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japan's political marketplace: Japan's Political Marketplace J. Mark Ramseyer, Frances McCall Rosenbluth, 2009-06-01 Mark Ramseyer and Frances McCall Rosenbluth show how rational-choice theory can be applied to Japanese politics. Using the concept of principal and agent, Ramseyer |
japan's political marketplace: Japan's Political Marketplace J. Mark Ramseyer, 1997 |
japan's political marketplace: Odd Markets in Japanese History J. Mark Ramseyer, 2008-01-03 Employing a rational-choice approach, Professor Ramseyer studies the impact of Japanese law on economic growth in Japan. Toward that end, the author investigates the way law governed various markets and the way that people negotiated contracts within those markets. For much of the period at stake, the Japanese government was an oligarchy rather than a democracy; the judges operated a civil rather than common law regime; the economy grew modestly but erratically; and social customs changed rapidly and radically. As a result, this study applies an economic logic, but to markets in a vastly different world, in a different historical period, and with a different political regime and legal system. Findings reveal that the legal system generally promoted mutually advantageous deals, and that people generally negotiated in ways that shrewdly promoted their private best interests. Whether in the markets for indentured servants, prostitutes, or marriage partners, Odd Markets in Japanese History reports little evidence of either age- or gender- related exploitation. |
japan's political marketplace: Japan Transformed Frances Rosenbluth, Michael F. Thies, 2010-04-12 With little domestic fanfare and even less attention internationally, Japan has been reinventing itself since the 1990s, dramatically changing its political economy, from one managed by regulations to one with a neoliberal orientation. Rebuilding from the economic misfortunes of its recent past, the country retains a formidable economy and its political system is healthier than at any time in its history. Japan Transformed explores the historical, political, and economic forces that led to the country's recent evolution, and looks at the consequences for Japan's citizens and global neighbors. The book examines Japanese history, illustrating the country's multiple transformations over the centuries, and then focuses on the critical and inexorable advance of economic globalization. It describes how global economic integration and urbanization destabilized Japan's postwar policy coalition, undercut the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's ability to buy votes, and paved the way for new electoral rules that emphasized competing visions of the public good. In contrast to the previous system that pitted candidates from the same party against each other, the new rules tether policymaking to the vast swath of voters in the middle of the political spectrum. Regardless of ruling party, Japan's politics, economics, and foreign policy are on a neoliberal path. Japan Transformed combines broad context and comparative analysis to provide an accurate understanding of Japan's past, present, and future. |
japan's political marketplace: Japanese Political Economy Revisited David Chiavacci, Sébastien Lechevalier, 2020-11-25 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. |
japan's political marketplace: The Political Economy of Japan's Low Fertility Frances McCall Rosenbluth, 2006-12-08 This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to one of Japan's thorniest public policy issues: why are women increasingly forgoing motherhood? At the heart of the matter lies a paradox: although the overall trend among rich countries is for fertility to decrease as female labor participation increases, gender-friendly countries resist the trend. Conversely, gender-unfriendly countries have lower fertility rates than they would have if they changed their labor markets to encourage the hiring of women—and therein lies Japan's problem. The authors argue that the combination of an inhospitable labor market for women and insufficient support for childcare pushes women toward working harder to promote their careers, to the detriment of childbearing. Controversial and enlightening, this book provides policy recommendations for solving not just Japan's fertility issue but those of other modern democracies facing a similar crisis. |
japan's political marketplace: The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP Ellis S. Krauss, Robert J. Pekkanen, 2011-06-15 After holding power continuously from its inception in 1955 (with the exception of a ten-month hiatus in 1993–1994), Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost control of the national government decisively in September 2009. Despite its defeat, the LDP remains the most successful political party in a democracy in the post–World War II period. In The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP, Ellis S. Krauss and Robert J. Pekkanen shed light on the puzzle of the LDP's long dominance and abrupt defeat. Several questions about institutional change in party politics are at the core of their investigation: What incentives do different electoral systems provide? How do politicians adapt to new incentives? How much does structure determine behavior, and how much opportunity does structure give politicians to influence outcomes? How adaptable are established political organizations? The electoral system Japan established in 1955 resulted in a half-century of one-party democracy. But as Krauss and Pekkanen detail, sweeping political reforms in 1994 changed voting rules and other key elements of the electoral system. Both the LDP and its adversaries had to adapt to a new system that gave citizens two votes: one for a party and one for a candidate. Under the leadership of the charismatic Koizumi Junichiro, the LDP managed to maintain its majority in the Japanese Diet, but his successors lost popular support as opposing parties learned how to operate in the new electoral environment. Drawing on the insights of historical institutionalism, Krauss and Pekkanen explain how Japanese politics functioned before and after the 1994 reform and why the persistence of party institutions (factions, PARC, koenkai) and the transformed role of party leadership contributed both to the LDP's success at remaining in power for fifteen years after the reforms and to its eventual downfall. In an epilogue, the authors assess the LDP's prospects in the near and medium term. |
japan's political marketplace: Japan's New Regional Reality Saori N. Katada, 2020 Japan's regional geoeconomic strategy -- Foreign economic policy, domestic institutions and regional governance -- Geoeconomics of the Asia-Pacific -- Transformation in the Japanese political economy -- Trade and investment : a gradual path -- Money and finance : an uneven path -- Development and foreign aid : a hybrid path. |
japan's political marketplace: Between MITI and the Market Daniel I. Okimoto, 1989 |
japan's political marketplace: MITI and the Japanese Miracle Chalmers Johnson, 1982-06-01 The focus of this book is on the Japanese economic bureaucracy, particularly on the famous Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), as the leading state actor in the economy. Although MITI was not the only important agent affecting the economy, nor was the state as a whole always predominant, I do not want to be overly modest about the importance of this subject. The particular speed, form, and consequences of Japanese economic growth are not intelligible without reference to the contributions of MITI. Collaboration between the state and big business has long been acknowledged as the defining characteristic of the Japanese economic system, but for too long the state's role in this collaboration has been either condemned as overweening or dismissed as merely supportive, without anyone's ever analyzing the matter. The history of MITI is central to the economic and political history of modern Japan. Equally important, however, the methods and achievements of the Japanese economic bureaucracy are central to the continuing debate between advocates of the communist-type command economies and advocates of the Western-type mixed market economies. The fully bureaucratized command economies misallocate resources and stifle initiative; in order to function at all, they must lock up their populations behind iron curtains or other more or less impermeable barriers. The mixed market economies struggle to find ways to intrude politically determined priorities into their market systems without catching a bad case of the English disease or being frustrated by the American-type legal sprawl. The Japanese, of course, do not have all the answers. But given the fact that virtually all solutions to any of the critical problems of the late twentieth century—energy supply, environmental protection, technological innovation, and so forth—involve an expansion of official bureaucracy, the particular Japanese priorities and procedures are instructive. At the very least they should forewarn a foreign observer that the Japanese achievements were not won without a price being paid. |
japan's political marketplace: The Political Economy of the Abe Government and Abenomics Reforms Takeo Hoshi, Phillip Y. Lipscy, 2021-02-25 Explores the politics and economics of the Abe government and evaluates major policies, such as Abenomics policy reforms. |
japan's political marketplace: The Political History of Modern Japan Kitaoka Shinichi, 2018-10-10 Spanning the 130-year period between the end of the Tokugawa Era and the end of the Cold War, this book introduces students to the formation, collapse, and rebirth of the modern Japanese state. It demonstrates how, faced with foreign threats, Japan developed a new governing structure to deal with these challenges and in turn gradually shaped its international environment. Had Japan been a self-sufficient power, like the United States, it is unlikely that external relations would have exercised such great control over the nation. And, if it were a smaller country, it may have been completely pressured from the outside and could not have influenced the global stage on its own. For better or worse therefore, this book argues, Japan was neither too large nor too small. Covering the major events, actors, and institutions of Japan’s modern history, the key themes discussed include: Building the Meiji state and Constitution. The establishment of Parliament. The First Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars. Party Politics and International Cooperation. The Pacific War. Development of LDP politics. Changes in the international order and the end of the Cold War. This book, written by one of Japan's leading experts on Japan's political history, will be an essential resource for students of Japanese modern history and politics. |
japan's political marketplace: The Political Economy of Japanese Society: The state of the market? Junji Banno, 1997 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 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. |
japan's political marketplace: Japanese Governance Jennifer Amyx, Peter Drysdale, 2003-08-29 Japan Inc was once used to describe the powerful political and economic system that delivers Japan's transformation to an industrial power. This book is about the breakdown and failure of policy coherence in Japan in the 1990s and how the political economy of Japan has changed in response. The essays in the volume seek to identify where change has occurred, as well as where things have not changed and why. The issue of policymaking transparency is accorded particular attention. The book covers a wide range of Japanese institutions and policy areas, including the political party system, electoral and legal reforms, deliberation councils and the financial and agricultural sectors. The findings suggest that resistance to change through the political system is at the root of Japan's inability to deal with its national policy problems. Nonetheless, there has been considerable reform and change towards more open economic and political competition. And, these changes profoundly affect the way in which foreign governments must now relate to domestic political processes in their dealings with Japan. This interdisciplinary book draws together contributions from experts in political science, economics, law and Japanese studies to give a deeper understanding of how Japan's political economy and policymaking processes are working today. |
japan's political marketplace: Japan's Environmental Politics and Governance Yasuo Takao, 2016-11-03 Environmental issues stretch across scales of geographic space and require action at multiple levels of jurisdiction, including the individual level, community level, national level, and global level. Much of the scholarly work surrounding new approaches to environmental governance tends to overlook the role of sub-national governments, but this study examines the potential of sub-national participation to make policy choices which are congruent with global strategies and national mandates. This book investigates the emerging actors and new channels of Japan’s environmental governance which has been taking shape within an increasingly globalized international system. By analysing this important new phenomenon, it sheds light on the changing nature of Japan’s environmental policy and politics, and shows how the links between global strategies, national mandates and local action serve as an influential factor in Japan’s changing structures of environmental governance. Further, it demonstrates that decision-making competencies are shared between actors operating at different levels and in new spheres of authority, resulting from collaboration between state and non-state actors. It highlights a number of the problems, challenges, and critiques of the actors in environmental governance, as well as raising new empirical and theoretical puzzles for the future study of governance over environmental and global issues. Finally, it concludes that changes in the tiers and new spheres of authority are leading the nation towards an environmentally stable future positioned within socio-economic and political constraints. Demonstrating that bridging policy gaps between local action, national policy and global strategies is potentially a way of reinventing environmental policy, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Environmental Studies, Environmental Politics and Japanese Politics. |
japan's political marketplace: The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies James D Babb, 2014-12-15 A welcome addition to any reading list for those interested in contemporary Japanese society. - Roger Goodman, Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Society, University of Oxford I know no better book for an accessible and up-to-date introduction to this complex subject than The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japan Studies. - Hiroko Takeda, Associate Professor, Organization for Global Japanese Studies, University of Tokyo Pioneering and nuanced in analysis, yet highly accessible and engaging in style. - Yoshio Sugimoto, Emeritus Professor, La Trobe University The SAGE Handbook of Modern Japanese Studies includes outstanding contributions from a diverse group of leading academics from across the globe. This volume is designed to serve as a major interdisciplinary reference work and a seminal text, both rigorous and accessible, to assist students and scholars in understanding one of the major nations of the world. James D. Babb is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University. |
japan's political marketplace: Inequality in the Workplace Jiyeoun Song, 2014-02-06 The past several decades have seen widespread reform of labor markets across advanced industrial countries, but most of the existing research on job security, wage bargaining, and social protection is based on the experience of the United States and Western Europe. In Inequality in the Workplace, Jiyeoun Song focuses on South Korea and Japan, which have advanced labor market reform and confronted the rapid rise of a split in labor markets between protected regular workers and underprotected and underpaid nonregular workers. The two countries have implemented very different strategies in response to the pressure to increase labor market flexibility during economic downturns. Japanese policy makers, Song finds, have relaxed the rules and regulations governing employment and working conditions for part-time, temporary, and fixed-term contract employees while retaining extensive protections for full-time permanent workers. In Korea, by contrast, politicians have weakened employment protections for all categories of workers.In her comprehensive survey of the politics of labor market reform in East Asia, Song argues that institutional features of the labor market shape the national trajectory of reform. More specifically, she shows how the institutional characteristics of the employment protection system and industrial relations, including the size and strength of labor unions, determine the choice between liberalization for the nonregular workforce and liberalization for all as well as the degree of labor market inequality in the process of reform. |
japan's political marketplace: Introduction to Japanese Politics Louis D. Hayes, 2016-09-17 This classic introduction to the Japanese political system has been revised and updated to take the account of a time of turmoil in the country's political life. It incorporates new coverage of the end of the Koizumi era, the brief and troubled premiership of Abe, and the selection of Fukuda as prime minister. This edition also includes expanded material on bubble and post-bubble economic developments, as well as all-new coverage of health care policy.The text opens with an overview of Japan's geographical setting and history. The next group of chapters covers political institutions, processes, and actors. Two sections then address the country's distinctive social order and economy, educational, healthcare, and public safety systems. Part five looks at the increasingly contentious realm of foreign relations and security issues, including China's expanding role and the issue of North Korea. A concluding section considers dynamics of change in Japanese politics. |
japan's political marketplace: The Evolution of the Japanese Developmental State Hironori Sasada, 2013 Through an historical institutionalist lens, this book examines the reasons why the key features of the Japanese developmental state, such as pilot agencies and industrial associations, continued to play key roles in the post-war Japanese economy. Further, it locates the fundamental roots of the developmental state system in wartime Manchuria and thus highlights how decisions made in the context of war continued to influence the direction of the Japanese economy over the following decades. |
japan's political marketplace: A Companion to Japanese History William M. Tsutsui, 2009-07-20 A Companion to Japanese History provides an authoritative overview of current debates and approaches within the study of Japan’s history. Composed of 30 chapters written by an international group of scholars Combines traditional perspectives with the most recent scholarly concerns Supplements a chronological survey with targeted thematic analyses Presents stimulating interventions into individual controversies |
japan's political marketplace: The Postwar Developments of Japanese Studies in the United States Helen Hardacre, 1998 This volume of twelve essays with useful bibliographies, in the fields of history, art, religion, literature, anthropology, political science, and law, documents the history of United States scholarship on Japan since 1945. |
japan's political marketplace: Critical Readings on the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan Robert Pekkanen, 2018-10-02 This work collects decades of the best published scholarship in English on the unequivocally most successful political party in Japanese history: the Liberal Democratic Party (the LDP). Governing Japan for almost the entirety of the post-war period, the LDP also has a claim to be the most successful political party in any post-war democracy. Seminal articles in this collection explore the key aspects of the LDP: the party’s evolution since its founding in 1955; key facets of the LDP’s internal organization including factions and koenkai; the LDP in policy-making, including its relationship with the bureaucracy and interest groups, as well as its policy-making committee apparatus; and, party leadership, including the premierships of Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe. |
japan's political marketplace: Japan's Dysfunctional Democracy: The Liberal Democratic Party and Structural Corruption Roger W. Bowen, 2016-09-16 This is a short, readable, and incisive study of the corrosive effects of corruption in one of the world's major liberal democracies. It explores the disconnect between democratic rule and undemocratic practices in Japan since the Second World War, with special attention to the corrupt practices of various prime ministers and the resulting sense of political cynicism and powerlessness among the general public. |
japan's political marketplace: Japan's Postwar Party Politics Masaru Kohno, 2020-11-10 In this sophisticated theoretical work, Masaru Kohno presents a systematic reexamination of the evolution of party politics in Japan since the end of the second World War. Because of the long one-party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's parliamentary democracy has often been viewed as unique in the developed world, and most of the existing studies of Japanese party politics have addressed such determinants as its political culture, historical background, and socio-ideological cleavages. According to the author, these explanations do not adequately account for some of the most important changes that took place in Japanese party politics during the postwar period. This study advances an alternative set of interpretations based on a microanalytic approach that highlights the incentive and bargaining power of individual political actors, and their competitive and strategic behavior under existing institutional constraints. According to Kohno, the evolution of political life in postwar Japan depends on the same factors that are acknowledged to be at work in other industrialized nations. He reveals, through detailed case studies of government formation processes and statistical examinations of candidate nomination patterns, that the microanalytic approach can establish forward-looking and internally consistent interpretations of the postwar development of Japanese party politics. Because Japan has usually been treated as a country of unique cultural, historical, and societal characteristics, the analyses of this study point to the broader applicability of the microanalytic approach in the field of comparative politics, especially for the exploration of party competition in advanced industrial democracies. |
japan's political marketplace: The Japan That Never Was Dick Beason, Dennis Patterson, 2012-02-01 In this book, the authors address Japan's economic crisis of the 1990s. They argue that most attempts to reconcile Japan's past success with its current problems have been inadequate, primarily because scholars fail to fully understand how Japan's political-economic system was organized and how it operated in the past. Revealing that certain long-term political and economic trends suggested in subtle but unambiguous ways that the crisis of the 1990s was long in the making, the authors offer an alternative explanation for Japan's postwar political-economic trajectory and a better understanding of the challenges that Japan currently faces. |
japan's political marketplace: Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan Prof J A A Stockwin, J. A. A. Stockwin, 2003-08-27 An accessible work of reference bringing together information and authoritative analysis on all aspects of the politics of Japan and the Japanese political system. |
japan's political marketplace: Regime Shift T. J. Pempel, 1998-12-15 The Liberal Democratic Party, which dominated postwar Japan, lost power in the early 1990s. During that same period, Japan's once stellar economy suffered stagnation and collapse. Now a well-known commentator on contemporary Japan traces the political dynamics of the country to determine the reasons for these changes and the extent to which its political and economic systems have been permanently altered.T. J. Pempel contrasts the political economy of Japan during two decades: the 1960s, when the nation experienced 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 United States, Great Britain, Sweden, and Italy to show how unusual Japan's political economy had been in the 1960s. Regime Shift suggests that Japan's present troubles are deeply rooted in the economy's earlier success. It is a much-anticipated work that offers an original framework for understanding the critical changes that have affected political and economic institutions in Japan. |
japan's political marketplace: Financial Market Reform In China Baizhu Chen, 2019-09-17 As editors, first of all, we would like to thank the authors of this volume for their conscientious work that makes this volume possible. Many ideas in this book were first explored at an international symposium on financial market reforms in China, which was organized by the Chinese Economists Society. We would like to express our thanks to the sponsors of the conference: Center for International Business Education and Research, China Reform Foundation, MetLife, Hausman & Shrenger LLP, Lincoln National Insurance Company, City National Bank, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California and The Chinese Economists Society. The Lincoln Foundation also provided generous support to this project through a grant made to Claremont Graduate University where this book was finalized. |
japan's political marketplace: Structure and Policy in Japan and the United States Peter F. Cowhey, Mathew McCubbins, 1995-09-29 This volume compares the strengths and weaknesses of governments in Japan and in the US. |
japan's political marketplace: Japanese Industrial Governance Yul Sohn, 2005 Japanese Industrial Governance uses a wide range of original Japanese sources to explore the evolution of Japanese developmental debates, arguing that the core of the industrial governance system was in fact the result of infant industry protection and high barriers to foreign entry. In response to international pressures, in particular penetration by Anglo-American multinational corporations, the licensing system, as Sohn refers to it, was not purely an internal, domestic decision, as it is commonly regarded. Using primarily the cases of prewar petroleum and automobiles industries, the focus of this book lies mainly in the late nineteenth century when the Meiji leaders (1868-1912) established non-tariff protective mechanisms, which were strengthened by the massive entry of foreign multinationals during the 1920s. Combined with other industrial policy tools such as subsidies and other financial incentives, the licensing system helped to establish regulated markets.--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
japan's political marketplace: The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Politics Robert Pekkanen, Saadia M. Pekkanen, 2021-10-25 Book Abstract and Keywords: The study of Japanese politics has flourished over the past several decades. This Handbook provides a state-of-the-field overview for students and researchers of Japanese. The volume also serves to introduce Japanese politics to readers less familiar with Japan. In addition, the volume has a theme of evaluating Japan's democracy. Taken as a whole, the volume provides a positive evaluation of the state of Japan's democracy. The volume is divided into two parts, roughly corresponding to domestic Japanese politics and Japan's international politics. Within the domestic politics part, there are four distinct sections: Domestic Political Actors and Institutions, covering the Japanese Constitution, electoral systems, prime minister, Diet, bureaucracy, judiciary, and local government; Political Parties and Coalitions, covering the Liberal Democratic Party, coalition government, Kōmeitō, and the political opposition; Policymaking and the Public, covering the policymaking process, public opinion, civil society, and populism; and, Political Economy and Social Policy, covering industrial, energy, social welfare, agricultural, monetary, and immigration policies, as well as social inequality. In the international relations part, there are four sections: International Relations Frameworks, covering grand strategy, international organizations, and international status; International Political Economy, covering trade, finance, foreign direct investment, the environment, economic regionalism, and the linkage between security and economics; International Security, covering remilitarization, global and regional security multilateralism, nuclear nonproliferation, naval power, space security, and cybersecurity; and, Foreign Relations covering Japan's relations with the United States, China, South Korea, ASEAN, India, the European Union, and Russia. Keywords: international relations, comparative politics, democracy, international order, alliances, space security, elections, Liberal Democratic Party, multilateralism, remilitarization, international organizations, populism, civil society, coalitions, political parties, trade, finance monetary policy, foreign direct investment, cybersecurity-- |
japan's political marketplace: Collective Action in East Asia Gregory W. Noble, 2018-09-05 As one Asian economic crisis follows another, sending shock waves through the global market, questions about the making and conduct of industrial policy in the East take on a special urgency. Observers are sharply divided as to whether the ubiquitous attempts at cooperation among competing firms in Asia have been a key to competitiveness or a corrosive form of collusion. This timely book offers a close look at the impact of industrial policies on collective action in East Asia—in Japan and Taiwan and, more briefly, in South Korea. Systematically comparative and based on interviews and original research in the local languages, it focuses on forms of collective action such as cartels, standardization, and research and development consortia in the consumer electronics and minimill steel industries. The book combines detailed case studies with analyses of the political, bureaucratic, and industrial environments in which policy is crafted. It also considers how these environments have evolved in the past decade as long-ruling conservative parties have been challenged in all three countries.Among the book's findings is a surprising disparity between the ways in which Japan and Taiwan have handled collective action policy, despite their many historical, demographic, and economic similarities. Collective Action in East Asia also brings to light unexpected inconsistencies in the effectiveness of Japanese policy, which frequently succeeds with R&D consortia but struggles with cartels. Studying both the rapid-growth period of the 1980s and the more recent economic slowdown in East Asia, this book provides crucial information for an understanding of today's global economy. |
japan's political marketplace: Electoral Reform and National Security in Japan Amy Catalinac, 2016-01-25 This book argues that Japanese politicians pay more attention to security issues nowadays because of the electoral reform. |
japan's political marketplace: Japanese Diplomacy H. D. P. Envall, 2015-02-17 Groundbreaking study demonstrating how Japans leaders play an important role in diplomacy. A political leader is most often a nations most high-profile foreign policy figure, its chief diplomat. But how do individual leadership styles, personalities, perceptions, or beliefs shape diplomacy? In Japanese Diplomacy, the question of what role leadership plays in diplomacy is applied to Japan, a country where the individual is often viewed as being at the mercy of the group and where prime ministers have been largely thought of as reactive and weak. In challenging earlier, simplified ideas of Japanese political leadership, H. D. P. Envall argues that Japans leaders, from early Cold War figures such as Yoshida Shigeru to the charismatic and innovative Koizumi Junichir? to the present leadership of Abe Shinz?, have pursued leadership strategies of varying coherence and rationality, often independent of their political environment. He also finds that different Japanese leaders have shaped Japanese diplomacy in some important and underappreciated ways. In certain environments, individual difference has played a significant role in determining Japans diplomacy, both in terms of the countrys strategic identity and summit diplomacy. What emerges from Japanese Diplomacy, therefore, is a more nuanced overall picture of Japanese leadership in foreign affairs. |
japan's political marketplace: Changing Politics in Japan Ikuo Kabashima, Gill Steel, 2012-08-17 Changing Politics in Japan is a fresh and insightful account of the profound changes that have shaken up the Japanese political system and transformed it almost beyond recognition in the last couple of decades. Ikuo Kabashima-a former professor who is now Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture-and Gill Steel outline the basic features of politics in postwar Japan in an accessible and engaging manner. They focus on the dynamic relationship between voters and elected or nonelected officials and describe the shifts that have occurred in how voters respond to or control political elites and how officials both respond to, and attempt to influence, voters. The authors return time and again to the theme of changes in representation and accountability. Kabashima and Steel set out to demolish the still prevalent myth that Japanese politics are a stagnant set of entrenched systems and interests that are fundamentally undemocratic. In its place, they reveal a lively and dynamic democracy, in which politicians and parties are increasingly listening to and responding to citizens' needs and interests and the media and other actors play a substantial role in keeping democratic accountability alive and healthy. Kabashima and Steel describe how all the political parties in Japan have adapted the ways in which they attempt to organize and channel votes and argue that contrary to many journalistic stereotypes the government is increasingly acting in the the interests of citizens-the median voter's preferences. |
japan's political marketplace: Japan’s Failed Revolution Aurelia George Mulgan, 2013-05-23 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. |
japan's political marketplace: Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan Jeff Kingston, 2019-02-18 This new and fully updated second edition of Critical Issues in Contemporary Japan provides undergraduate and graduate students with an interdisciplinary textbook written by leading specialists on contemporary Japan. Students will gain the analytical insights and information necessary to assess the challenges that confront the Japanese people, policymakers and private and public-sector institutions in Japan today. Featuring a comprehensive analysis of key debates and issues confronting Japan, issues covered include: A rapidly aging society and changing employment system Nuclear and renewable energy policy Gender discrimination Immigration and ethnic minorities Post-3/11 tsunami, earthquake and nuclear meltdown developments Sino-Japanese relations An essential reference work for students of contemporary Japan, it is also an invaluable source for a variety of courses, including comparative politics, anthropology, public policy and international relations. |
japan's political marketplace: Law and Labour Market Regulation in East Asia Sean Cooney, Tim Lindsey, Richard Mitchell, Zhu Ying, 2003-08-29 This edited collection examines the labour laws of seven industrializing East Asian societies - China, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam - and discusses the variation in their impact across the whole region. Leading scholars from each country consider both laws pertaining to working conditions and industrial relations, and those that regulate the labour market as a whole. Legislation concerning migrant labour, gender equality, employment creation and skills formation is also examined. Adopting their own distinct theoretical perspectives, the authors trace the historical development of labour regulation and reveal that most countries in the region now have quite extensive frameworks. This book will be particularly useful to people interested in the place of labour law, and law in general, in contemporary East Asian societies. |
japan's political marketplace: Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Restoration, 1868-2000 R. Sims, 2019-06-12 Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Restoration, 1868-2000 explores, through a combination of narrative and analysis, the changes in the political process which lay behind Japan's transformation into a modern nation state; its successive turn toward militarism, fascism, and the Pacific War; and the imposition of a fully democratic constitution. Sims examines closely such central topics as the Meiji renovation, samurai modernisers, the rise of liberal political parties, the Meiji constitution, 'Taisho democracy', the wartime changes in the political system, postwar reforms and the 'reverse course', four decades of Liberal Democratic rule, and the shake-up of Japanese politics during the 1990s. No other book has covered Japanese political history over the entire period since 1868 in such detail, and the present volume aims to fill the gap between the various general histories of modern Japan and the ever-increasing monographic literature. |
japan's political marketplace: The Nature of the Japanese State Brian J. McVeigh, 2013-09-13 Brian J. McVeigh uses a unique anthropological approach to step outside flawed stereotypes of Japanese society and really engage in the current debate over the role of bureaucracy in Japanese politics. To many in the West, Japan appears as a paradox: a rational, high-tech economic superpower and yet at the same time a deeply ritualistic and ceremonial society. This adventurous new study demonstrates how these nominally conflicting impressions of Japan can be reconciled and a greater understanding of the state achieved. |
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Japan's tallest mountains, Nagoya and great sake. Explore. Kansai Region From Kyoto's temples to Osaka's ...
Japan Travel Guide - Destinations
• Kusatsu Onsen One of Japan's best hot spring towns. • Yokohama Japan's second largest city. • Oze National Park Popular hiking destination with a marshland. • Manza Onsen Hot spring …
Japan Geography - japan-guide.com
Japan is politically structured into 8 regions and 47 prefectures. Population. The population of Japan is about 125 million, including around 3 million foreign residents. Earthquakes and …
Taxes in Japan - japan-guide.com
A person who has lived in Japan for at least five years or has the intention of staying in Japan permanently. Permanent residents pay taxes on all income from Japan and abroad. Note that …
Japan Travel Essentials - Plan Your Trip - japan-guide.com
We strive to keep Japan Guide up-to-date and accurate, and we're always looking for ways to improve. If you have any updates, suggestions, corrections or opinions, please let us know:. …
Golf in Japan - japan-guide.com
Golf (ゴルフ) is a popular sport in Japan. A large variety of courses for golfers of every budget and skill level can be found across all regions of Japan, with some of the best located around …
Soccer in Japan - japan-guide.com
Competitive soccer in Japan is organized into a pyramidal system similar to that in many European leagues. At the top of the hierarchy is the professional level called the J.League . …
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan - A basic visitor guide
Held from April 13 to October 13, 2025. 64 million visitors - more than half of Japan's population - visited the Expo 70 in Osaka, making it one of the most successful events in the country's …
Tokyo City Guide - What to do in Tokyo - japan-guide.com
Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō) is Japan's capital and the world's most populous metropolis. It is also one of Japan's 47 prefectures, consisting of 23 central city wards and multiple cities, towns and …
Electricity in Japan
The frequency of electric current is 50 Hertz in eastern Japan (including Tokyo, Yokohama, Tohoku, Hokkaido) and 60 Hertz in western Japan (including Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, …
japan-guide.com - Japan Travel and Living Guide
Japan's tallest mountains, Nagoya and great sake. Explore. Kansai Region From Kyoto's temples to Osaka's ...
Japan Travel Guide - Destinations
• Kusatsu Onsen One of Japan's best hot spring towns. • Yokohama Japan's second largest city. • Oze National Park Popular hiking destination with a marshland. • Manza Onsen Hot spring resort …
Japan Geography - japan-guide.com
Japan is politically structured into 8 regions and 47 prefectures. Population. The population of Japan is about 125 million, including around 3 million foreign residents. Earthquakes and …
Taxes in Japan - japan-guide.com
A person who has lived in Japan for at least five years or has the intention of staying in Japan permanently. Permanent residents pay taxes on all income from Japan and abroad. Note that tax …
Japan Travel Essentials - Plan Your Trip - japan-guide.com
We strive to keep Japan Guide up-to-date and accurate, and we're always looking for ways to improve. If you have any updates, suggestions, corrections or opinions, please let us know:. Send …
Golf in Japan - japan-guide.com
Golf (ゴルフ) is a popular sport in Japan. A large variety of courses for golfers of every budget and skill level can be found across all regions of Japan, with some of the best located around famous …
Soccer in Japan - japan-guide.com
Competitive soccer in Japan is organized into a pyramidal system similar to that in many European leagues. At the top of the hierarchy is the professional level called the J.League . Next is the semi …
Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan - A basic visitor guide
Held from April 13 to October 13, 2025. 64 million visitors - more than half of Japan's population - visited the Expo 70 in Osaka, making it one of the most successful events in the country's …
Tokyo City Guide - What to do in Tokyo - japan-guide.com
Tokyo (東京, Tōkyō) is Japan's capital and the world's most populous metropolis. It is also one of Japan's 47 prefectures, consisting of 23 central city wards and multiple cities, towns and villages …
Electricity in Japan
The frequency of electric current is 50 Hertz in eastern Japan (including Tokyo, Yokohama, Tohoku, Hokkaido) and 60 Hertz in western Japan (including Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Shikoku, …