I turned into Angelina instead of finding my Madame Butterfly

Umberto Eco, the Italian philosopher, used to say ‘you understand you are European when you are not in Europe anymore’. My trip to Japan has been helping me to  understand more about Japan and Europe as well.

In Europe we still look at Japan as something in between a film of samurai and Blade Runner: exotic tradition and hyper-technology in an Armani-like setting. Are we sure that they are the ones who can’t get out of past stereotypes?

This morning I was reading the English edition of Asahi Shimbun and found two enlightening articles on the first pages: the first one reported the quarrels between Oxfam UK and a local secondhand bookstore in London which claims to have to shut down because the unfair competition with the multinational NGO.

The whole second page in one of the most popular newspapers dedicated to an NGO? Not even the Guardian which published the news gave it such relevance to the news (full article is here)

The second article was even better: it explained how the Democrats, the new party in power, has started its war against state bureaucracy but has little chance to succeed because it lacks both the experience in government and external help usually provided by think-tanks (there are few think-tanks in Japan).

Now I understand Sir Bubb and I have been invited to help Jacevo, the newborn Japanese professional body for third sector leaders, to become such a think tank for government.

We have been traveling across the country as its Ambassador. I feel like Angelina Jolie for Japanese civil society!

I’ve already met hundreds of third sector leaders and young practitioners, academics, the leader of the Buddhists and several newly elected politicians. I can smell enthusiasm for change.

Japan is showing us that change is possible even in a very conservative society which has seen a significant political change for the last 50 years. Moreover, it proves the sector can be a source of change despite its weaknesses.

The sector in Japan is far from being developed. The legislation is a mess with different laws for every type of organisation. The funding environment is unfriendly and limiting the growth of the sector. Public perception is stuck to volunteering as an unprofessional and unpaid activity. Working in the sector is not seen as a real career yet. You need a second job to carry on. The media have recently discovered the sector and there are high expectations with the new government. The sector needs to get rid of government patronage and stand on its own.

When I came to Japan the general mood was pretty depressive. Despite the challenges now there is a buzz here. I would say the contrary in Europe. We have professionalism, funding and structure but we can’t get out of our impasse. We must learn again to be entrepreneurial and embrace change.

In Japan we came to explain how to develop a network of leaders and its benefits. The Japanese are copying and pasting what works for them. On the contrary I have been struggling to build networks because of general hostility toward change. Everybody is jealous of their own backyard and fail to see the bigger picture which requires mutual understanding and further cooperation across boundaries.

I was expecting to find a Madam Butterfly – the Japanese bride who sacrificed her life for the American Naval Officer whose country has defeated her one – but realized that we are the Madame Butterfly.

Actually, M. Butterfly. If we don’t get out of our past we will turn into an opera played permanently to entertain tourists coming from all other the world. Do you want to transform all Europe in to EuroDisney?