started to donate generously in various private charitable activities.

There were also 1,500 private academics all over Japan by the end of the Tokugawa period. These volunteer academics called shijuku used to tutor at the private schools in Shushigaku or neo-Confucian study, Kokugaku or Japanese study, and Rangaku or Western studies in various fields such as medicine and even astronomy.

Further, local community-based associations (chonai-kai) have a long history (seen as early as in Meiji period- 1868-1912) and have been involved in fund raising for a long time. A Japanese government survey undertaken in 1980 revealed that, chonai-kai or similar community organizations were existent in 3,256 out of 3,278 city, ward, town, and village municipalities. The basis of the chonai-kai is the concept of tonari-gumi or 'neighbours ties' which has been instrumental in the creation of Community Chest since 1947. Forty-seven chapters, one each in the 47 prefectures, of the Community Chest, including some in the rural areas, collect ¥26 billion annually essentially (67%) through the chonai-kai.

In modern times, one of the Japan's most significant philanthropic developments during the rapid economic growth of the 1960s and 1970s was the emergence of private philanthropy organizations, eg. grant making foundations established by Japanese corporations. Japanese corporations came under attack from the media and the people for the negative effects of spectacular economic development, eg. environmental pollution, and a steep rise in land prices and stocks due to excessive liquidity produced by a large trade surplus. They were criticized also for pursuing narrow self-interests. In response, the term ‘corporate social responsibility' came into the vocabulary of business leaders, which led to the establishment of corporate foundations and increase in corporate giving.

In the1980s, Japanese companies were also criticized for their economic over-presence abroad resulting from overwhelming Japanese foreign direct investments in Asia and the United States. In 1988, a mission was sent to the United States by the Keidanren (Federation of Economic Organizations) in cooperation with the Japan Center for International Exchange to study corporate philanthropic activities. Eventually, Keidanren established affiliated organizations and committees to promote corporate philanthropic activities such as the One Percent Club, the Council for Better Corporate Citizenship (CBCC), and the Committee on Corporate Philanthropy.

In terms of private philanthropy in modern times, events like the tragic earthquake that hit Kobe-Awajishima in January 1995 helped bring realisation among the people about the need for volunteering and giving. The event demonstrated the growing popular commitment to civic participation as some 1.2 million volunteers converged on the scene of the disaster in the three weeks of rescue and relief efforts.

References:
Amenomori, T. (1993). Defining The Nonprofit Sector: Japan Working Papers of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, IPS (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University).
Tarumi, H. (1998). 'Comparative research on Federated Fund-Raising Systems in Japan and the USA'. A paper presented at the ISTR Third International Conference, Geneva.

Policy Environment
In the 1930s and 1940s, under military dictatorship, all third sector organizations were subordinated to the State. All youth, labour, and religious organizations were merged into one national body each. The community organizations, chonai-kai, were changed into instruments of governmental control.

In order to ensure a clear legal and institutional separation between public and private sectors private organizations are made ineligible to receive government funds. According to Article 89 of the Japanese Constitution government organizations are prohibited from giving public money to private, charitable, educational, philanthropic, or religious organizations and congregations. The Constitutional provision intended to give the ‘private' organizations their financial freedom, but created financial troubles for the organizations. In the past these organizations relied heavily on the government for funding and managing their ‘public interest' activities in education and health sectors, and were not independent. These institutions were suddenly asked to be independent and run as private nonprofit organizations.

At present, however, the government offers money to private organizations if the governmental control can be ensured. The objective of the recent governments has been to ensure control over the private organizations. The successive governments approached the third sector with funds to achieve this objective by re-interpreting the relevant constitutional provision. The government control may have ensured standardisation of services but have destroyed entrepreneurship, innovation, and dynamism in the sector.

In the recent past two important events helped mould the Japanese government policy towards the third sector: the Kobe earthquake in 1995 and the Asian economic crisis in 1997. The dedicated and impressive efforts of the third sector organizations during the earth quake did much to increase attention among Japan's government officials, political and business leaders, and mass media on the role of the third sector.

The financial crisis beginning in 1997 brought a general recognition of the fact that the state-centric system of governance that served Japan well when it pursued exclusive economic development agenda, can no longer cope with the immense impact of globalization creating fundamental changes in society.

These factors led to the enactment of the Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities, (NPO Bill) in March 1998 that came into effect on 1 December 1998. The NPO Law, however, failed to provide tax incentives for donations made to the third sector organizations. A resolution was adopted by both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors in this regard. The resolution states that 'Specified nonprofit corporations, including the taxation system of the promotion and support for specified nonprofit activities, shall be reviewed and conclusions arrived at, on the basis of the actual status of activities thereof, within two years from the date of enforcement of this law.' An amendment is thus expected soon.

Two important actions, one by the politicians and the other one by the NGO/NPO community, have recently been undertaken to move this resolution forward and promote an environment that would further support and strengthen civil society in Japan. In the political arena, a group of parliamentary members has launched the Parliamentary League to Support NPOs with 204 Diet members) aimed at improving the NPO laws, especially in terms of allowing favorable tax measures for donations made to the NPOs. Within the NPO/NGO community, 28 citizens' organizations (with 100 NPO leaders) joined forces in June 1999 to form the Coordinating Committee on the Reform of Tax and Legal Framework of NPOs/NGOs. It was indicative of the attention that politicians have started giving to the third sector's development, and offers hope that the 2001 tax law will be a historic tax legislation favoring the third sector in Japan.

References:
(1999). JCIE's latest edition of Civil Society Monitor, No. 5 September. JCIE website
Amenomori, T. (1993). Defining The Nonprofit Sector: Japan Working Papers of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, IPS (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University).
Yamauchi, N. (August 2004). Recent Development of Japan’s Civil Society Sector. (Osaka School of International Public Policy)

Taxation
The availability of tax incentives to the organisers of and donors to the third sector encourage private contribution, and ultimately financially support and facilitate third sector activities for the public benefit. In the present tax law in Japan third sector organizations, engaged in public benefit activities, and not in the pursuit of profit, in principle, are given favored treatment.

The tax treatment (in terms of both the taxes levied on them directly and on the contributions donated to them) for each and every type of third sector organizations is very complicated and is written in a very meticulous way. For example, in the case of public-interest corporations, tax is imposed only on income earned from profit-making activities (Corporation Tax Law, Articles 4 and 7), but still at a favorable rate of 27% as compared to 37.5% to be paid by the regular corporations.
A third sector organization is further allowed exemption even from paying the lower tax, on a maximum of 20% of the taxable income, if the money is used for 'constructive contributions' to expand their activities in public service. Social welfare corporations and private school corporations are allowed to deduct the higher of 50% or ¥2 million of their income as a 'constructive contribution'.
No tax privileges are allowed to the third sector organizations vis-a-vis consumption tax, securities transaction tax, local taxes, etc.

Koeki hojins are exempted from corporate income tax or tax on dividends. Corporate donors may deduct donations to nonprofit and political organizations up to a certain percentage of their income and capital regardless of the incorporation status of the donee. If a koeki hojin is given the status of a special public interest promoting organization by the government additional tax privilege is granted to the organizations and also to the donors.

Since medical corporations (iryo hojin) are able to sustain themselves with the income, the Corporate Tax law treats them as business corporations. An iryo hojin, however, can receive special tax privileges like corporate income tax at the lesser rate (27%) and exemption of inheritance tax if the Finance Minister finds the iryo hojin to make a considerable contribution to the promotion of medical care, social welfare, and other causes of public good. The major programs that warrant such a declaration from the Minister are: offering of medical services at a lower cost to the low-income people, and to the people in areas with service shortages.

Charitable trusts (Koeki shintakus) are exempted from income tax on financial revenues and some koeki shintakus, or nintei tokutei koeki shintaku (specially designated charitable trusts) receive additional tax privileges such as tax deductibility for individual and corporate donations.

The shukyo hojin or religious corporations are exempt from corporate income tax, real estate tax, and registration tax. Charitable trusts are exempt from income tax on financial revenues.

If an organization meet certain criteria set by the relevant authorities they become eligible to receive tax deductibility for individual and corporate donors.
There are certain tax incentives for corporate donors in the various forms of tax deductions. Terms of tax deductions vary according to the types of donations and recipient organizations. The corporate donors are allowed tax deductions only when their contributions satisfy the requirements by the Ministry of Finance and the recipient organizations have special privileges designated by the Ministry of Finance.

Corporate donations to government organizations and 'designated contributions' are 100% tax deductible. But corporate donations to special public-interest-promoting corporations to a certain limit are tax deductible.
Individual donations termed as 'public-interest contributions' (koeki kifukin) directed to only the units of national and local government bodies, organizations designated by the Minister of Finance for 'designated contribution', and 'special public interest promoting organizations' (tokutei koeki zoshin hojin) are tax deductible. However, a wide range of organizations like private schools, social welfare corporations, and research organizations are designated as 'special public interest promoting organizations'.

The 2001 and 2002 Tax Reforms. Since the implementation of the 1998 "Law to Promote Specified Nonprofit Activities" addendum to Article 34 of the Civil Code, the formation of a new class of incorporated organizations; known as ‘Special Activities Non-profit Legal Person’ is now available to some NPOs. A follow up to this new law was soon enacted in the form of tax reforms. These tax reforms apply to the tax treatment of donations made by individuals to NPOs, as well as incentives for NPOs to adopt legal personality.
The October 1st 2001 Tax Reform measures relate to NPOs specifically in the form of tax-deductibility for contributors to NPOs. The 2001 tax reforms relating to NPOs fell under the category of ‘support to specified nonprofit organizations’ within the section titled ‘coping with socioeconomic changes’, in the document outlining the main points of the tax reforms. The reforms offer special tax treatment to individuals who make donations to incorporated NPOs which have been certified by the commissioner of the National Tax Administration as having satisfied certain prerequisites. Those certified NPOs shall be subject to the following tax treatment
Contributions made by individuals will be deductible from income;
Apart from the amount allowable for general contributions, contributions made by corporations shall be included in expenses along with contributions made to specific public-interest-promoting corporations up to the limit of said amount allowable, both combined;
When an individual has contributed inheritance property, etc., it shall not be included in the calculation of the value for the inheritance tax.
Further tax incentives to private contributors of specified organizations, were implemented in the 2002 Tax Reforms. The tax reforms for the 2002 financial year however, related specifically to corporations that provide services deemed to promote the public welfare, it also added corporations which had been established under the Civil Code to the scope of corporations officially recognized as contributing to the public welfare, donations made to which are to be tax deductible. Corporations deemed to contribute to the public welfare are outlined in the main points of the 2002 tax reforms are those which are: accredited corporations helping victims of crimes, etc., accredited corporations that promote sports for disabled people and sports activities for disabled people.

The Coalition for Legislation to Support Citizens' Organizations was formed in 1994 and was instrumental in the creation of the 'NPO Law' in Japan. Their website contains information in Japanese only.
The Civil Society Monitor, published by the Japan Center for International Exchange, provides up-to-date information in English on the current situation and developing trends in Japan's nonprofit sector. For an annotated bibliography of literature in English on the Japanese nonprofit sector, see No 4, April 1998 edition.
References:
Amemiya, T. (1997). 'Japan', in L.M. Salamon (ed) The International Guide to Nonprofit Law (New York: John Wiley & Sons) pp. 197-215.
Amenomori, T. (1993). Defining The Nonprofit Sector: Japan Working Papers of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, IPS (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University).
Civil Society Monitor by the JCIE.
Yamamoto, T. (1995). Emerging Civil Society in the Asia Pacific Community (Tokyo: JCIE & ISEAS).
Yamamoto, T. (1998). The Nonprofit Sector in Japan (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
Yoshida, S. (1999). 'Rethinking the Public Interest in Japan: Civil Society in the Making', in T. Yamamoto (ed.) Deciding the Public Good: Governance and Civil Society in Japan (Tokyo: JCIE) p. 13-50.

Intermediaries
It is not uncommon in Japan for intermediaries such as grant-making foundations, charitable trusts and fundraising organizations to accept donations and government aid as contributions to their assets which they then invest and disburse the revenues from the investments as donated funds on behalf of donors to recipients. Intermediaries serve not only as institutions which pass donated funds on to recipients but also as a source of information and of human resources. Japanese intermediaries can be divided into two broad categories: nonprofits which support other nonprofits through voluntarism promotion (NPO assistance centers such as the Japan NPO Center) and grant foundations or fund-raising organizations which focus on distributing funds.

Most Japanese intermediaries are young, being established after 1970. Businesses have been involved in some way in the establishment of more than half of these intermediaries. A 2002 survey showed that 652 foundations, each with a total of over ¥5 million in assets and annual subsidies, accounted for a combined total of ¥1.49 trillion. While over half have total assets of less than ¥1 billion yen, very few have assets exceeding ¥10 billion. On the other hand, the total of annual subsidies is approximately ¥52 billion and while foundations with annual subsidies under ¥50 million account for 70% of the total, there are only 2% with annual subsidies of over ¥500 million.

After 1990, many foundations were forced to curtail enterprises due to a decline in revenues from investments on donations resulting from extremely low interest rates. Furthermore in Japan, social awareness about what foundations do is low, awareness about tax exemption on donations as a basic social benefit is not properly established, and the characteristics that foundations are meant to have are not adequately expressed due to their management being under the supervision of public administrations.
As of March 1999, there were 451 charitable trusts with total trust amounts of ¥56 billion. According to a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation Center (Josei Zaidan Senta), in 1998, there are about 800 grant making foundations in Japan. The survey also showed that the total assets of 607 of these foundations amounted to ¥1.22 trillion. Majority or 314 (56%) of the foundations had assets of less than ¥1 billion, and 19 (3%) foundations have assets of ¥10 billion or more. The total giving (grants, scholarships, and awards) of 607 grant-making foundations amounted to ¥61.8 billion in fiscal 1997. 448 foundations, or 74% of respondents, spent less than ¥50 million each in grants, while only 12 foundations, or 2%, spent ¥500 million or more. The total spending on grants by Japan's 20 largest foundations amounted to about ¥37 billion, or about 60% of the total giving.

Charitable Trusts. The emergence of charitable trusts, or Koeki shintaku, is a relatively new phenomenon in Japan, and the first was formed in 1977. These trusts are created on the basis of Article 66 of the Trust Law, 1922, but do not possess legal status. Unlike the foundations, the trusts are usually formed by individuals but also occasionally by corporations and local governments. Charitable trusts perform functions similar to grant-making foundations, but are much smaller in size and do not have any full-time staff.

Fundraising Organizations. According to the Josei Zaidan Center (Japan Foundation Center), fundraising organizations can be classified into three types: 1) those which provide funds for research or enterprises undertaken by individuals or organizations, 2) scholarships for Japanese and foreign students, and 3) those which award funds to organizations or individuals for their excellent efforts. More than half of these fundraising organizations were established after 1980, but the establishment of new organizations has been declining since a high of 56 organizations were created in 1990. Only 2 organizations were created in 1999. The causes of the decline are believed to be long-term recession, the government’s low-interest policies.
In 1999, the total assets of 608 fundraising organizations which had total annual funds for distribution as aid of over ¥5 million, was ¥1.29 trillion. Organizations with assets totaling less than ¥1 billion make up the majority with 54% of all fundraising organizations, while there are only 4% of those with assets over ¥10 billion. Total costs for the same year totaled nearly ¥47.6 billion and 76% of all fund-raising organizations were those which had total annual funds for distribution of under ¥5 million while those with more than ¥500 million made up 2% of all organizations. With regard to total expenditures (funds disbursed to recipients), while it increased between 1988 and 1993, it has declined steadily apart from the slight increase in 1996. While it was ¥23 billion at its all-time high in 1993, it only amount to ¥16.1 billion (or 70% of total expenditure in 1993) in 1999.

Josei Zaidan Senta (Japan Foundation Center) provides information in English on grant-making foundations in Japan and encourages the practice of philanthropy in Japan's private sector.

Their website includes outlook of Japanese grant-making foundations based on it's annual survey of more than 800 grant-making foundations as well as links to Japanese foundations and other useful information. It also includes a section on information network of grant-making foundations in Asia and Oceania.

Further Information
Koekihojin Kyokai (The Japan Association of Charitable Organizations). News, links and information in Japanese only.
References:
'An Outlook of Japanese Grant-Making Foundations in 1998' by the Japan Foundation Center
Yamamoto, T. & Ashizawa, K.G. (eds) (1999). Corporate-NGO Partnership in Asia Pacific (Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange).
Yamauchi, N. (2004). Introduction to NPOs (2nd ed.) (Tokyo: Nikkei Bunko)
Yamauchi, N. (2002). NPO White Paper 2002. Osaka School of International Public Policy, NPO Research Project.

Volunteerism
The aim of NPO assistance centers is to support and promote various NPO activities through the provision of information to citizens about NPOs and voluntarism, hosting workshops and consultations on NPO management and human resources, supporting networking among NPOs, conducting surveys and research on NPOs, and through advocacy in the form of proposing policies. In short, they serve as liaisons not only among NPOs but also between NPOs and citizens as well as NPOs and public authorities.

There are three types of NPO assistance centers: those which were established as private organizations, those established as a result of name changes by the Social Welfare Association, and those established either by the government or local self-governing bodies. According to the Japan NPO Center, the number of such assistance centers in existence was, as of August 2001, 36, 4 and 45 respectively.

The largest national umbrella organization is Zenkoku Volunteer Katsudo Shinko Center (national center for promotion of voluntary activities) within the Zenkoku Shakai Fukushi Kyogikai or the National Social Welfare Association. According to the Association, there are about 79,000 volunteer organizations and 54.5 billion volunteers. There are 3,370 local social welfare corporations and 59 prefectural and major city corporations and one national association. There is a volunteer center for each organization. Main functions of a center are information clearing house for volunteer works, coordination and training of volunteers, and advice to both volunteers and recipients.

Grantmaking foundations
In Japan, grant-making foundations which award grants, along with operating foundations which undertake their own research projects or operate their own facilities, legally fall within the single category of incorporated foundations (zaidan hojin). Grant-making foundations invest donations from individuals and corporations and use the resulting profits to undertake the following activities: awarding of funds to groups or individuals for research and projects, disbursement of scholarships to students or fellowships to researchers, or presentation of awards, including monetary prizes for achievements by individual or groups.

Grant-making foundations take on three different forms: independent foundations established by individuals and families; corporate foundations established by single or multiple companies; and community foundations operating in specific regions, collecting funds from individuals in the community and collectively investing and managing the funds. A substantial corporate presence in Japanese foundations can be gleaned from the fact that nearly half of them are linked to businesses, with 27% having been established by single companies, 10% by two or more companies, and 14% by both a company and an individual. The existence of tax incentives may help in part to explain this corporate presence. Under the present system, companies are exempt from corporations tax on activities serving the public interest and foundations are permitted to conduct specified for-profit activities when companies contribute funds toward the establishment of incorporated foundations.
Such for-profit activities, limited to 33 categories under corporate tax law, include the sale of goods, publishing, promotions and car parks. With regard to these for-profit activities, a reduced tax rate of 27% (rather than the usual 37.5%) is applied.
As of 2004, the combined total assets of 638 foundations (which responded to the annual survey by Japan Foundation Center) were roughly 1.59 trillion yen. 49% of these foundations each had less than 1 billion yen, while those with more than 10 billion yen accounted for only 4% of the total. 77% of these foundations distributed less than 50 million yen in grants while only 2% disbursed over 500 million yen. The total in annual grants amounts roughly to 21.5 billion yen (or 43%). This reflects the fact that over half of Japanese grant-making foundations have assets of less than 1 billion yen and that the majority of them distribute an annual sum of less than 25 million yen as grants.
Most foundations have two or more grant programs, bringing the total of grant programs to 1,380 in 2001. Of these, most (406) were for research, followed by grants for the exchange of researchers and for the organization of conferences, program development and scholarships. The majority of these grants focus on the fields of science and technology, health care, and education.

There are many grant-making foundations which partake not only in the distribution of grants, but also in their own enterprises such as undertaking its own research. In 2004, of 596 foundations surveyed, only 13% focused solely on the distribution of grants (with total expenditure = grants). However, seen as a whole, expenditures related to the distribution of grants makes up over 50% of total expenditures for 68% of these foundations, reflecting the fact that while other activities are pursued, the distribution of grants is the main activity for these foundations.
Of the 1,440 grant programs undertaken by grant foundations, 445 were research grants. There were 773 other grants for research-related activities such as exchange of researchers, organizing conferences, and publishing, as opposed to 331 grants for cultural, social welfare, and civil society activities (which includes performances, exhibitions, projects, management support, and establishment and management of facilities). The majority of grant programs focus on the areas of the sciences such as "science and technology" and "healthcare," while the field of education comes in second (when it includes not only assistance to education-related research and actual school education but also scholarships). Japanese grant foundations tend to emphasize the promotion of science and technology and the development of human resources.

Assets of Japanese
Grant-Making Foundations (2004)

 Source: Japan Foundation Center (2004)

Ten Largest Japanese
Foundations by Assets (2004)

 Source: Japan Foundation Center, "An Outlook of Japanese Grant-Making
Foundations," 2004. Available from www.jfc.or.jp

Amount and
Distribution of Annual Grants by Japanese Grant-Making Foundations (2004)

 Source: Japan Foundation Center (2004)

Ten Largest Japanese
Foundations by Annual Grant Distribution (2004)

 Source: Japan Foundation Center (Source: Japan Foundation Center, "An Outlook of Japanese Grant-Making Foundations," 2004. Available from www.jfc.or.jp004)