About Us About the Genron NPO

About The Genron NPO

What is The Genron NPO

We are an independent, non-partisan think tank sustained and supported by a network of well-informed prominent figures

The Genron NPO is a not-for-profit think tank in Japan, which was established 10 years ago out of a belief that for the construction of a sound civic society, it is necessary to create a venue for serious and responsible future-oriented policy debate by those with a strong sense of being a stakeholder. In Japan, a non-partisan, non-profit think tank, like The Genron NPO, is quite unique in that it is independent from the government and business.

Our basic stance is that we are always siding with voters and are engaged in activities for the development of democracy in Japan. In particular, we are organizing forums for professional debates about Japan’s future and pressing issues facing Japan. We are also monitoring the government’s policy implementation on a regular basis, and at the time of national elections, we make it a rule to evaluate each political party’s election pledges and make public the outcomes for voters.

Moreover, we are extending our debates beyond Japan, and in particular, we have been organizing non-governmental, high-level dialogue with China for the past eight years.

Today, more than 500 of Japan’s representative opinion leaders are taking part in our activities and the outcomes of our discussions are reported to about 10,000 registered members.


Mission Statement

Our ultimate mission is to create a strong democracy and a strong civic society on the strength of debates

The mission of The Genron NPO is to create a strong democracy and a strong civic society in Japan on the strength of debates and sound public opinion. What we are aiming at is the creation of a sound democratic society in which voters are principal players and a strong civil society in which voters participate with a strong sense of being a stakeholder.


Immediate Goals

Create strong politics capable of solving issues with the strength of voter-led democracy and sound debate

The ultimate objective of our activities is to solve diverse tasks, which have been put off by the state, with the power of sound debate, and thereby create voter-led politics in Japan.

In the mission statement above, we state, “Our ultimate mission is to create a strong democracy and a strong civic society on the strength of debates.” This is because Japanese democracy is yet to function sufficiently, or rather it continues to stagnate. The structure of political stagnation has remained the same throughout the 10-year history of The Genron NPO.

We must alter the status quo, as Japan today is in a critical phase of major change. Our basic recognition is that it is the power of voters and citizens that can change the present situation fundamentally. To this end, voters must decide on the direction of politics and policies, and make a solid determination about the future course of this country as stakeholders in Japanese society, without expecting much from the conventional political parties or politicians. The Genron NPO’s function is to provide high-quality information and materials for voters as resources for their choice, along with diverse venues for public debates.

 

10 Years of The Genron NPO

Thursday, 12 April 2012 15:06
2001 August Genron NPO established
November Genron NPO incorporated as NPO organization
2002 January Genron NPO launched as quality magazine
April Genron NPO members forum initiated
August “Asia Strategy Conference” launched
September Genron NPO’s e-mail magazine launched
2003 March Convenes symposium on “NPOs to Change Japan”
Convenes symposium on “How Japan Should Face Fast-Transforming Asia”
April Survey on “Asian challenges” conducted
July “Policy Evaluation Conference” launched
October “Manifesto Evaluation Conference” initiated
Publishes evaluation result of 1st Koizumi Cabinet’s achievements
December Symposium on “Exploring New Potentials for Japan-China Relations”
2004 March Organizes symposium on “Can Japanese NPOs Become Principal Players of Private Sector?”
Convenes symposium on “Assessment of  Japan’s Power Structure”
May Releases evaluation result of the 2nd Koizumi Cabinet and evaluation results of political parties’ manifestos at the 1st Conference for the Verification of Election Pledges
September Releases evaluation criteria for local administrations and evaluation of political parties’ manifestos
November Participates in “local manifesto evaluation congress”
Publishes list of questionnaires for evaluation of local administrations’ manifestos
2005 January Agrees to team up with China Dailyover joint project for public debates
February Convenes International symposium on “Japan’s Alternatives Toward 2030”
May Launches private-sector committee to study Hokkaido’s self-reliance and rebirth launched
Releases proposal about strategy toward Hokkaido’s self-reliance and rebirth
June Designated by the National Tax Agency as “specified public-interest corporation”
August Convenes the 1st Beijing-Tokyo Forum
Publishes the result of the 1st Japan-China joint opinion survey
October Publishes evaluation of the 2nd Koizumi Cabinet and evaluation of political parties’ new manifestos
2006 February Convenes the 2nd private-sector committee for Hokkaido’s self-reliance and rebirth
June Releases result of the self-evaluation of Genron NPO’s all the activities
August Convenes the 2nd Tokyo-Beijing Forum Releases outcome of the 2nd Japan-China joint opinion survey
September Convenes “conference the evaluation of policy tasks for new government”
December Genron Blog Booklet launched
2007 February Releases evaluation result of the first 100 days of the Abe Cabinet
March Launches dialogue with Japan’s prefectural governors “What Are Prefectural Governors’ Challenges”
July Publishes evaluation result of the Abe Cabinet’s achievements and evaluation of political parties’ manifestos
August Convenes the 3rd Beijing-Tokyo Forum
Releases result of the 3rd Japan-China joint opinion survey
November Establishes “study group to evaluate non-profit organizations
2008 February Publishes the evaluation result of the first 100 days of the Fukuda Cabinet
June Opens “Mini-Pulus,” a SNS forum on the Internet for open debate with the participation of citizens
July Convenes “Manifesto Forum” to examine policy directions of the Democratic Party of Japan’s “Shadow Cabinet”
September Convenes the 4th Tokyo-Beijing Forum
Releases the results of the 4th Japan-China joint opinion survey
2009 January Releases the evaluation result of the first 100 days of the Aso Cabinet
April Launches the “study group to work out evaluation criteria for non-profit organizations”
Starts “Civic Society Forum”
July Organizes “open debate session” for policy matters by inviting representatives from the Liberal Democratic Party and the DPJ
August Publishes the evaluation outcome of the achievements of the coalition government of the LDP and Komeito, and the evaluation results of the LDP and the DPJ manifestos
Releases the results of the 5th Japan-China joint opinion survey
September Convenes the 5th Beijing-Tokyo Forum in Dalian
December Releases the evaluation result of the first 100 days of the DPJ Cabinet of Prime Minister Hatoyama
2010 April Announces the evaluation criteria for “Excellent NPOs” Convenes the town meeting to exchange views with local citizens about strong and affluent civic society
June Publishes the evaluation result of the Hatoyama
Cabinet and the evaluation outcomes of the LDP and DPJ manifestos
July Conducts interviews with policy chiefs of all nine political parties
Conducts a questionnaire with candidates for the Upper House election
August Convenes the 6th Tokyo-Beijing Forum
Releases result of the 6th Japan-China joint opinion survey
October Regular FM radio program On the Way Journalstarts with Representative Kudo serving as host
December Genron NPO’s English Web site wholly renewed
Releases evaluation result of the first 100 days of the Kan Cabinet
2011 January Convenes the Citizens’ Congress meeting to discuss
Excellent NPO evaluation criteria
March Launches debate on reconstruction from the 3/11great earthquake
Sets up “Genron Studio” for live broadcast of discussions on the Internet
April Full-fledged renewal of the Genron NPO Web site completed
BS11 Channel’s debate program Face airs “the Vision of the Reconstruction from the Great Earthquake”
June Convenes a forum on “What’s Wrong with Japanese Politics”
August Convenes the 7th Beijing-Tokyo Forum
Publishes result of the 7th Japan-China joint opinion survey
December Convenes celebration to mark the 10th anniversary of The Genron NPO
2012 January Publishes evaluation result of the 100 days of the Noda Cabinet