【正文】 METI workbook is targeted at larger panies in the manufacturing sector rather than smaller panies, the diffusion of EMA for small and mediumsized panies is perceived as a next important issue of their projects. 3 SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH RESULTS In 2020 Kokubu et al. conducted a survey of environmental accounting practices. They sent out questionnaires on environmental accounting to the 216 panies that had disclosed environmental accounting information in their environmental reports and 159 valid responses were received. From this previous study, the following findings are relevant to this paper: 7 1. Concerning the purpose of environmental accounting, per cent of the responding panies considered external reporting the primary purpose of environmental accounting. Only per cent saw internal management applications as more important. However, per cent of panies emphasized both. 2. Concerning the benefits of environmental accounting, only per cent of the panies answered that environmental accounting was useful for internal environmental management. This result suggested that, at the time, the perceived usefulness of environmental accounting for internal management was limited. 3. Concerning environmental accounting for internal use, per cent of the panies used the same environmental accounting methods and metrics as they used for external disclosure purposes. per cent used somewhat modified versions of these methods and metrics. Only per cent of the panies employed some different environmental accounting methods and metrics for internal use than those they used for external environmental accounting. Based on these results, Kokubu et al. (2020) concluded that Japanese corporate environmental accounting was oriented to external reporting. And that in substantial part this was due to the emphasis the MOE guidelines place on the external disclosure function of environmental accounting. In addition, they pointed out that Japanese panies did not receive significant benefits from the internal use of environmental accounting. 4 THE CURRENT STUDY AND RESULTS Research purposes However, this previous research was conducted before the publication of the METI workbook with its focus on the internal management applications of environmental accounting (EMA). Therefore, a new surveybased study was conducted after the release of the METI workbook to reexamine management practices of Japanese panies. Specifically, the new study had two purposes: 1. To characterize the current environmental accounting practices of Japanese panies and the motivations and perceptions underlying current practices 8 2. To identify factors and conditions important to promote the adoption and maximize the benefits of EMA Concerning the first purpose, the survey was structured to permit parisons to the results of the previous research while at the same time eliciting more nuanced responses. A significant new focus of the survey questions was the extent to which EMA methods have diffused into Japanese panies. Regarding the second purpose, three hypotheses were proposed and evaluated in light of survey results. The survey was conducted in April 2020, approximately one year after the publication of the METI workbook. A questionnaire was sent to the environmental departments of all listed panies (1,523 in total, manufacturing: 952。一個是日本環(huán)境省，另一個是日本經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)業(yè)省。 日本環(huán)境省對企業(yè)環(huán)境報告中環(huán)境會計信息披露的影響 是毋庸置疑的。然而，他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)是在經(jīng)濟生產(chǎn)生發(fā)布工作手冊之前。 2020 年環(huán)境省修訂了報告并頒布了環(huán)境會計指南（環(huán)境省， 2020）。除了環(huán)境會計 指南，環(huán)境省還發(fā)布了環(huán)境自愿報告指南在 2020 年（環(huán)境省， 2020）。具體來說，指南列明和定義了七類環(huán)保成本： （ 1） 商業(yè)地區(qū)成本：為控制因為生產(chǎn)經(jīng)營而在該地區(qū)造成的環(huán)境影響而付出的環(huán)保費用 （ 2） 上游或下游成本：為控制因為生產(chǎn)經(jīng)營活動對上游或下游地區(qū)的環(huán)境影響而付出的環(huán)保費用 （ 3） 管理活動成本：管理活動中的環(huán)境成本 （ 4） 研究及開發(fā)成本：研究及開 發(fā)活動中的環(huán)境成本 （ 5） 社會活動成本：社會活動中的環(huán)境成本 （ 6） 環(huán)境破壞成本：與環(huán)境破壞相關(guān)的環(huán)境成本 （ 7） 其他 關(guān)于環(huán)境保護收益，指南把他分為四個方面：（ 1）環(huán)境保護投入的資源收益；（ 2）主要商業(yè)活動對環(huán)境的影響以及廢棄物的環(huán)保收益：（ 3）關(guān)于企業(yè)的產(chǎn)品和服