The nature and characteristics of Japanese NGOs in international disaster response

The purpose of this paper is to review the nature of Japanese non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in international disaster response and analyzes their distinctive characteristics.

A literature review was conducted of secondary English and Japanese sources including peer-reviewed journals, books, and non-academic journals published by government and NGOs.

First, Japanese disaster response NGOs are relatively young compared to Western ones and they continue to increase in number. Second, the scale of disaster response NGOs is much larger than that of other NGOs in the development field not only because of the availability of government funds but also because of the presence of internationally affiliated NGOs and religious-based organisations with strong fundraising programs. Third, Japanese disaster response NGOs have a long-term engagement with the local community, not only during the emergency phase, but also during the recovery and development phases in various fields. Finally, coordination NGOs play an important role in networking, advocating and supplementing NGOs that often lack financial and human resources.

The limitation of this study is the definition of Japanese NGOs in the context of international disaster response; therefore, this paper adopts MOFA’s definition, which includes NGOs engaged in overseas activities through direct intervention.

There has been little research in English on the scale and nature of Japanese NGOs involved in disaster response activities.