Handbook of Japanese Public Administration and Bureaucracy

This Handbook focuses on Japan’s public administration and bureaucracy at its national level, and the effects of national politics on administrative decision-making and outcomes. It also provides in-depth analysis and description of the Japanese politics-civil service relationship. As the Japanese government is relatively centralized, an understanding of its national-level public administration is vital to comprehending the nature of Japanese bureaucracy.
This handbook is divided into four parts: the history of Japanese bureaucracy; the bureaucratic system and underlining laws, rules, and regulations; the relationship between politics and the legislative process; and bureaucracy in practice in the 12 major ministries. It will make an important contribution to studies on politics and governance in Japan, and will become essential reading for scholars in both their research and teaching.

Mieko Nakabayashi is Professor of Political Science at Waseda University. She received her PhD in International Public Policy from Osaka University and her Master’s degree in Political Science from Washington State University. She served as an elected member of Japan’s House of Representatives from 2009 to 2012 and as a professional staff member of the US Senate Budget Committee between 1993 and 2002. Her latest books include Declining American Hegemony (Shogakukan-shinsho, 2020; in Japanese) among others. Her research interests are international public policies and politics in the US and Japan. Hideaki Tanaka is Professor of the Graduate School of Governance Studies, Meiji University. He completed his MSc in Social Policy and Planning at the London School of Economics and Political Science and his Doctor of Policy Studies at the National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies. He worked in the Ministry of Finance, Cabinet Office, and other Japanese ministries between 1985 and 2012. His research interest includes public finance. His major publications in English are The Democratic Party of Japan in Power (co-author, 2017, Routledge) and Policy Analysis in Japan (co-author, 2015, Policy Press)