Included here are many of Japan's higher education institutions as well as a number of large social service agencies operating with government sanction and recognition. The three social welfare fields-health care, education, and social services-thus jointly account for 86 percent of nonprofit sector employment in Japan, a much higher concentration than the 22-country average (68 percent).
3) Relatively smaller shares of nonprofit employment in other fields.
Compared to the overall 22-country average, other fields of activity absorb a significantly smaller share of nonprofit employment in Japan. This is particularly true of the economic development and culture fields, as well as the combined fields of environmental protection and advocacy, in which Japan is far below the developed-country and 22-country averages (Figure 6). Thus, while the development and housing field absorbs, on average, 5.8 percent of nonprofit employment in the 22 countries studied, less than 1 percent of nonprofit employees in Japan are engaged in this field. A similar disparity holds in the field of culture and recreation where the 22-country average of 14.4 percent is nearly five times the Japanese level of only 3.1. In the case of development and housing, the relatively minor involvement of nonprofits is very likely the result of the active role that the central and local governments have played in community development activities, thereby leaving little opportunity for private nonprofit development activities. In the case of culture, the meager support received from the public sector appears to be a major factor. More generally, however, it is the sheer difficulty of establishing and operating a nonprofit organization in these non-welfare service fields that reduces their weight in the composition of Japan's nonprofit sector.
4) Pattern remains steady with volunteers.
This pattern remains essentially the same when volunteer work is considered. In particular, as shown in Figure 7, with volunteers included, the prominence of health care in overall nonprofit employment in Japan decreases somewhat, yet remains the single dominant field. Employment in the field of economic development increases six-fold when factoring in volunteer work; however, because of the small size of this field, this increase does not alter the overall picture of employment distribution across the fields of activity in Japan. Culture gains a somewhat larger share of employment when volunteers are added, increasing from 3.1 percent to 5.5 percent. However, the impact of volunteering on that field's share is considerably smaller than in other developed countries, especially in Western Europe. In France and Germany, for example, volunteers nearly triple culture's share of nonprofit employment. This reflects, in part, the fact that volunteering does not play as pronounced a role in Japan as it does in other developed countries since it was not as well-organized a component of Japanese social life prior to the recent Kobe earthquake.
****** (Figure 7) ******
6. Most revenue from service fees and public sector payments, not philanthropy
Consistent with the country's statist approach to the economy in general, as well as pivotal legislative changes introduced after World War II to stimulate the nongovernmental sector, Japan's nonprofit sector receives the bulk of its revenue not from private philanthropy but from service fees (52 percent) and public sector payments (45 percent).
1) Service fee income dominant.
Fees and other private payments for services account for more than half (52.1 percent) of all nonprofit sector revenues in Japan, as reflected in Figure 8. Public sector payments are comparable, amounting to 45.2 percent of the sector's revenue inflow.
****** (Figure 8) ******
2) Limited support from philanthropy.
By contrast, private philanthropy provides a minuscule share of total revenues.
