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This volume provides a systematic analysis of the Japanese nonprofit sector. Using a range of qualitative and quantitative data, the authors show that Japan has a much larger nonprofit sector than is recognized, even in Japan. Three-quarters of all university students attend nonprofit institutions, significant shares of hospital beds are in nonprofit institutions, and nonprofit agencies are active in the field of social sciences. Yet in comparative terms, the Japanese nonprofit sector lags behind that of other developed economies. One reason for this, the authors argue, is the generally hostile attitude the government has historically taken towards nonprofit organizations in Japan; nonprofit organizations wishing to attain legal status have to secure the approval of a competent ministry, and this is often given begrudgingly, or not at all. The nonprofit sector in Japan has only just begun to "flex its muscles" as an independent force in very recent years, and is now on the brink of a new phase in its development.