Japanese Political Economy Revisited

During the last 30 years, the Japanese political economy system has experienced significant changes that are usually not well understood or analysed because of their complexity and contradictions. This book provides new analyses and insights on the process of evolving Japanese political economy including Japan’s current economic policy known as Abenomics. The first three chapters looks at evolutions at the corporate level, characterised in recent years by increasing firm heterogeneity. The authors apply theoretically driven analyses to the complex subject of corporate governance, human resource management and corporate reporting by discussing new developments in context of their economic opportunities as well as of their institutional contradictions with continuities in Japanese business practices. The second group of chapters deals with institutional changes and evolving economic reforms on the macro level of political economy. The two chapters focus on the financial system regulation and economic growth policies as two central elements of Japan’s political economy and key drivers in the evolution of its economy. Their analysis allows us to better understand the interplay between reforms and change in consumption credit and to reinterpret Abenomics as a manifestation of ongoing contradictions within the Japanese political economy. The chapters were originally published in a special issue in Japan Forum.

Beginning in the late 19th century this study examines the historical developments of Japan's contemporary political economy paying particular attention to the changes that have taken place from the bottom up

This authoritative study of Japan's environmental problems is by the country's leading environmental economist, Shigeto Tsuru. The author places environmental issues within a socio-economic context. In providing an historical account of environmental disruption in Japan, Professor Tsuru cites a number of key cases of industrial pollution in the pre-war and post-war periods and illustrates the effectiveness of such a strategy not only for Japan but any developed country. Finally, the author proposes a set of countermeasures against environmental problems, applicable to all developed countries today, aimed at achieving a new "quality of life."

This book explores how Japan balances her internal political economy with the external process of internationalisation by examining the following aspects of Japanese economic development planning: industrial policies and financial system; political economy in relation to the otherAsian countries; role in the global economy; and structural changes to Japan's post-Cold War economic development. This new edition tackles the problems and issues for Japan in the post-Sep 11 period, the election of Koizumi as prime minister, and the entry of China into the WTO. the author suggests that Japan may need to be more involved in the East Asian political economy at a time when the United States is more and more involved in the war against terrorism.

Pempel contrasts the political economy of Japan during two decades: the 1960s ̧when the nation e¡perienced conservative political dominance and high growth ̧and the early 1990s ̧when the "bubble economy" collapsed and electoral politics changed. The different dynamics of the two periods indicate a regime shift in which the present political economy deviates profoundly from earlier forms. This shift has involved a transformation in socioeconomic alliances ̧political and economic institutions ̧and public policy profile ̧rendering Japanese politics far less predictable than in the past. Pempel weighs the Japanese case against comparative data from the USA ̧Great Britain ̧Sweden and Italy ̧to show how unusual Japan's political economy had been in the 1960s. The te¡t suggests that Japan's present troubles are deeply rooted in the economy's earlier success.

The Japanese economy has shown paradoxical changes. Its successes in forming a company-centred society generated the long downturn toward zero-growth capitalism. Successful spread of information technologies resulted in deterioration of economic life among working people and a wide fall in birth rate. At the zenith of the Japanese model of company system, a huge bubble swelled, so as to prepare a prolonged depression throughout the 1990s. Neoliberalism with spiral reversal of capitalist development toward more competitive markets rather promoted difficulties among people. A lucid reconsideration of neoliberalism through concrete Japanese experiences.

Until recently, many Japanese believed that they lived in the richest country in the world, and in the early 1990s, they welcomed the end of one-party dominance. However, by the middle of the 1990s, many Japanese are no longer confident in their economy, nor optimistic in their politics. This authoritative study analyses various aspects of Japanese society and economy in order to provide a balanced view between the optimism of the 1980s and the pessimism characteristic of more recent years. The Political Economy of Japanese Society is a revision and translation of a multidisciplinary research project carried out by the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo. Beginning with the late nineteenth century, it examines the historical developments of Japan's contemporary political economy, paying particular attention to the changes that have occurred 'from below'. Social actors who have often been given peripheral treatment, such as opposition parties, the aged, female workers and foreign workers, are brought to the forefront of the analysis, alongside those considered more mainstream, such as the governing party, large corporations and labour unions. The Japanese political economy of the 1980s and 90s has had a strong impact on the global economy, and this book also analyses selective influences on the outside world, in particular on other Asian nations and the USA. Volume 1 analyses the structures of the Japanese political economy which encouraged continuous economic growth in the period from 1955 to 1990, focusing on such phenomena as Japanese political management, the Japanese employment system, and one-party dominance in politics. Volume 2 examines some of the problems inherited from this period of dramatic economic growth.

Among the world's great industrial states, Japan is the newest, most dynamic, and most distinctive. Whether viewed as a model, a partner, or a threat, no country is more important or less understood. What are the central features of Japan's industrial system? What are the core institutions and practices that have to be understood in order to know how it functions? What sets it apart from other industrial systems, notably that of the United States? Is the Japanese system changing, and if so, how? These are the basic questions addressed in this volume, which presents in compact form the best thinking, the most stimulating arguments, and the classic interpretations of contemporary Japan. The book comprises 55 selections by economists, political scientists, anthropologists, business consultants, and others, which together give an unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the Japanese industrial system.