Politics (The Japanese Way)

Abstract

Who runs Japan? The politicians, the bureaucrats or the businessmen? That is the eternal question that exercises the minds of the foreign friends of Japan. Normally, one would expect them to pick the politicians since these are the folks who run the government in most other countries. But there are rather few who take that option. One of the most credible is Gerald Curtis, who argues that Japanese politicians have increasingly influenced policy and adapted flexibly to the wishes of the populace.