61791    Teachers and parents should find and nurture each child's strengths and uniqueness, instead of renouncing him or her.

61792    That in turn should give children hopes and goals in their lives.

61793    On the other hand, we must keep in mind that we have to teach children to be strong enough to endure hardships.

61794    While volunteer-based civil activities spanning over global environmental protection to welfare problems in an aging society have been increasing year after year, there are growing opportunities for grassroots organizations initiated by citizens to be granted an incorporated status similar to private non-profit organizations in the US as well as a tax break which will enable them to establish a financial base.

61795    From the perspective of civil volunteer activities being essential to make Japanese society more mature as well as to create an affluent society, we hope that the government will proactively work to relax the conditions for grassroots organizations to obtain incorporation.

61796    Most of the volunteer organizations which are abundantly found all over the country are nin'i dantai (voluntary groups) and are unable to be qualified as a foundation or association, which in turn has been a barrier for their expansion.

61797    With strict conditions in addition to a great amount of funds, it is even difficult to obtain incorporation as a zaidan hojin (incorporated foundations) and shadan hojin (incorporated associations), which are known as organizations authorized under the provisions of the Civil Code.

61798    Also, even if incorporation has been granted, as they are under the supervision by an authority in charge, it seems unreasonable for citizen's groups which often express opinions against the government.

61799    Securing manpower is also a challenge without social recognition and, even if it has been secured, social insurance is unavailable: moreover, as office and equipment are under an individual's name, the reality is that there will be an inheritance tax problem when that individual dies.

61800    Consequently, there are groups that set up a profit-making business as a kabushiki kaisha (joint-stock company) or a yugen kaisha (limited liability company) where their primary non-profit business rents office space and the like from them, and the paradox of having a profit-oriented company and non-profit organization side-by-side is actually happening.

61801    Given this situation, the law for NPO (Non-Profit Organization) that has been acclaimed as the powerful driving force in revitalizing the American society has attracted much attention.

61802    This law provides a system for private corporations where profits will not be allocated in principle and will be entirely reinvested for the purpose of activities, instead of being distributed to the founders and stakeholders, and once an organization submit or mail to the state government a simple form filled out with the organization's name, name of the person responsible and other related items, it can be approved within several days of review; it is said that approximately one million organization have been registered in the US.

61803    This system provides accredited groups with the exemption status for both federal and state taxes, and donations for the approximately 500,000 organizations of particularly high public interest may be deducted from taxable income.

61804    Seeing the American system as a model, here in Japan the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) has pushed ahead with "the study on developing a foundation for citizens' public-interest activities" which places civil activity organizations as a third force in addressing problems difficult for government and companies to handle, and while it proposes the enactment of the "Fundamental Civic Non-Profit Activity Law," the New Harbinger Party Sakigake got the study project to draft the bill off the ground.

61805    An international symposium will also be held in Osaka later this month.