Causes are what activists take up as a matter of course. But in Japan, just doing that is a challenge, given the general aversion towards activism here.

I've been called an "akuchibisuto" for many years. At first I was leery of the label because of its negative ring in Japanese. Even its vernacular equivalents —"katsudoka," "undoka," even "puro shimin" ("professional citizen," a negative term like "do-gooder") — make "activist" sound like "extremist" ("kageki ha").

No wonder. Civil society — nongovernmental or nonprofit organizations, networks and voluntary associations promoting "a common good" — is curiously underdeveloped in Japan.