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Achōnaikai (町内会) is a Japanese local community of citizens or a form ofneighborhood association.
Before theMeiji Restoration, more than 70,000 municipalities in Japan were small entities. The new centralized government viewed them as potential areas of unrest. Two waves of municipal mergers intended to weaken those entities. This resulted inchōnaikai, informal associations taking the place of former village or neighbourhood communities.
DuringWorld War II, these associationswere involved in many points:
During the Occupation of Japan, the American provisional government forbade them. They were allowed only after theTreaty of San Francisco in 1951.
Nowadays, thechōnaikai are put forward again and are gathered in a nationwidechōnaikai federation (町内会連合会,chōnaikai rengōkai).
Achōnaikai deals with five criteria:
The local government generally covers the same area. According to the evolution of the population, thechōnaikai may be divided.
The household is the basic member. Some sections may exist for women, children or elderly, taking part in the proper activities. Sometimes, a corporate membership is also allowed for financial issues.
For a new household, membership is not mandatory, but gives access to a lot of facilities. Non-member households are somewhat ostracized from the community and are treated as strangers {{[1]}}. People in rented rooms, typically students or young salary men, are said to be member of the household of the landowner. Because apartment tenants reside in the community temporarily, and the associations are geared toward homeowners and families, they are under no social pressure to join.
They attend a wide range:
Based in the same general area, thechōnaikai improves the municipality. It subsidizes modes of communication and can encourage local participation. But it can also exert influence in political issues, mobilizing the neighbourhood with petitions or demonstrations.
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