How many NPO corporations are there in Saga Prefecture?
Saga Prefecture had 365 NPO corporations (specified non-profit corporations) under its jurisdiction at the end of September 2026. Japan as a whole had 48,737, of which 1,284 were certified and 33 provisionally certified (Cabinet Office, by competent authority). Counting the main office municipality in the NPO portal bulk data (as of 10 November 2026), Karatsu City had 52, second in the prefecture after Saga City with 145 (our count).
Karatsu Farm & Food made this page as part of the Karatsu Data Bank. It sets out the number of NPO corporations in Saga Prefecture and Karatsu City as they appear in documents from the Cabinet Office, Saga Prefecture and Karatsu City. We add no conclusions or evaluation. Where a figure is our own count from the bulk data, we say so.
NPO corporations are set up under the Act on Promotion of Specified Non-profit Activities (in force since December 1998) with authorisation from a competent authority (a prefecture or a designated city). Saga has no designated city, so the prefecture is the competent authority for all NPO corporations with a main office in Saga. For corporations with a main office in Karatsu, the city's Regional Policy Division handles consultations and applications for establishment (Karatsu City, NPO procedures).
Saga Prefecture has received 366 applications for establishment (including pending ones): 365 authorised, 1 not authorised, and 184 corporations dissolved, of which 12 had their authorisation revoked (cumulative, as of 30 September 2026; Cabinet Office, applications and authorisations).
How many are in Karatsu?
From the bulk data of Saga Prefecture corporations published on the Cabinet Office NPO portal (as of 10 November 2026), we took the 366 corporations that had not been dissolved and counted them by the municipality of their main office (Cabinet Office, bulk download of NPO data). Karatsu City had 52, or 14.2% of the prefecture. No corporation had its main office in Genkai Town.
In the bulk data, all 52 corporations with a main office in Karatsu are listed with Karatsu City as the municipality to which administrative authority has been delegated.
Which fields of activity are most common?
NPO corporations list in their articles of incorporation which of 20 legally defined fields they work in, and may list several. Among Saga's 366, health, medical care and welfare (209), healthy development of children (171), community development (148) and social education (144) lead. Among Karatsu's 52, community development and healthy development of children each number 31, followed by health, medical care and welfare (26), social education (22) and environmental conservation (19) (our count from the bulk data).
| Field | Saga (366) | Karatsu (52) | Japan (48,737) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health, medical care and welfare | 209 | 26 | 28,335 |
| Social education | 144 | 22 | 24,961 |
| Community development | 148 | 31 | 22,673 |
| Tourism | 29 | 7 | 4,494 |
| Rural, fishing and hilly areas | 23 | 6 | 3,963 |
| Academia, culture, arts and sport | 95 | 14 | 18,551 |
| Environmental conservation | 86 | 19 | 12,976 |
| Disaster relief | 29 | 6 | 4,542 |
| Community safety | 34 | 8 | 6,481 |
| Human rights and peace | 23 | 1 | 9,309 |
| International cooperation | 42 | 3 | 8,903 |
| Gender equality | 16 | 2 | 4,861 |
| Healthy development of children | 171 | 31 | 24,779 |
| Information society | 31 | 3 | 4,956 |
| Science and technology | 11 | 2 | 2,685 |
| Economic activity | 49 | 9 | 8,582 |
| Vocational skills and employment | 74 | 9 | 12,742 |
| Consumer protection | 15 | 1 | 2,682 |
| Support for other organisations | 98 | 11 | 23,568 |
| Activities set by ordinance | 2 | 1 | 374 |
Nationally, health, medical care and welfare (28,335), social education (24,961), healthy development of children (24,779), support for other organisations (23,568) and community development (22,673) lead (as of 30 September 2026; Cabinet Office, by field of activity). Tourism, rural and hilly areas, and activities set by ordinance count only corporations that applied on or after 1 April 2012, and the five fields from information society to consumer protection only those that applied on or after 1 May 2003.
When were they authorised?
We grouped the existing corporations (excluding dissolved ones) by the year their establishment was authorised. In Saga, the largest group, 102, was authorised in 2006-2010, and 48 have been authorised since 2021. In Karatsu, each five-year period has roughly 9 to 13 (our count from the bulk data).
| Year authorised | Saga | Karatsu |
|---|---|---|
| 1999-2005 | 87 | 9 |
| 2006-2010 | 102 | 13 |
| 2011-2015 | 78 | 11 |
| 2016-2020 | 51 | 10 |
| 2021-2026 | 48 | 9 |
| Total | 366 | 52 |
These are counts of corporations that still exist, not the number authorised in each year; corporations that were later dissolved are not included.
How has the national number changed?
The number of NPO corporations in Japan rose from 23 at the end of FY1998, when the law took effect, to a peak of 51,866 at the end of FY2017. It has since fallen, to 49,071 at the end of FY2025 and 48,737 at the end of September 2026. Certified NPO corporations (including provisionally certified) have grown since FY2012, when certification by competent authorities began, to 1,317 at the end of September 2026 (Cabinet Office, trend in authorised and certified corporations).
| Point in time | Authorised | Certified |
|---|---|---|
| FY1998 | 23 | － |
| FY2003 | 16,160 | 22 |
| FY2008 | 37,192 | 93 |
| FY2012 | 47,540 | 407 |
| FY2017 | 51,866 | 1,064 |
| FY2020 | 50,888 | 1,209 |
| FY2024 | 49,478 | 1,294 |
| FY2025 | 49,071 | 1,318 |
| End of Sep 2026 | 48,737 | 1,317 |
How many certified NPO corporations are there?
Certified NPO corporations meet set criteria and are certified by the competent authority, which lets their donors receive tax relief. Saga had 7 certified NPO corporations and no provisionally certified ones at the end of September 2026. Of 18 applications for certification so far, none were refused, 5 were withdrawn, none were revoked and 6 lapsed at the end of their validity period. Of 7 applications for provisional certification, 1 was refused, 2 were withdrawn and 4 lapsed (Cabinet Office, certified NPO corporations by competent authority).
The prefecture's register (as of 21 August 2026) also lists 7: three with a main office in Saga City, and one each in Tosu City, Takeo City, Kiyama Town and Miyaki Town. None has a main office in Karatsu (Saga Prefecture register).
Saga also has a hometown tax donation scheme in which donors can designate an NPO. The amounts are in Donations and Hometown Tax in Numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Q1. How many NPO corporations are there in Saga Prefecture?
According to the Cabinet Office, there were 365 at the end of September 2026 (corporations under the jurisdiction of Saga Prefecture).
Q2. How many NPO corporations are there in Karatsu?
Counting corporations whose main office is in Karatsu City in the NPO portal bulk data (as of 10 November 2026), we found 52. This is the second-largest number in Saga after Saga City (145) out of 366 in the prefecture.
Q3. How many certified NPO corporations are there in Saga?
Seven at the end of September 2026, with no provisionally certified ones (Cabinet Office). The prefecture's register (as of 21 August 2026) also lists seven, none with a main office in Karatsu.
Q4. Is the number of NPO corporations in Japan rising or falling?
The national number of authorised corporations peaked at 51,866 at the end of FY2017 and has since fallen to 48,737 at the end of September 2026. Certified NPO corporations (including provisional) numbered 1,317 at that date (Cabinet Office).
Q5. Which fields of activity are most common in Saga?
By the fields listed in their articles of incorporation (multiple answers), health, medical care and welfare (209), healthy development of children (171) and community development (148) lead (our count from the bulk data as of 10 November 2026).
Sources
| Document | Publisher | Date | URL | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certified and authorised NPO corporations by competent authority | Cabinet Office | As of 2026-09-30 | https://www.npo-homepage.go.jp/about/toukei-info/kenbetsu-ninshou | 2026-11-11 |
| Applications received and corporations authorised by competent authority | Cabinet Office | As of 2026-09-30 | https://www.npo-homepage.go.jp/about/toukei-info/ninshou-zyuri | 2026-11-11 |
| Certified and provisionally certified NPO corporations by competent authority | Cabinet Office | As of 2026-09-30 | https://www.npo-homepage.go.jp/about/toukei-info/nintei-houjin | 2026-11-11 |
| Trend in authorised and certified corporations | Cabinet Office | As of 2026-09-30 | https://www.npo-homepage.go.jp/about/toukei-info/ninshou-seni | 2026-11-11 |
| Authorised corporations by field of activity | Cabinet Office | As of 2026-09-30 (corrected 2026-10-30) | https://www.npo-homepage.go.jp/about/toukei-info/ninshou-bunyabetsu | 2026-11-11 |
| Bulk download of NPO corporation data (Saga Prefecture, administrative data) | Cabinet Office | Data as of 2026-11-10 | https://www.npo-homepage.go.jp/npoportal/download/all | 2026-11-11 |
| Register of certified and provisionally certified NPO corporations | Saga Prefecture | As of 2026-08-21 | https://www.pref.saga.lg.jp/kiji00331954/index.html | 2026-11-11 |
| NPO procedures (forms) | Karatsu City | Updated 2026-03-17 | https://www.city.karatsu.lg.jp/page/3715.html | 2026-11-11 |
Notes on reading the figures
The number of NPO corporations in Saga is 365 in the Cabinet Office tally (end of September 2026) and 366 when we count the NPO portal bulk data (as of 10 November 2026) excluding dissolved corporations; the dates differ. Counts by municipality, by field and by year of authorisation are our own counts from the "main office address", "fields of activity" and "date of authorisation" columns of the bulk data. Every address names a municipality; addresses starting with a district name were counted by town.
The bulk data also contain some dissolved corporations, marked in a "dissolution" column, so its 401 rows do not equal the number of existing corporations. For dissolved corporations we use the Cabinet Office figure (184). We did not use the bulk data's "certified" column because it did not match the current number of certified corporations (7).
Fields of activity are the fields written in the articles of incorporation, not a measure of how much activity takes place. Because one corporation may list several fields, the totals exceed the number of corporations.
What this page does not cover
This page does not cover the activities or finances of individual NPO corporations, comparisons between them, the number of unincorporated groups or neighbourhood associations, or the number of volunteers. It does not cover our own projects either. Donations through the hometown tax system that donors can direct to NPOs are covered in Donations and Hometown Tax in Numbers, and Karatsu's population in Karatsu Population Data.
Citing this page and enquiries
To cite figures from this page or to ask about finding local data, please use our contact page or write to info@karatsu-f-f.com.
About this page
By Hiroaki Kojima (Vice Director, Karatsu Farm & Food) / Contact: info@karatsu-f-f.com (contact page) / Published: 11 November 2026 / Markdown: npo-data.mdThis page is made together with AI. See this data bank and AI for how.
Related links
▶ Karatsu Data Bank
▶ Donations and Hometown Tax in Numbers
▶ Karatsu Population Data
▶ Karatsu City Finance Data
▶ 佐賀県のNPO法人のデータ（日本語）