Table Of ContentU
n
Understanding governance in contemporary Japan d
e
explores the transformation of the Japanese state in r
s
response to the challenges of governance by focusing on t
a
case studies of two key regulatory sectors: Information n
d
and Communications Technology regulation and anti- i
n
monopoly regulation after the 1980s. The disjuncture g
g
and significant transformation that occurred during this o
v
period, explored through rich and detailed interviews
e
with politicians and civil servants, makes this a timely rn
a
account of approaches to regulatory governance and
n
competition in Japan. c
e
i
In its examination of these two case studies, this book n
c
challenges the established body of pluralist and rational o
n
choice literature in Japanese politics by revealing
t
e
the state to be set up as the key locus of power. The m
transformation of the Japanese state in these two p Understanding
o
examples can be characterised as Japanese regulatory r
a
state development. Mogaki’s book thus reveals the r
y
transformation of the state and governance in a J
a
Japanese context and presents itself as an example of
p
a governance in
the new governance school addressing the state, its
n
transformation and the governance of the political arena
in Japanese politics and beyond. M
O
With its comprehensive review and analysis of the theory
contemporary Japan
G
and development of Japan’s contemporary politics,
A
this book is suitable as a textbook for undergraduate
and postgraduate courses as well as a guidebook for K
I
practitioners engaging in policies and businesses
relating to Japan.
Transformation and the regulatory state
Masahiro Mogaki is Lecturer at the International Centre,
Keio University, Japan
ISBN 978-1-5261-1468-6
M A S A H I R O M O G A K I
9 781526 114686 >
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
9781526114686_CVRproof01.indd 1 07/12/2018 13:04
Understanding governance in
contemporary Japan
Understanding
governance in
contemporary Japan
Transformation and the
regulatory state
Masahiro Mogaki
Manchester University Press
Copyright © Masahiro Mogaki 2019
The right of Masahiro Mogaki to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by Manchester University Press
Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 5261 1468 6 hardback
First published 2019
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any
external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee
that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Typeset by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
Contents
List of figures and tables vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
Abbreviations xii
Part I: Conceptualising the Japanese state and governance
1 Introduction: transformation, governance and the state in the
Japanese context 3
2 The change of governance and regulation 19
Part II: Evolving regulation and governance
3 The evolving core executive in response to burgeoning ICT 35
4 Regulatory state transformation with an unusual approach 64
5 Piecemeal transformation: anti-monopoly regulation 86
6 Breaking the egg shell 118
Part III: The nature of Japanese governance with the
transformation of the state
7 Regulatory transformation and the core executive 137
8 Governance in Japan: the implications of the research 147
v
vi Contents
Appendix 1 List of Ministers of Post and Telecommunications
(before January 2001) and Ministers of Internal
Affairs and Communications (after January 2001) 164
Appendix 2 The anti-monopoly case process 167
References 170
Index 182
List of figures and tables
Figures
3.1 Timeline of the development of Japan’s ICT regulation since
the 1980s 37
5.1 Timeline of the development of Japan’s anti-monopoly
regulation 87
5.2 The JFTC’s staff numbers and budget 101
8.1 The mode of regulation in the Japanese regulatory state 156
8.2 The mode of regulation in the Japanese regulatory state
compared with the UK and New Zealand 158
Tables
1.1 Summary of state and state-transformation literature 11
2.1 Membership of the core executive 24
3.1 Primary authority before and after the 1985
telecommunications regulatory reform 39
3.2 Problems resulting from NTT’s dominance in local landline
telecommunications networks 42
3.3 The major elements of Jun’ichirō Koizumi’s approach to
strengthening the Cabinet 47
3.4 Relative strength of the actors in the ICT sector 60
4.1 Risks associated with independent regulators 73
4.2 Changes in the core executive actors’ power 82
5.1 The key points of the 1953 AMA amendment 89
5.2 The chronological sequence of the oil cartel case 91
5.3 The key points of the 1977 AMA amendment 94
5.4 The key points of the amendment to the AMA in 2005 99
vii
viii Figures and tables
5.5 The number of applications to the leniency programme 99
5.6 The JFTC’s staff numbers and budget 100
5.7 Relative strength of the actors in anti-monopoly regulation 114
6.1 The merits and demerits of an independent regulator 124
Preface
Since the 1980s political scientists in the developed world have explored
changes to the state in response to the challenge of governance. Yet the
state and governance have not been key topics of debate within Japanese
politics, despite significant changes being observed by commentators
since the 1990s. The major focus has been on specific political and soci-
etal issues within the political arena, including the increasing power of
politicians, changes to the electoral system and political parties, and the
impact of private-sector actors, often mobilised by the body of pluralist
and rational choice literature. As a collection of literature illuminat-
ing the key role of state actors, this does not employ an approach that
pays attention to the state at a macro level in relation to governance. In
particular, the state at a macro level has not been problematised despite
being crucial to the debate regarding governance elsewhere.
To address this lacuna, this book explores the transformation of the
Japanese state in response to a variety of challenges by focusing on two
case studies: ICT (Information and Communications Technology) regu-
lation and anti-monopoly regulation after the 1980s, which experienced
disjunctures and significant transformation within the period, with par-
ticularistic approaches embracing competition. The case studies set up
the state as the key locus of power in contrast to the pluralist and rational
choice schools, and the analytical framework is drawn from key theories
of governance and the state including the concepts of the core executive
and the regulatory state. The book explores the extent to which there is
asymmetric dominance on the part of Japan’s core executive through
an examination of developments in the Japanese regulatory tradition
since the 1980s. With its particular approach that employs a government
ministry as the regulator, the analysis of ICT regulation reveals how the
Japanese state has been transformed in response to specific challenges
under its political tradition. Anti-monopoly regulation offers another
example of state transformation, with an independent administrative
ix
