Contemporary Government Reform In Japan

This book examines several major reforms in Japan - in the postal business, transportation, telecommunications and technology - and evaluates the impact of these changes since the early 1980s. Conceptually, the book presents the dual state as being a fundamental feature of the Japanese political economy that determines government reform dynamics.

Globalization and the Politics of Institutional Reform in Japan illuminates Japan’s contemporary and historical struggle to adjust policy and the institutional architecture of government to an evolving global order. This focused and scholarly study identifies that key to this difficulty is a structural tendency towards central political command, which reduces the country’s capacity to follow a more subtle allocation of authority that ensures political leadership remains robust and non-dictatorial. Thus, Motoshi Suzuki argues that it is essential for a globalizing state to incorporate opposition parties and transgovernmental networks into policy-making processes. Providing an in-depth analysis of the theories of institutional change, this book introduces readers to a wealth of perspectives and counterarguments concerning analysis of political decision-making and policy adjustment on both the national and international scale. Placing Japanese policy reform in the global context and relating policy reform to leadership’s political strategies, the author gives a detailed chronological and analytical overview of Japan’s challenging institutional, political and bureaucratic transformations since the Meiji Restoration of the late nineteenth century. Analysis of globalization and policy reform in a non-liberal state, and the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats from an international perspective is included. For those interested in historical and contemporary Japanese politics from a theoretical perspective, particularly the implications of globalization and the politician–bureaucrat relationship, this is an indispensable resource.

This book should be read by all political scientists, journalists, economists, and students interested in contemporary Japan. Ellis S. Krauss Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies University of California, San Diego. The author takes a scalpel to dissect Japan’s dysfunctional political system. She shows with wonderful clarity and depth of knowledge why the Koizumi reforms are not succeeding, and why revolutionary political change is needed as a precondition for economic recovery. The book should be required reading for anyone involved with contemporary Japan. J.A.A. Stockwin University of Oxford -- Publisher's description.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, grade: 1,1, Cologne Business School Köln, course: East Asia Management, language: English, abstract: On August 30, 2009, Lower House elections for the bicameral Diet were held in Japan where the DPJ, short for Democratic Party of Japan, achieved a landslide victory. Never before has the opposition party in Japan reached such a clear success in becoming the new ruling party of Japan and making the thus far dominant Liberal Democratic Party, abbreviated as LDP, the new opposition. As the newly elected government argues that the Iron Triangle Model, which dominates Japanese policy making processes, is outdated and proposed plans on how to reform it, new discussions about this post-war concept arose. Thus, this paper will deal with the following questions. In how far has the Iron Triangle Model been reformed in the recent years? Is Japan shifting away from this post-war model and, what, if anything, has been achieved by contemporary reforms? In how far are the reform attempts of former Prime Minister Koizumi and Prime Minister Hatoyama similar to each other? The goal of the paper is to answer these questions while also giving a diligent insight and thorough understanding of the Iron Triangle Model. Moreover, this model for Japanese policy making and its up-to-dateness will be rated. For answering these research questions, not only the newly proposed plans of the Democratic Party of Japan are to be elaborated and evaluated, but also the contemporary reform attempt of Koizumi Jun’ichirō, which started in 2001, is to be explained. While most scientific analyses and traditional studies tended to focus almost exclusively on either Prime Minister Koizumi’s or Prime Minister Hatoyama’s reform attempts in economic as well as institutional terms, this paper spotlights on a juxtaposition of Koizumi Jun'ichirō and Hatoyama Yukio’s institutional reforms. The reform attempts will be compared and evaluated based on scientific journals and research papers that solely focus on one of the actors or specific topics discussed in this analysis combining their findings. Also, official government information, publications by political parties and data from textbooks will deliver theoretical background and additional insight. The theory applied to solve the research question is the Iron Triangle Model, which characterizes Japanese policy making throughout the post-war era. An in-depth evaluation of the model, the actor’s roles as well as the reform attempts themselves will be executed to present a sound juxtaposition.

This book deals with the public policy-making process in contemporary Japan testifying a new dictum: 'The various phases of the policy process cause politics'. The analytical focus is threefold: encompassing the policy-making process on the national level; elections and the policy-making process; and the regional policy and decision-making. These analyses offer a number of original and comparative data on Japanese politics. This book also tries to interpret the basic pattern of Japanese politics, which contributes to a clear understanding of the dynamic aspects of the political process and political economy after the Second World War.

This title was first published in 1986: This is a study of "karayuki-san", impoverished Japanese women sent abroad to work as prostitutes from the 1860s to the 1920s. It follows the life of one prostitute, Osaki, who is persuaded as a child of ten to accept cleaning work in Borneo and then forced to work as a prostitute in a brothel.

Provides an overview of the central government of Japan the bicameral parliament and civil service bureaucracy and how these institutions create the laws and policies of the country. Discusses the electoral system, political parties, the role of local governments, democracy and political participati