JAPAN Chapter 6

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN JAPANESE STATE  Geographic Setting  Archipelago of 6,850 islands  Tenth most populace in world, with about 127 million people  Poorly endowed with natural resources  Natural trading state  Name comes from Chinese characters meaning “sun’s origin.” Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 2 Section 1

Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 3

THE JAPANESE NATION AT A GLANCE Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 4

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN JAPANESE STATE  Critical Junctures  Pre-Modern Japan  Meiji Restoration and Taisho Democracy ( )  Rise and Fall of Militarist Nationalism ( )  The Birth and Evolution of a Pacifist Democracy (1945-Present) Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 5

THE MAKING OF THE MODERN JAPANESE STATE  The Four Themes and Japan  Japan in a Globalized World of States  Governing the Economy  The Democratic Idea  The Politics of Collective Identity Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 6

Where Do You Stand? Is Japan a particularly exceptional nation in the modern world? Why or why not? Is Japan a particularly good subject of comparative politics because it is so different from or so similar to some other nations or both? Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 7

POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT  State and Economy  Rapid economic growth 1950s-1970s  Wars helped Japanese economy to grow  Government played key role in development of economy  By 1980s, seen as threat to U.S. industry  Administrative guidance system  Abenomics Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 8 Section 2

POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT  Society and Economy  Characterized by interdependence and networking among giant and small firms  Keiretsu  Gender gaps  Relative poverty rising Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 9

POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT  Environmental Issues  Four Great Pollution Trials  UNFCCC (adopted Kyoto Protocol)  But more emphasis on economic issues  Nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 10

POLITICAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT  Japan in the Global Economy  The trading state  Japan pursued rapid industrialization.  Conducted export-led development strategy  Model followed by newly industrialized countries  Exports primarily industrial goods.  Imports primarily food, raw materials, fuel Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 11

Where Do You Stand? Should Japan continue to rely on industrial policy to achieve a high growth rate of its economy, as it did in the earlier years? Why or why not? Some Japanese call for actions to accelerate the globalization of the Japanese economy, while others oppose such actions because they believe the current push for globalization to be based on pernicious neoliberal ideas. Which view do you support and why? Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 12

GOVERNANCE AND POLICY-MAKING  Organization of the State  Constitutional monarchy  Parliamentary democracy  Forty-seven provinces subdivided into about 1727 municipalities  Unitary state  Provinces and municipalities subordinate Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 13 Section 3

GOVERNANCE AND POLICY-MAKING Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 14 The monarch (the emperor) is the symbolic head of state, but people exercise power through their elected representations in parliament, the Diet.

GOVERNANCE AND POLICY-MAKING  The Executive  The Prime Minister and the Cabinet  Prime minister is chief executive of government  Elected by the Diet  Executive powers of cabinet are wide ranging  The National Bureaucracy Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 15

GOVERNANCE AND POLICY-MAKING  Other State Institutions  The Military  The Judiciary  The Police  Subnational Government Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 16

GOVERNANCE AND POLICY-MAKING  The Policy-Making Process  Dominated by “iron triangles” until recently  Zoku  Pork barrel politics Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 17

Where Do You Stand? When a national disaster occurs as a result of a private firm’s action or actions subsidized and supervised by government, such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, who should be held responsible and pay for it, the firm or the government, that is, taxpayers? What action or actions and by whom might bring about effective structural reforms to end the policy-making stalemate in Japan? Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 18

REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION  The Legislature  Diet is highest and sole law-making institution  House of Councilors (upper house)  House of Representatives (lower house)  Bill must pass both houses to become law Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 19 Section 4

REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION  Political Parties and the Party System  Mostly Diet and prefectural assembly members with token grassroots memberships  DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan)  LDP (Liberal Democratic Party)  Other parties include:  Japanese Communist Party (JCP)  Social Democratic Party (SDP)  Clean Government Part (CGP) Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 20

REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION  Elections  Old system: single Non-Transferrable Vote (SNTV) method  Koenkai  Reformed system: MMP system combines single-member district (SMD) and proportional representation (PR) systems Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 21

LDP and DPJ Percentage Shares of Diet Seats, Elections Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 22

Voter Turnout Rates in Lower House Elections by Age Cohort, Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 23

REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION  Political Culture, Citizenship, and Identity  Ethnically/culturally homogeneous but eroding  Well developed sense of national identity  Religion not important in politics or society  Group-centered culture Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 24

REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION  Interest Groups, Social Movements, and Protest  Former Outcaste Class  Women’s Movement  Ethnic Minorities: Ainu, Okinawans, Koreans, and New Immigrants  Labor Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 25

REPRESENTATION AND PARTICIPATION  The Political Impact of Technology  Re-emerged after WWII as leading technological power  Bullet Train  Cutting-edge industrial products  Social media impact Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 26

Where Do You Stand? Is the current Japanese parliamentary election system a good one? If so, in what sense? If not, how could it be improved? Is the Japanese political party system better or worse than the United States’ and how so? Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 27

JAPANESE POLITICS IN TRANSITION  Political Challenges and Changing Agendas  Damages left by 2011 “triple disaster”  Aging population  “1.57” shock  Growing debt Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 28 Section 5

JAPANESE POLITICS IN TRANSITION  Youth Politics and the Generational Divide  Low youth voter turnout  Pessimism Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 29

Percentages of Youth Proud of Four Aspects of Their Nations Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 30

JAPANESE POLITICS IN TRANSITION  Japanese Politics in Comparative Perspective  No longer considered an “economic miracle” or “uncommon democracy”  Challenges are comparable to other contemporary democracies  Unique in commitment to pacifism foreigners Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 31

Where Do You Stand? Do you think that today’s Japanese youth are understandably pessimistic about the present state and future of their own nation or unreasonably so? How does this compare to your own feelings about your country? Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 32

Where Do You Stand? Should Japan revise its present constitution, fully rearm itself, and become more like most other advanced industrial nations in that regard? Copyright © 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 33