Introducing environmental logic to legitimate circular burial: a case study of a Japanese social enterprise

Purpose This study aims to examine how Koike, the founder of at FOREST Co., Ltd., a startup offering the novel burial service Junkanso® RETURN TO NATURE in Japan, acquired legitimacy from the perspective of institutional logics. Design/methodology/approach To clarify how the innovative burial practice of Junkanso came to be understood in relation to existing institutional logics, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with the founder, the co-founder and a key institutional partner, and analyzed the interview data together with media coverage, public relations materials and investor evaluations. Findings Rather than seeking a direct transformation of dominant logics, the practice gained social approval by introducing an environmental logic that had not previously been salient in the field and by reinterpreting the meaning of existing institutions. Institutional alignment was formed not through framing alone, but through an incremental process of meaning adjustment across logics. Research limitations/implications This study is based on a single case in a specific institutional field. Comparative studies are needed to examine generalizability. Practical implications Actors seeking to develop new ventures in highly institutionally constrained fields need not confront dominant logics head-on. Instead, introducing an alternative logic and reinterpreting existing ones can generate broader social approval. Collaboration with institutionally credible partners, such as religious corporations and universities, plays a pivotal role. Social implications Circular burial challenges the prevailing norm in Japan that individual burial decisions are determined at the household level, offering instead a practice that respects personal autonomy and accommodates diverse family forms – including same-sex couples, friends and human–pet relationships. By embedding forest conservation as a core social purpose, the venture also demonstrates that end-of-life services can generate measurable environmental public goods: revitalized temple forests, reduced illegal dumping and long-term carbon sequestration. The model suggests a broader social possibility – that deathcare, a domain resistant to innovation because of deep institutional inertia, can be redesigned to serve both individual dignity and intergenerational ecological sustainability. Originality/value This study shows that peripheral actors can achieve legitimation by mobilizing an additional mediating logic to build congruence between their own values and the value system embedded in institutions, contributing to research on institutional logics and innovation in social enterprise contexts.