Participation and Policy Innovation: The Case of Japan’s Good Governance

This study aims to show the practical presence of good governance through the case of environmental management project of Toyonaka City of Japan and to discuss its applicability to other countries. For the objective, this study explained the general background, main features of innovation, and consequences of innovation of the project, and presented its lessons and recommendations for the developing countries. Concretely, this study argued the environmental management project of Toyonaka City is a case of good governance in terms that the institutional basis for the long run implementation of the project was constructed, and the citizens, public authorities, NPOs, and companies formed collaborative relationships and contributed in their respective capacities, and moreover that discussion and learning from experience among the participants was institutionalized, which led to greater accountability, transparency, and effectiveness in the execution of the environmental management projects. In conclusion, this study proposed that even though applying the experience of Toyonaka City should be approached with caution and appropriate strategies, Toyonaka City has shown the effectiveness of collective approaches to quality of life issues which are both a local and a universal problem to other countries.