Chapter 3 Member Organizations

The Japan Patients Association(Corporate members etc.)
Article 5, Membership organizations that constitute theArticles of Association

corporation shall be national organizations by disease andindividual associations of patient associations in prefecturesand shall be employees under the law concerning general

Chapter 1, General Provisions（Name）
Article 1, The Corporation shall be referred to as the Japan
Patients Association.

incorporated foundations and general foundation corporations
with this affiliated organization.
(Member)(Office)

Article 6, Organizations wishing to join this corporation shallsubmit a prescribed application form for membership to therepresentative director and obtain approval from the board.
(Arbitrary Withdrawal)
Article 7, We can resign from the member group anytime
optionally by submitting a predetermined notice of withdrawal
to a Director Representative.
(Omissions)
Article 8, When a member group can’t correspond to any of

Article 2, The Corporation puts its principal office inToshima-ku, Tokyo.

Chapter 2, Purpose of Business(Purpose)
Article 3, The Corporation shall be an association
organization of patient organizations such as intractablediseases, long-term chronic diseases, childhood chronic
diseases, aiming at the national center of the Japanese patient

the following, we can omit the member group concerned off

movement under the philosophy of "Declaration ofFormation".
Through campaigns coordinated with member organizations,the list by resolutions decided at a general meeting.
(１) When articles of association or other rules are violated.
(２) When the honor of our corporation or an act against it is

the corporation shall be organized to socially solve theproblems of patients and families in need of medical care.
The corporation aims to realize a social security system thatis truly affluent, respecting patients and families as humanbeings, with emphasis on cooperation between patients' andtheir families' own experiences and national campaigns
including medical professionals.

carried out.
(3) When there are other legitimate reasons that result inmember list omissions.
２ When a member is omitted as per the foregoing. The
member group concerned is contacted beforehand and isallowed their day in court before a final decision is made.
(Loss of Qualification)
Article 9, when a member group can’t correspond to any of
the following other than Article 7 and 8, they lose their
qualification.
(１) When the payment of dues didn’t continue for more than
three years.
(２) When, regardless of the fate of the corporation, allmember groups agree to follow Article 29.
(３) When the member group concerned was dissolved.

（Business）
Article 4, In order to achieve the purpose set forth in thepreceding Article, the Corporation shall conduct the following
projects.
１ Project aiming to investigate causes of intractablediseases and establish treatment methods
２ Project on dissemination and enlightenment of knowledge
on disease prevention and treatment
３ Project aiming to realize various needs such as medical

２ When a member group has lost qualification by rule of theforegoing paragraph, they lose corporation rights and duties
and are subject to non-observance status.
３ Even if a member group loses the qualification in our
corporation, dues, other financial contributions and/or goods
will not be returned.
(Associate Participation)care, welfare, family welfare, work, education, social
participation, information etc.
４ Business related information exchange activities,
strengthening the understanding and solidarity among
member organizations
５ Business related to investigation research, policy
recommendation and training activities of the corporation's
objectives and issues

Article 10, Our Corporation accepts the associate participationof a group with similar goals and purpose of our corporation.
２ The associate participation group attends and participates

６ Projects necessary to support the aim of the national
center of the Japanese patient movement
７ Business related to the publication of the company's
activities, information provision and advertising activities
８ Business such as consultation projects, goods placement,
introduction of books and materials in accordance with the
purpose of our corporation
９ Business necessary for the sound development andestablishment of the corporation's fiscal finance
１０ Other necessary business to achieve the purpose of thecorporationin the events that our corporation sponsors i.e. the General
meeting and directors meeting. However, they cannot join thedecision process or become an officer.
３ Groups submit prescribed “participation applications” tothe Director Representative in hopes of creating an association.
Final participation requires board of directors approval.
４ Groups can submit a prescribed “notice of withdrawal” tothe Director Representative in order to resign from theassociate participation group optionally.

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(Cooperation Member)
Article 11, In support of our finances, our corporation recruits
a wide range of “cooperation members” in order to expand

Constitution number of the member group
Two voting members per 3,000 group members or lessThree per 3,001 to 5,000

our network base, improve our profile and further disseminate
our information.
(Dues)

Four per 5,001 to 10,000
Five per 10,001 to 30,000
Six per 30,001 or more.

Article 12, A General meeting resolution confirmed theobligation of participation groups, associate participationgroups and the cooperation members to pay annual dues.

２. By way of a resolution of the board of directors, theparticular voting rights have been decided.

２ The dues contribution of the foregoing paragraph assumes
the guidelines stipulated in Article 27.

(Constitution)
Article 13, The General Meeting requires mandatory
participation by all member groups.
(Resolutions)
Article 14, The following were confirmed:(Resolution)
Article 19, A member group having the majority of the voting
right of all member groups attends the general meeting
unless laws and ordinances or this certification ofincorporation has particular bearing and causes the resolutionof the general meeting by the majority of member group
voters in attendance.
２. Regardless of the rule of the foregoing paragraph, thefollowing resolutions represent a plus fifty percent decision by

１. Dues amount

all member groups and two-thirds of the voting right of all

２. Membership omission policy
３. Recruitment and dismissal of directors or inspectors
４. Expense and reward compensation for directors andmember groups.
(1) Striking off a member groups’ name(2) Dismissal of the Inspector

inspectors
５. Creation of activity report, business report, and P&L
６. Activity program, business plan and capital budget
７. Various approvals of standard documents
８. Change of articles of association
９. Dissolution and disposal of remaining assets(3) Change of the articles of association(4) Corporate dissolution(5) Disposal of indispensable property(6) Matters which were established in other laws andordinances(The Meeting Minutes)

10. Disposal approval of non-essential property
11. Articles of association review and adjustments as per
ordinances and legal procedure(Timing)
Article 15, The General meeting timing is within three monthsof fiscal year end and if extenuating circumstances demand, a
supplementary meeting is held
２. This members’ general meeting (foregoing paragraph) is
held in accordance with prescribed legal requirements.

Article 20, The minutes of the general meeting, are createdfollowing established laws and ordinances.
２. The chairperson and the minutes’ signatories (2 persons
elected at the general meeting), sign and seal the minutes.

３. The administration of the general meeting is determinedby resolution of the board of directors.
(Convene)
Article 16, The Director Representative convenes the General
Meeting based on a resolution of the board of directors unlesslaws and ordinances require otherwise.
２. We determine the General Meeting purpose and the call.

(１) More than ten but less than 20 directors(２) More than one inspector as required
2. Officers; the Directors, the Director Representative, Director
Vice-Representatives and Managing Director.
(Election of the Officers)
Article 22, By resolution at the general meeting, directors andthe inspectors are chosen.

However, member groups with more than one-fifth of voting
rights can request the call of the general meeting to the
Director Representative.

２ . We established the need for electing directors andinspectors by a Board of Directors resolution.
3. The Director Representative, Director Vice-Representatives

３. When there is a request following the foregoing paragraph,
the Director representative must convene a general meeting
within four weeks.
４. We must notify member organizations in writing, listing
the place, purpose and deliberation matters, date and time of
the meeting, within one week of the meeting day.
(Chairperson)
Article 17, The general meeting chairperson is the Director
Representative or appointee of the Director Representative.

and Managing Director are elected by the board of directors.
(Directors’ Mandate)
Article 23, In accordance with established laws andordinances, the Director Representative, represents our
corporation and carries out all prescribed duties.
2. The Director Vice-Representatives assist the Director
Representative regarding said duties.
３. The Managing Director summarizes the duties of ourcorporation and deals with the execution of those duties based(Voting Rights)
Article 18, The number of voting rights of member groups at
the general meeting is as follows:

on a resolution of the board of directors.
４. The Directors divide their duties as per corporate laws andordinances.

Chapter 4, General Meeting

Chapter 5, Officers(Officers Determination)
Article 21, The officers in our corporation are determinedaccording to the following parameters.

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(Inspector Authority and Duties)
Article 24, The inspectors review the execution of directors’
duties and file reports as per established laws and ordinances.

２ . Regardless of the foregoing paragraph, JapaneseCorporate Law Article 96 “Omission of Resolution at a Council
Meeting” takes precedence.

２. The inspector can request business reports at any timeand investigate situations regarding corporation duties andproperty.

(The Minutes)
Article 33, The minutes are compiled as per establishedcorporate laws and ordinances.

(Term of Office)
Article 25, Upon election of the Directors at the general
meeting, (fiscal year end) the term of office is two years.

２. The attending Directors and Director Representative mustsign and seal the minutes.

Chapter 7, Secretary Society

２. Similarly, upon election of the Inspectors at the general
meeting, (fiscal year end) the term of office is two years.
３. In the case of filling a vacant directors or inspectors
position, the term of office conforms to the predecessors’
original term.
４. Incumbent directors or inspectors must continue theirduties and obligations should they retire or for otherdiscontinuance reasons until the newly elected person
officially takes office. Article 21 has precedence in this(Constitution)
Article 34, Our Corporation has established a Secretary
Society.
２. The Secretary Society consists of one person representing
each member group.
(Role)
Article 35, Secretary Society members meet to gather andexchange information and opinions, regarding relevant

situation.

problems and suggest action plans that are then presented at(Officer Dismissal)
Article 26, Director and Officers may be dismissed byresolution at the general meeting.

the general meeting.
１. Confirmation of an activity report, a business report, action
program and the business plan

(Rewards)
Article 27, Although Directors and Inspectors are non-paying
positions, rewards are given periodically as establishedthrough general meeting resolution.

２. Confirmation of a revised budget and the provisional
budget３. Confirmation of changes to the articles of association
４. Confirmation of matters that should be discussed at thegeneral meeting
５. Office work is governed by prescribed laws and ordinances,

Chapter 6, Board of Directors(Constitution)
Article 28, Establishment of corporate board of directors.
２. The board of directors consists of directors.
３. Under the board of directors, we can facilitate sectional
meetings addressing specific problems and creating
specialized committees to solve issues.
(Authority)
Article 29, Board of Directors perform the following:
１. Deciding and execution of corporate duties

with the exception of confidential matters entrusted to theboard of directors.
(Convene)
Article 36, The Director Representative convenes the
Secretary Society meeting more than two times a year.
(The Chairperson)
Article 37, The Secretary Society Chairperson is appointed by
the Director Representative or their proxy.
２. When the Director Representative is not available, missing

２. Supervision of the directors’ duties
３. Recruitment/dismissal of Director Representative, Vice
Representatives and Managing Directors
４. Enrollment approval of member groups and associateparticipation groups(Convene)
Article 30, The Director Representative shall convene board ofor has had an accident, the next in line shall assume thechairperson responsibilities.
(Resolutions)
Article 38, The majority of Secretary Society members must
attend the meetings and resolutions must be decided by amajority of them.
２ . The Board of the Directors establish the resolutions

directors meetings.
２. When the Director Representative is not available, missingor has had an accident, the next in line shall convene meetings

specifically relating to the administration of the Secretary
Society.
(The Minutes)

as required.
(Chairperson)
Article 31, The Director Representative will assume thechairperson responsibilities at the board of the directors
meetings.
２. When the Director Representative is not available, missingor has had an accident, the next in line shall assume thechairperson responsibilities.
(Resolution)

Article 39, The minutes are compiled following the board of
directors and Secretary Society proceedings.
２. The Chairperson or proxy signs and seals the minutes.

Article 32, Regarding resolutions, the majority of Directors rule.
Directors with a conflict of interest regarding the resolution
must abstain.

３ . The Director Representative recruits/dismisses the
Secretary General and staff.

Chapter 8, Secretariat(Establishment of the Secretariat)
Article 40, A secretariat was established to handle
administrative duties of the corporation.
２. A Secretary General and required staff is employed.

3４. The Director Representative establishes the requirements
and organization of the secretariat as per resolution of theboard of directors.

entity as per decided by a general meeting resolution.

Chapter 11, Method of Notification(Fiscal Year)(Method of Notification)
Article 48, All relative corporate information
documentation is publicly posted at our main office.

Article 41, The fiscal year begins every April 1 and concludes
March 31 the following year.
(Business Plan and Cash Budget)(Commission)

Chapter 9, Assets and Accounts

andChapter 12, Supplementary Rules

Article 42, The business plan, budget, financing and projected
capital expenditures are listed and presented by the Director
Representative and submitted to the board of directors nolater than a day before the start of the fiscal year. Any changes
must be completed as per the same timeline.
２. The plan is utilized and referenced for the particular fiscal
year until expiration and is available for general reading at themain office.
(Business Report and Settlement of Accounts)

Article 49, Other than changes to the article of association, alladministrative and corporate edict are established by the
Director Representative and decided by resolutions by theboard of directors.

Article 43, The Director Representative is responsible for２. The first fiscal year of our corporation was from theproviding the business report and settlement of the accounts.
Then the Inspector reviews the information prior to approvalby the board of directors as per resolution. The report andestablished registration date to March 31, 2012.
３. (Omission)
４. (Omission)account must include the following:(１) Business Report(２) Business Report, detailed finances(３) Balance sheet(４) Income statement (net worth increase and decreasecheck)

５. Before the established registration date, member groups
were allowed to join the JPA (“an arbitrary group”), regardlessof the Article 6 provision.
６. Our corporation shall succeed all the rights and duties thatbelonged to the arbitrary group.
７. When an ante was paid to the arbitrary group, it was also

(５) Detailed statement including, net worth increase anddecrease review of the balance sheet and income statement(６) List of Property
２. All documents are retained for a five year period including
the articles of association and member group list and aremade available for general reading at the main office. The
following are also included:(１) Inspection Report(２) List of Directors and Inspectors

considered paid to the corporation upon registration.
８. Any additional circumstances, situations or conditions etc.
not covered by these articles of association are subject to thelaws and ordinances governing corporate registration.

Additional clauses
１. These articles of association take effect on the registration
day according to the general corporate establishment
procedure.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊The Japan Patients Association(３) Director and Inspectors rewards allotment(４) Summary of extraordinary expenditures including values
and their administration(Surplus Fund)
Article 44, Surplus Funds are reinvested into the corporationand not distribute to individuals.

Articles of Association
Detailed Enforcement Regulations(December 6, 2014 some revisions)(April 4, 2015 some revisions)

Chapter 1, Administration of the General
Meeting

Chapter 10, Articles of Association Changes
and Dissolutions(Purpose)

Article 45, Any changes and dissolutions of the articles of

Article 1, The administration of the general meeting is as per
Article 15, Clause 3.

association are determined by resolution at the general
meeting.
(Dissolution)
Article 46, Our corporation can be dissolved by a reason
established by resolution or other laws and ordinances at thegeneral meeting.
(Reversion of Remaining Assets)
Article 47, Should dissolution occur, the remaining assets after
corporate settlements, shall be donated to a corporation as(Document Participation)
Article 2, If councilors cannot attend a general meeting, they
can submit a detailed document stipulating their suggestions
and/or opinions.
The document must arrive at the secretariat within one week
preceding a general meeting.

per Article 5, 17 governing the authorization of nonprofit
foundations, public interest foundations, and nonprofit
organizations of similar business or a country or a local public

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(Agenda)
Article 3, The general meeting agenda is sent to each member
group before the meeting as a general rule. Resolutions and

３ . The aforementioned balance between national andprefectural organizations reflect the attention to designatedintractable disease, long-term chronic disease, infant

appeals are the exception.
(Administration)
Article 4, The administration of the general meeting should bechronicity identification illness in consideration of patient
demographics.

decided by majority representation or the administration canbe determined by vote if a majority of the members agree.

４ . The elected patient group coalition consists of one
representative each from Hokkaido and Tohoku, Kanto,
Chubu and Tokai, Hokuriku and Kinki, Chugoku and Shikoku,(The Secretariat)
Article 5, The board of directors is responsible for theadministration of the general meeting and the office work.

and Kyushu and Okinawa, a total of (6) blocks.
.
５ . The blocking of patient groups representing themetropolitan and districts are according to the following list.
(Current Member Organizations Only)

Chapter 2, Voting Rights at the General
Meeting

Block name(Purpose)
Article 6, The voting rights are established as per Article 18
Clause 2.

Metropolis and districts nameHokkaido ・
TohokuHokkaido, Aomori, Iwate,
Yamagata, Fukushima

Kanto

Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Chiba, Kanagawa,(Voting Rights Use)

Miyagi,

Akita,

Niigata, Yamanashi

Article 7, The number of councilors determine the voting
rights and reflect the opinions from member groups at thegeneral meeting.
２. Councilors are established by the most recent number ofmembership registries.

Chapter 3, Election of Officers(Purpose)
Article 8, The election of officers is as per Article 22, Clause 2.
(Officer Selection Committee)
Article 9, An officer selection committee was established to
streamline the officer candidate elections.

Chubu,
Tokai

Nagano, Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi, Mie, Toyama

Hokuriku,
Kinki

Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama

Chugoku,
ShikokuOkayama, Hiroshima, Tokushima, Kagawa,
Ehime, Kochi

KyushuFukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita,
Miyazaki, Okinawa

６. When a director representing one of the blocks is elected, asupplement block director can assume responsibility of thevacated position.
(Determining the Officer Ballot)
Article 13, The following outlines the determination of theofficer ballot for the board of the Directors.
１. The officer candidate attaches a letter of recommendationfrom their organization and shall notify the officer selection
committee by submitting a predetermined report.

２. The selection committee is comprised of the Director
Representative, Director Vice-Representative, Managing
Director and one member from the National Organization of
Diseases and one other from the Prefectural Intractable
Disease Organizations.
The chairperson is decided by mutual election.
３. The selection committee officer term is until the next
general meeting and re-election is possible at that time.
(Role of the Officer Selection Committee)
Article 10, The officer selection committee must elect officers
as per Article 21.
(Qualification and Limitations of the Officer Candidate)

２. The officer selection committee takes responsibility for therecommendation of the officer candidate however isn’t
responsible for the initial recommendation from thecandidates’ organization.
３. Regarding officer selection, a gender and age balance isrecommended if possible. In addition, the selection of Director
Representative, Director Vice-Representative and Managing
Director, must reflect the current balance of national andArticle 11, The qualification and the limitation are as follows.
１. The officer candidate must be elected by a voting rights
councilor as per the articles of association, Article 10 and 18.

organizational illnesses focus, patient groups, metropolis anddistrict units coalitions.
(Officer Elections)
Article 14, The officers shall be elected from among the list of
candidates created by the Board of Directors selection
committee.
2. If no eligible Officer candidate is chosen, the Board of
Directors shall report the lack of progress at the general
meeting and a decision will be made at that time.
(Secretariat)
Article 15, The board of directors is responsible for the

２. An inspector candidate cannot be chosen by member
groups that already have a director candidate.
(Determining the Officer Ballot)
Article 12, The officer ballot is determined after member
groups present their officer candidates to the officer selection
committee. After which the candidates are deliberated withthe board of directors prior to selection at the general
meeting.
２. The election of the officer candidate must reflect andrepresent a balance between the national organization of
diseases and the prefectural intractable disease organizations.

administration of the Officer Selection Committee.

5Chapter 4, Support and Cooperation Dues
(Ante)(Purpose)
Article 16, The contributions, support and cooperation dues as
set forth in article 12 of the Articles of Incorporation areprovided in this chapter.
(Contribution Scale A)
Article 17, A member organization shall annually contributea minimum of one percent or more based on their annual
general accounting figures. However, the minimum amount of
the contribution is 20,000 yen.
(Contribution Scale B)
Article 18, Associate members shall contribute a minimum of
5,000 yen per year.
(Supporting Organizations Dues)
Article 19, Supporting Organizations shall contribute at least
20,000 yen a year but are encouraged to make additional
contributions.
(Cooperative Dues)
Article 20, Individuals who support the purpose of thisassociation are asked to contribute at least 3,000 yen a year
and are encouraged to make additional contributions if
possible.
(Effort Obligation)
Article 21, Member and associate groups must work toward
the healthy development and establishment of the society's
finances.

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