Neighborhood Associations New and Old

A digression on the fire brigade and the related issue of fire drills will illustrate the nature of native-newcomer antinomy and attempts at its resolution. The fire-fighting division (shobo-gumi ) was a distinct organization by the time Kodaira-mura was formed in 1889. The exact nature of the fire brigades in the seven shinden villages is not known, although the intrepidity of Suzuki-shinden' s Su-gumi has been memorialized in a local folktale. The newly amalgamated village of Kodaira was served by six fire-fighting divisions—Nonaka was regarded as a single village in this case—which were further subdivided. The Ogawa shobo-gumi, for example, comprised eight sections; namely, the Ogawa Eight. This system was discontinued in 1914 and the Kodaira shobo-gumi installed in its place. The change was a nominal one, for the earlier subdivisions remained intact (KC 1959, 987). In 1939,

when military mobilization was a pressing national concern, the fire brigade assumed the role of a vigilance corps, and the subdivisions were regrouped as eight branches, which remain the units of organization today. The newcomer's complaint, in the 1960s, about the exclusivity of the fire brigades is not surprising given the confluence of the firefighting branches with the former shinden -village and intravillage divisions. Moreover, the leadership of the fire brigades has remained the province of Kodaira natives.

Recently, fire drills have been conducted by the neighborhood associations, the subject of the following paragraphs. Neighborhood associations are referred to as jichikai or chonaikai, and although the terms are used synonymously, the former literally means "self-governing association." It is the demilitarized, postwar equivalent of the earlier chonaikai (also chokai ), or "town-section associations." Some neighborhood associations have retained the older name—Gakuen Nishi-chokai, for example, of which I was a member. On the other hand, the Ogawa Eight have assumed the more modern and "democratic"-sounding jichikai —1-bangumi-jichikai, for example—although these associations, as their names reveal, essentially are isomorphic with the bangumi formally established in the 1720s.

City hall defines jichikai (and chonaikai ) as follows:

Jichikai are associations spontaneously organized and democratically administered by the local residents. Their purpose is to promote and facilitate neighborliness and mutual aid between members and to raise the quality of their social welfare. Jichikai, in short, are nonprofit organizations formed within a specific area of the city and registered with city hall. Excluded from jichikai status are organizations formed solely for the management of street lights [etc.]. (Kodaira-shi seikatsuka 1973)

In 1967 there were 220 registered neighborhood associations, increasing to 272 by 1969, to 314 by 1971, and to 380 by 1984. According to the staff of the Civic Life Department, which oversees jichikai affairs, the greatest number of new registrations coincided with cityhood in 1962, when more subsidies became available to neighborhood associations. The staff suggested a correlation between overall population growth and the number of neighborhood associations formed, but the number of associations has continued to grow since 1976, when the population stabilized at around 153,000 persons. Rather, as I see it, neighborhood associations signify another type of settlement pattern in the episodic making of Kodaira. Their growth correlates with spe-

cific local developments, such as a new "my home" tract or an apartment complex in, say, uptown Hanakoganei, where many of the newer associations are located. Neighborhood associations that encompass an entire high-rise project or mass-housing complex tend to be most consistently active as social welfare organizations. The 1,440-household Kodaira Danchi-jichikai in Kihei-cho is a case in point. The members' manual published by this association is as professional and thorough, in its design and content, as the city's own residents' handbook.

Each neighborhood association is required to submit to the Civic Life Department a membership roster together with a statement of purpose, bylaws, and operating procedures. Only the largest (and wealthiest) associations, however, distribute members' handbooks. There are some exceptions to this rule. The large and wealthy Ogawa Eight jichikai, for example, have submitted only brief rosters. These associations are composed primarily of native households and also overlap with other historical consociations, including shrine and temple parishes and fire brigades. Manuals detailing the purpose and function of the jichikai are unnecessary, given the familiar informality preferred by natives. Moreover, the intended audience for members' handbooks in general is newcomers, whose membership in Ogawa Eight circles is not altogether welcomed anyway.

The exclusivity of the Ogawa Eight jichikai has prompted some newcomers to form their own associational enclaves, such as the twelvehousehold Juni-sho Kita-jichikai, which lies within the territory encompassed by the Ogawa 1-bangumi-jichikai (see map 5). The name Junisho Kita reflects the fact that it is located north (kita ) of the No. 12 Elementary School (junchi-sho. ) Regarding jichikai names in general, native associations invariably are named after a historical, geographic entity, such as a shinden village, oaza (large [village] section), bangumi, or aza (small [village] section). The names of newcomer associations are much more diverse, based as they are on housing projects, landmarks, flowers and trees, calendrical terms, colors, ideals, and even weather patterns.

Neighborhood associations also are formed by budding off of a "parent" association, usually after a period of internal dissension. The rationale for forming a splinter group must be submitted to city hall, and the records show that the most common reason for divisiveness involved the management of sewers and sewage disposal.^[1] Generally speaking, internal dissension is most common in newcomer associations formed among tract-home owners. By the same token, the small-

Map 5.
Neighborhood association territories. 30 = Takanodai; 46 = Ogawa 1-bangumi;
47 = Ogawa 2-bangumi; 48 = Ogawa 3-bangumi; 49 = Ogawa 4-bangumi;
50 = Ogawa 5-bangumi; 61 = Juni-sho Kita; 66 = Ogawa 6-bangumi;
67 = Ogawa 7-bangumi; 68 = Ogawa 8-bangumi; 180 = Kodaira Danchi;
196 = Hitachi Hitotsubashi Shataku; 197 = Akanedai; 198 = Gakuen Nishi Jutaku;
199 = Gakuen Nishi-machi; 200 = Toei Danchi; 201 = Gakuen Higashi-cho;
280 = Miyuki-cho; 339 = Hanakoganei Minami-cho 2-chome.  Names and numbers
as they appear in the neighborhood ssociation registry were kindly provided by
the Civic Life Department. The map is a reduced and modified version of
the one maintained by the department and represents the situation in 1984.
Only key associations mentioned in the text are outlined and identified.

est associations frequently are ephemeral, since their raison d'être often is but a single exigency needing immediate resolution, such as sewage disposal—despite the fact that jichikai are not to be premised on single issues. Finally, unlike their native counterparts, newcomer jichikai are neither extensions of prewar and interwar associations nor entities superimposed on Edo-period and later neighborhood divisions, and therefore tend to be more prone to fractionation.

Some neighborhood associations divide; others merge to form larger, presumablv more efficient (or less redundant), units; and not a few collapse after several years of existence. A staff member of the Civic Life Department pointed out, somewhat sarcastically, that a significant number of these short-lived associations were formed simply to qualify for subsidies from city hall, although in 1984 subsidies amounted to 3,265,800 yen—an average of only 8,550 yen per association. In practice, the actual amount varied according to the size and needs of a jichikai. Separate funding for street lights and bulletin boards is also provided by city hall.

As I see it, jichikai membership in Kodaira assumes three basic patterns: exclusive, voluntary, and solicited. The first characterizes the natives' neighborhood associations; the second, small-scale newcomer jichikai formed among a group of like-minded neighbors. The third pattern, solicited membership, is not uncommon among older, nonnative, large-scale organizations, such as Gakuen Nishi-chokai.

One recent newcomer wrote to a citizens' advice column in the local newspaper that immediately after the family's arrival they had been approached by a jichikai official who sought to register them in that neighborhood's association. The newcomer noted that never before had they experienced such zealous recruitment efforts. Although they regarded membership as a bothersome responsibility, they were worried about the possible negative repercussions should they decline to register. After praising jichikai as "autonomous, democratic organizations," the newspaper's anonymous advisor noted that, although membership is not (legally at least) compulsory, the benefits accruing to those who join probably outweigh the more bothersome aspects. Neighborhood associations, the advisor concluded, are the basis for "solidarity-making" and "cheerful neighborhood-making" (KSH, 20 October 1979).

The advisor glossed over the fact that a number of neighborhood associations, such as the unidentified one in question, are keen on increasing their membership in order to broaden both their financial base

and their local influence. Since I am most familiar with Gakuen Nishi-chokai, the city's largest and supposedly wealthiest association, a discussion of its operations will serve to contextualize the third pattern (i.e., solicitation) of jichikai membership and provide general insights into the operations of neighborhood associations.