Chapter Fourteen:
The Political Economy of Japan
True/False Questions:
1) Japan is a relatively heterogeneous country, which makes it harder to structure
political and social behavior.
2) Japanese society’s homogeneity and tradition combine to create a system in which
consultation and consensus are easier to achieve and maintain than in many
western nations such as the United States.
3) Interests are rarely in conflict in Japan and the willingness to sacrifice for the sake
of tradition is as strong as ever.
4) The pluralism of interests in Japan is sufficiently diverse that interests are
increasingly difficult to bring into agreement, and change is continual if not rapid.
5) The political economy of Japan is quite simple.
6) The organization of business in Japan differs from that in the United States due to
short-term relationships, many of which are supported by patterns of interlocking
ownership among firms.
7) The Japanese economy has been strong since the 1990’s.
8) Japan’s economy began to grow in 2003, and deflation stopped.
9) In 2001, Japan experienced both a sluggish economy and deflation with public
debt reaching 245 percent of its GDP.
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10) Japan faces many problematic issues: an aging population, retirement and health
care cost borne by a shrinking workforce, a low birth rate, and a dwindling
population.
11) Japanese banks compete with the government-run, huge postal savings system
which the banks view as unfair competition given the low interest rates and high
loan rates that the postal savings system offers.
12) The Japanese governmental system was patterned after the British parliamentary
system with uniquely Japanese characteristics and an overlay of American-style
organizations.
13) The principal institution of Japanese government is the Diet (Parliament),
composed of two houses with equal power.
14) An enduring and strong aspect of Japanese politics has been its stability and lack
of political scandals, especially in the 1990’s.
15) The Japanese government is of the cabinet form with the cabinet assuming
collective responsibility for policy.
16) To maintain constituency support, many of the members of the Diet keep a
koenkai, a locally based organization that serves to organize and mobilize support
for the member.
17) In Japan, a personal relationship between a member of the Diet and his
constituents is very important. Such relationships require the member to attend
weddings and funerals, give gifts to constituents, hold parties, and to organize
excursions for constituents.
18) A Diet member represents constituents’ interests only in the Diet.
19) Members of the Diet participate in groups called koenkai that intermediate
between interest groups and the bureaucracy.
20) Despite its name, the LDP or Liberal Democratic Party is conservative in its
orientation.
21) Japan has a strong regulatory ministry in the bureaucracy called The Ministry of
Regulatory Matter.
22) In Japan, it is the most able graduates who seek a position in the bureaucracy,
which adds to the prestige and expertise of their executive branch.
23) In Japanese government, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication
(MIC) gets first choice among the successful candidates that apply for a position.
24) The Japanese judicial system is patterned after the civil code systems of
continental Europe, rather than the adversarial system found in the United
Kingdom and the United States.
25) Japan has twice the number of lawyers as the USA.
26) Although Japan has an anti-monopoly law, some segments of its construction
industry operate under an illegal system of bid rigging, price fixing and market
27) The economy of Japan is based on Confucian capitalism.
28) Japanese culture emphasizes harmony and the role of formal and informal
hierarchical relationships.
29) In Japan, harmony is the key in political relationships.
30) The Japanese governmental bureaucracy tends to maintain very distant
relationships with business.
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Multiple Choice Questions:
31) Japan’s cultural homogeneity is due to all of the following except:
a) Isolation prior to 1941.
b) Its resistance to immigration.
c) Relatively small regional differences.
32) Culturally, Japan is relatively
a) homophobic.
b) pluralistic.
c) heterogeneous.
d) homogeneous.
33) The political economy of Japan is:
a) Simple.
b) Confrontational.
c) Complex.
d) Recent.
34) In the end of the 1990’s, the principal systemic level issues in Japan’s political
economy center on all except which of the following?
a) Deregulation of the economy
b) Decentralizing the education system
c) Political reform and stability
d) A sluggish economy
35) Interests in Japan can be characterized by which of the following?
a) Totally uniform in all aspects
b) Always divided
c) No conflict
d) Pluralistic
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36) If Japanese businesses disagree on a trade issue, they:
a) Are more likely to contest the issue in public.
b) Are more likely to seek consensus within business and industry associations.
c) Force a confrontation with the government.
d) Debate the issue in the Diet.
37) Japan has activist and public interest groups. How are they when contrasted with
their counterparts in the U.S.?
a) There are more of them, less active and more aggressive
b) There are less of them, less active and more cautious
c) There are less of them, more active and more cautious
d) There are more of them, more active and more cautious
38) The Japanese governmental system is characterized as:
a) Molded after the British parliamentary system.
b) Possessing a set of uniquely Japanese characteristics.
c) Being an overlay of American style institutions.
d) All the above.
39) In Japan, the lower house of the Diet has most of the legislative powers. It can do
all the following, except:
a) Enact legislation by a two-thirds majority, even if the upper house disapproves
it.
b) Formally elect the Prime Minister.
c) Vote no confidence in the Prime Minister, thus forcing him/her to resign or
call for new elections.
d) Call for the emperor’s resignation.
40) Japan’s lower house, the House of Representatives, has how many members?
a) 100
b) 250
c) 360
d) 480
41) What are the principal institutions of the Japanese government?
a) The Diet
b) The Electoral and Party systems
c) The Bureaucracy
d) All are correct
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42) To maintain constituent support, many Diet members maintain a local
organization called _________ that mobilizes and organizes support of members.
a) Kanban
b) Kaizan
c) Koenkai
d) Karaoke
43) All of the following fit the description of the Japanese parties except:
a) Parties play an important role in governing the parliamentary system.
b) A majority party resolves a variety of matters.
c) A majority tries to settle matters prior to their submission to the legislature.
d) Heated debate is likely on legislative matters the parties disagree on.
44) By the time a bill is introduced into the Diet, all of the following are accurate
except:
a) Consensus has been developed within the policy-making apparatus of the
governing bodies.
b) The bureaucracy does not yet support it.
c) The bureaucracy does support it.
d) The cabinet gives its approval.
45) Which of the following statements is not a description of the bureaucracy in
Japan?
a) The dominant force in the government
b) Well respected with much sought after positions
c) Known for its low prestige and lack of expertise
d) Known for its influence that is based on its high prestige and expertise
46) The status conferred on the bureaucracy is due to all of the following factors
except which of the following?
a) Its expertise
b) Its neutrality on business interests
c) Its dedication to national issues
d) The economic success that Japan has enjoyed
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47) The career path of a group of new appointees to a ministry in Japan would follow
the following steps with the exception of which step?
a) The group would be assigned several jobs during their career for similar
periods of time
b) After about thirty years, one will become vice minister and the others would
descend to other careers in the private sector or universities or run for office
c) Throughout the process, some members may be in a position of hierarchical
superiority to another member of the same group
d) After two years, the vice minister may become a special advisor to the minister
or run for office
48) The following ranking of ministries that interact with business depicts their
relative power. The most powerful in this regard is:
a) Ministry of Labor and Defense Agency
b) Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Ministry of
Finance
c) Ministry of Foreign Affairs
d) The Science and Technology Agency.
49) Which of the following is not a characteristic of the Japanese judicial system?
a) It is patterned after the adversarial system of the USA
b) It has no common law
c) Its civil laws are contained in codes and are strictly applied
d) It is fashioned after the civil code systems of Continental Europe
50) Political Exchange is a basic characteristic of the Japanese political system.
Which of the following practices is included in the Political Exchange?
a) Clientistic exchange
b) Reciprocal patronage
c) United financial support
d) All the above are examples of the political exchange practices in Japan
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Essay and Review Questions:
1) State and explain some of the basic characteristics of the Japanese society and its
culture. Draw some comparisons with the United States.
2) Outline the features and components of the Japanese political system. Highlight
the interaction among its different parts and the influence of cultural traits on the
functioning of the system.
3) The bureaucracy in Japan has its unique characteristics and functions. Describe
these characteristics, the career path of a bureaucrat from the time of appointment
to a ministry through retirement and beyond. Compare this with the USA’s
bureaucratic system.
4) Political Exchange in the Japanese political system has its uniqueness and
functionality. Describe in some detail the framework of the concept, its four forms
and the maze of inter-relationships and inter-dependencies.
5) Many Americans marvel at the success of the Japanese economy and political
system. They are also concerned with the recent setbacks in the Japanese
economy. Write an essay describing the basic features of the systems, both its
strengths and limitations. Draw a pattern of similarities and a pattern of
differences with the American systems. Which of the Japanese characteristics are
adaptable in the USA? Explain your reasoning when assessing the applicability of
these features.
6) You are an exchange student at Tokyo (Todai) University. You are asked by your
friends in the United States and Germany to explain what the Japanese
educational system, business climate, political environment, family structure, and
peer relationships are like. Please send an international E-mail to all of your
friends, answering their questions with comparisons to their countries.
7) You have an internship with a state senator from California. She has asked you to
do an analysis on the business-government relations in Japan and what the issues
are for California businesses breaking into the Japanese marketplace. Please draft
an analysis and set of recommendations for the senator and include what you
think the future of trade with Japan will be.
8) Compare and contrast the bureaucracies of the United States and Japan. Why do
you think the roles, values, and attitudes towards them are so different? What are
some of the similarities? Which would you prefer to work in and why?
9) Compare and contrast the case of The Breakup of Nippon Telephone and
Telegraph with the break up of AT&T. Be sure to analyze the process of decision-
making, the role of government and the courts, and function of interest groups.
10) What are the relevant issues in the case of The Privatization of Japan Post?