The Reality of NPOsoroppaSorokIknaBdooFmorfdeas Learn

Kotaro Hirano
Shino Asajima
Shogo Hataya

The term "food loss" refers to food thatis originally eaten but is thrown away.
The amount of food waste in Japan is25.31 million tons per year, of which theamount of food that is originally eaten
but is thrown away, "food loss," is 6
million tons per year (*1). The amount offood loss per person in Japan is about
47 kg per year, which is the sameamount as one Japanese person
throwing away a bowl of rice every day.
While there is this problem of food loss,
there is also the problem of poverty inJapan, where about one in six people
face relative poverty (*2). In the midstof these problems, food banks are anactivity that can be expected to havethe dual effects of reducing food loss
and supporting the needy, andcontribute to the SDGs of "1. NO
POVERTY," "2. ZERO HUNGER," "12RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND
PRODUCTION".
In addition to food loss, there is anothertheme of "employment" in this article.
When we hear the word "employment,"
we may have a strong image of "joiningsome company," but for those who havea strong awareness of some problem insociety and want to solve it with theirown hands, starting an NPO may beconsidered as one of the options for
employment, don't you think?
In this article, we interviewed Ms.
Yukiko Kataoka, the representative ofFood Bank Ikoro Sapporo, a NPO thatengages in food bank activities. In thisinterview, we asked her about how she
started the NPO, the current situation offood bank activities, and what it is like towork for an NPO.

農林水産省「食品ロスとは」
厚生労働省「各種世帯の所得等の状況（ ６）」(*1)
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/shokusan/recycle/syoku_loss/161227_4.html(*2)
p.
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/toukei/saikin/hw/k-tyosa/k-tyosa19/dl/03.pdf

Background to the launch of the NPO"Food Bank Ikoro Sapporo
Mr. Kataoka was born in the Tokachiarea of Hokkaido and lived there until hewas 12 years old. In the Tokachi area
where he was born and raised, there wasa lot of food produced and processed,and "food" was always close at hand.
Later, when she was a student, shedeveloped a desire to do something
about surplus crops. After graduation,
when she was working at a restaurant,
she witnessed a large amount of foodbeing discarded, which led her to want
to reduce food loss by effectively
utilizing surplus food. In addition, I
wanted to give back to society because
I was supported by the welfare system
during my child-rearing years, and I met
people who were suddenly in needthrough my work experience related toindustrial accidents. Four years ago, Ifounded the NPO "Food Bank Ikoro
Sapporo" and started food bankactivities.
Activities of the NPO "Food Bank Ikoro
Sapporo"
The NPO "Food Bank Ikoro Sapporo"started its food bank activities in 2018
based in Higashi-ku, Sapporo City. We
match the food donated to us withpeople in about 30 welfare facilities, orpack it in parcels and provide it toprivate households. The food donated toIkoro Sapporo is mainly food with a shelf
life of up to one month, and about 3
tons of food is donated per month.
There are various reasons for donating
food to Ikoro Sapporo, such as damaged
packaging or cardboard, expired
shipping dates, or food that is still ingood condition but can no longer befound in supermarkets. The types offood sent to us are truly diverse, ranging
from cup noodles, agricultural products
such as potatoes and onions, sweets,
seasonings, and emergency food. The
frequency of food donations varies fromcompany to company at different paces,such as once a year or when stockpiles
are being replaced. At present, there
area bout 30 companies that provide us

with food, but some of them havedisappeared due to the spread ofCOVID-19.The food bank activities aremainly carried out with the help ofvolunteers. The number of volunteers isincreasing due to the enactment of theFood Bank Promotion Act in 2019 andthe focus on the needy by COVID-19 in2020.
Motivation for the Activity
Despite the aforementioned
background, there is a book thatmotivated Ms. Kataoka, who was an
ordinary housewife four years ago, tostart her own food bank business. The
book was written by Keiko Yoneyama,
the head of Yamanashi Food Bank, oneof the largest food banks in Japan. Inthe book, there were two examples of
how an ordinary housewife started anorganization from a single room in herhouse and grew it in ten years. Ms.
Kataoka thought that if there was aprevious example of what could be doneby renting one room in the same
situation as these women, then sheherself could do it. For the first year, she
focused almost exclusively on public
relations, with the occasional food item
coming in and handing it out being thelimit of her activities. However, Kataoka
said, "I started to get a lot of support
from women my age, and at the sametime, the number of volunteers started
to increase. This eventually turned into ahuge whirlpool, and the encouragement
and support of those who were very
supportive of the project, and the push
to work together, continued to motivateme." She has received so much powerthat she feels she can't do without theirsupport in the future.
For those who want to be active inNPOs
Ms. Kataoka said, "I don't think it's okay
to cut corners because we are a nonprofit organization," and "I take on more
responsibility than any other job I've
ever had".The activities of NPOs arerewarding and wonderful. Now, whatshould we do to establish an NPO andcarry out activities like Ms. Kataoka did?

What’s specified nonprofit
organization (NPO)?
Definition
Organizations that have acquired legal
personality for the purpose of specificnon-profit activities.
FeaturesNPOs are required to reinvest all profits
earned in their business and must notdistribute profits. However, they can pay
salaries to their employees. This isbecause salary is treated as an activity
expense.

法人Based on the right table, we will look at
the advantages and disadvantages ofworking as an NPO.

addition, it is difficult to continue stable
activities mainly with grants due to thevariation in the application period andbenefit period for each grant and thehigh magnification of the grants (grantsand other support for NPOs can befound on the NPO policy portal site of
the Cabinet Office https://www.npoh o m e p a g e . g o . j p / p o l i c y - p o r t a l /) .
Therefore, the key to securing stable
funding for activities is to make a profit
from "other businesses" that do notbelong to specified non-profit activities.
The accounting for "other businesses"
can be used to fund the activities of thespecified non-profit activities after
accounting for them separately from thespecified non-profit activities.

Advantages of NPOs
- Gains social credibility- Low establishment costs- Preferential tax treatment- Activities can be continued even if themembers change- Can provide activities and support thatgeneral companies cannot because they
are not profitable
Disadvantages of NPOs
- Takes a long time to establish (about 4months from the time the documents areprepared)- Requires a certain number of staff (10or more)- Fields of activity are limited- Accounting and taxation procedures
are complicated- Difficult to raise funds for activities
Although it is difficult to gather enoughpeople to establish an NPO, it would be
beneficial if one person started her
activities alone and then increased thenumber of participants as Ms. Kataoka
did. However, raising funds to continue
the activities will be a major issue. There
are three main ways to raise funds:
donations and membership fees fromsupporters of the activities, grants, andprofits from non-specified non-profitactivities. It is difficult to expand
activities only with donations andmembership fees from supporters. In

What do you need to establish an NPO
or a corporation?
NPO- Name seal
- Number of people (10 or more)- Specified non-profit activities in thefields specified by law- Other application documentsCompany- Name seal
- Personnel (at least one person)- Registration and license tax (for a oneperson company, stock company:
approximately 250000 yen, limited
liability company: approximately 60000yen)- Paid-in capital (minimum 1 yen)
- Other application documents
It is easy to apply for an NPO once you
have gathered enough people. If theactivities you want to do are within theregulations, establishing an NPO may bea good idea. On the other hand, if you
want to engage in activities outside theregulations or for profit, you should
consider establishing a corporation.
Although the cost of establishing acompany is higher than that ofestablishing an NPO, it is possible togain social credibility and engage in awider range of activities than NPOs. Dueto the amendment of the Companies Act(), the minimum amount of capital
is now one yen. However, it should be
noted that companies with extremely
low capital will have less credibility
when receiving loans from banks.
It may be a good idea to establish an
NPO or a company to work on your own
goals.

会社法

Summary
In this article, we interviewed Ms.
Yukiko Kataoka, the representative of
the NPO "Food Bank Ikoro Sapporo",
about the current situation of foodloss in Sapporo City and what itmeans to work as an NPO. Throughthis interview, we were able to learn
about the connection between foodloss and support for the needy, which
we are not usually able to know, andthe issues that need to be addressedin order to continue food bankactivities in the future. In order toreduce food loss, it is important tocherish the meal in front of us and to
be conscious of eating withoutleaving any leftovers. If you areinterested in food loss and support
for the needy through this article,
please try to participate in thevolunteer activities of "Food BankIkoro Sapporo".
Also, like Ms. Kataoka, you canconsider establishing an NPO as oneof your work options. Throughout theinterview, I could see that Ms.
Kataoka is working responsibly andwith a sense of fulfillment in the foodbank activities she has chosen tostart. No matter what form ofemployment you choose, I feel that it
is important to approach your workwith a sense of responsibility like Ms.
Kataoka.