Abstract
Following the US and Europe, Japan is now becoming aware of the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In fact, Japan has become the country with the largest number of participants in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which is currently the most acknowledged reporting system of CSR in the world. However, the mere number of the participants does not tell much. The Japanese approach to CSR may well differ from the Western approach, given various differences in their socio-economic characteristics. Against this background, two empirical tests are conducted. The identification of the characteristics of the Japanese adopters of GRI Guidelines implies the erosion of the traditional corporate-centered system of that country both from outside and from inside. On the other hand, the manner of adoption is found to be quite different between Japan and the West, which may be a sign of cultural or systematic resistance to total convergence.