Democracy and Capitalism in Japan

01/15/2014

1/15/14
Introduction: Japan in Comparative and Global Perspectives
Roughly the size of Montana
4 islands; Honshu the main island
o 2 major plains- Kanto (Tokyo) and Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto)
N-S chain of islands ~1200 miles, the length of the East Coast
Mountainous archipelago (70%), the rest are lowlands and plateaus
This elongated shape makes everywhere close to the ocean; the
farthest point from the ocean is 80 miles
Closest point to Korea is 100 miles
Chinas eastern coast, ~500 miles away
Population: 10th in the world between Russia and Mexico; 127
million
Japan has multiple traditions; mixed traditions and foreign
influences; Buddhism (early 6th century), Confucianism
(examination system), Shinto (indigenous religion; means way of
the Gods)
Democracy in Japan
Przeworskis definition of democracy: democracy is a form of
government in which government offices are filled by contested
elections
o There is an opposition party that has a reasonable chance of
winning the next election
Przeworski: democracy is a system in which political parties lose
elections
o Political parties as the key figure of democracy; there has to
be an alteration of power in democracies
o A single party does not constitute a democracy
Japan has three key organizations/entities when thinking about
Japanese democracy: the Emperor (Yamato family; an elite family
of Shinto priests who established spiritual authority in Japan in the
early 6th century; they have developed political power from the 6 th
to 8th century; for about a millennium, it did not have political
power), military, nationalism
By 1930s to 40s, Japan became a militarist regime, nationalism
reigns; Japan became an empire in the 19th century, built its empire
in Taiwan, Korea, and tries to conquer mainland China

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP- dominant party; Shinzo Abe)

o Established 1955, for almost 6 decades LDP has been out of
power only twice (93-94, 2009-2012)
o Japan since WWII has not seen a strong center-left party; it
DID have a communist party, socialist party
o But why did Japan have a dominant central-right party? Why
did it not develop a party that represents the American
Democrats/British Labour?
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
Capitalism
Means of production are MOSTLY privately owned; production and
income distribution are determined mostly through market
definitions
o There is more competition in some countries/markets than
others
$6 trillion in production; 3rd largest in the world; Japan used to be
2nd in 2010
o US and Japan combined produce about 30% of worlds GDP;
US, Japan, and China combined produces about 41%
1/22/14
Emperor, Militarism, and Nationalism
1860-1945: Japans political system evolved over this time period;
provides certain important examples of authoritarian regimes AS
WELL AS democratization
regimes are usually binary
liberalism as an ideology-limiting the power of the sovereign;
protecting the power of civil/societal rights; authoritarian regimes
as opposite of it (but they do come in different forms)
The Meiji Constitution
In the original form, it combined monarchy and oligarchy
Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616); Meiji Constitution was formed after
the collapse of the Tokugawa dynasty
Japan had been ruled by multiple warlords for over a century before
the start of the Tokugawa military regime
o Daimyo (big name)- provincial rulers that swore an oath to
the Tokugawa regime in return for their autonomy in different
areas of Japan
Tokugawa had an isolationist policy; Catholic missionaries from
Spain and Portugal started to arrive

o Tokugawa saw Christinary as a threat to their rule and cultural

values
Commodore Perry forces Japan to open trade
o As Japan opened itself and foreigners began to live in Japan,
foreigners would not be tried under Japanese law, but under
the laws of their own countries
o Group of low-ranking samurais (especially from southern
provinces- Satsuma and choshu) launch a civil war against
Tokugawa and overthrow the regime
The Meiji Restoration begins
The Meiji Restoration
Establishes an imperial system
Prior to the Meiji restoration, these revolutionaries restored the
political power of the Emperor- the restoration
o they fused the spiritual power of the emperor with political
power
o established low-ranking samurais as oligarchs within the
political system; proclaimed themselves to be able to rule
Japan in the name of the emperor
Meiji emperor (enlightened rule 1868-1912)
Taisho emperor (great righteousness 1912-26)
Showa emperor (enlightened peace 1926-89; Hirohito)
ITO Hirobumi- Prime Minister (1885-89, 1892-99, 1900-91); Resident
General of Korea (1905-1909)
Slogans of the Meiji Restoration
Honor the Emperor, Expel the Barbarian
o Fighting the Tokugawa
Rich Nation, Strong Army
o To not be bullied by unequal treaties and to stand up against
the West
Yasakuni Shrine
Established in 1869 (~1 year after the start of the Meiji
Restoration)

Established Shinto as state religion; today enshrines the spirit of

about 2.5 million people who have been killed in Japans wars since
1869 (both soldiers and civilians)
Controversy
Meiji Restoration Reforms
Minimum of 4 years of education for children
Military conscription
Centralized tax system
Established the Meiji Constitution in 1889
The Constitution
Inspiration came not from the US, but from imperial Germany
The Imperial German constitution had been established in 1871
Privy Council
o This is where the oligarchs (genro- low-ranking samurai that
overthrew the Tokugawa) exercised power
o They consult and also advise the Emperor directly
The re-introduction of the Emperor allowed the oligarchs to assert
that the Emperor was from an unbroken, thousand of years old
lineage that is unbroken; the Constitution was from the Emperor
and therefore legitimized
Parliamentary system
o Bicameral legislature
o At the beginning, it was limited to 3% of the population that
could vote to elect the lower house; this was decided by taxes
paid (15 yen of annual taxes to vote for representatives) ;
mostly landowning aristocracy
o Upper house- appointed body, people conferred titles of
nobility
o Any law would have to pass both houses,
Everyone is accountable to the Emperor

Imperial Japan in the 1930s: Fascism?

Fascism derives from fasces- a bundle of wooden rods that are tied
tightly together with an axe; they were carried by Roman officials
as a symbol of their authority; binding of individuals into a larger
community; reactionary ideology against communism and
democracy
Fascism is a religious conception in which man is seen in his
imminent relationship with a superior law and with an objective Will
that transcends the particular individual and raises him to conscious
membership of a spiritual society Mussolini
Above all, Fascism, in so far as it considers and observes the future
and the development of humanity quite apart from the political
considerations of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor
in the utility of perpetual peaceWar alone brings up to their
highest tension all human energies and puts the stamp of nobility
upon the peoples who have the courage to meet it Mussolini
Fascism had a single political party as a unifying force- PNF
(National Fascist Party in Italy), Nazi Party; argued that the dual
party system causes gridlock and schisms
o Imperial Japan never had an equivalent of a fascist party; it
dissolved all political parties in 1940, and tried to form a
single dominant party, but failed
Meiji political system evolved in the first 20 years of the 20th
century
The Idea of Imperial Democracy
Empire and democracy are consistent with one another; Japan was
a rising power, as Japan gained its empire in Asia it could also
become a democracy
Wars that Japan fought raised demand for tax revenues; Japan
fought two major wars- Sino and Russo-Japanese wars
o Japan managed to gain and colonize Taiwan and Korea
o To pay for the war taxes had to be raised, but with no
representation
o As 3% of people only voted, there were cries for taxation
without representation
o Japan expands universal male suffrage in 1925
Group of radical officers within the military that wanted a larger
empire- to expand Japans empire to mainland China, not just
Taiwan and Korea, or to even expand to Southeast Asia
o These officers took advantage of a downturn and economic
depression

o At home, in a series of assassinations of prominent

businesspeople, government officials, and political figures in
the 1920s
o Inukai Tsuyoshi (Seiyukai, PM, assassinated in 1932)
After his assassination, all of Japans cabinet becomes
dominated by military men (PM to Finance and Foreign
ministers)
o Takahashi Korekiyo (Seiyukai, Finance Minister, assassinated
in 1936)
Becomes PM after Tsuyoshi
Manchurian Incident 1931
o Japan establishes a puppet state of Manchuko in 2932
Marco Polo Bridge 1937 July
o Launch of all out war against mainland China
1/27 Discussion Question
Meiji Constitution introduction established it as a gift from the
Emperor; the 1947 Constitution reserves the establishemtn of the
constitution by the people for the people
o never again shall we be visited by the horrors of war through
action fot he government
o universal principle of mankind
emperor had diminished status; potential figurehead of sorts?
o deriving his position from the will of the people with whom
resides sovereign power
o Emperor requires approval from the Cabinet
o Emperor shall not have powers related to government
Rights of the people
o People have the inalienable right to elect officials and dismiss
them
o Freedoms of everything
o Increased democratic/liberal reforms
The Diet
o The sole lawmaking organ of the state
o Fixed terms
o Increased checks and balances to prevent the rise of another
military society
Japanese society was scarred and shocked by the end of the war;
they could not risk having another disaster on a larger scale than
the war, and this constitution provided for that

The constitution also provided for a larger, expanded system of

checks and balances which would prevent the rise of militarism
(which rose also through zaibatsus etc.); supreme law was taken
from the emperor and placed into a more parliamentary system
that was more transparent and accountable towards public society

To protect the kokutai and the Emperor; people still saw him as
spiritual/supreme power despite being a figurehead
Tojo was to take the fall for him
Americans were also convinced by Japanese testimonies that
protected Hirohito and set up Tojo to bear full responsibility
Truman administration felt that the occupation of Japan would be
greatly facilitated if the Emperor appeared to be cooperating with
the Allied powers
o This was MacArthurs idea
o This facilitation could not be possible if Hirohito was charged
of war crimes and sentenced to imprisonment
o POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY

Shwa period and even before established trends that would

provide for the Japanese miracle in the 60s
Most large Japanese firms traced their roots to war economy, but
also some to older times before the Showa era, but gained traction
in scale and market share in the 30s and 40s
o Of the five large newspapers, two came from mergers in the
war and other three had roots from the Showa era, but
increased circulation during the war
Japan was economically thriving during the Great Depression at 5%
of GNP for annual growth rate
o Growth was rapid in metals, chemicals, and engineering
o Third largest merchant marine
o G.C Allen estimates that Japans industrial production was
twice as great as Asia combined (excluding USSR)
o Large exporter, only surpassed by US, UK, and Germany
o By 1937, Japan had new territories in Machuria and increased
investments, labor force, etc.
Between Great Depression and 1945, Japan underwent a second
Industrial Revolution

How did they win by losing?

o In the Cold War context, Japan became a favored client of the
US; because it was a player in the containment of
Communism, Japan gained US technologies
o Destruction of plants in air raids hastened the construction of
newer, up to date factories
Despite having a militarized economy, Japanese economy was
diverse and sophisticated in ways that allowed for easy conversion
to peacetime activity
o Look at the Japanese auto industry
o Most of the large companies were wartime firms (Honda is the
only postwar product)
o During the war, Japan churned out warships; postwar period
Japan becomes the worlds leading builder of merchant
shipping by 1956 because of all these ships
War years saw the rise of tens of thousands of small to medium
sized enterprises
Job jumping was a serious problem until the militarized economy
came; war years provided two of the three pillars of Japanese
economy- permanent employment and wages pegged to seniority
for skilled and semiskilled employees
1946 and 48 land reforms dispossessed landlords and virtually
eliminated tenancy; allowed Japan to take the next step towards a
expanded domestic market and mature bourgeois capitalism
o wartime developments severely eroded the traditional power
of landlords
o 1941- government instituted food administration system
designed to increase agricultural production and facilitate
delivery
o paid tenants directly for produce; undercut the landlord;
landlord and land bonds were severed
war strengthened bureaucracy in Japan, and cemented in many
politicians and government officials a renovationist ideal- deep
commitment to guided change
o before and well after 1945, brightest minds of Japan went to
the bureaucracy ; during the war this course drew on
thousands of intellectual and ideological thinkings outside of
Japan
o new bureaucrats and renovationist bureaucrats
o social security and social-welfare legislation
o brought reforms, land taxation etc.
definitely a transwar continuity, but defining it as a gap between
war and postwar periods is a misnomer

o Japan, because of its Showa era and wartime advances

allowed it to skip a postwar gap and as the article says,
immediately step over from a wartime to a postwar period
with little obstacles
1/28
The Postwar Constitution and Democratization
The US led Effort
Mainly US as the occupation force
o Gen. Douglas MacArthur; Supreme Command of the Allied
Powers
US was there to transform the savage race
Early New Deal officials were trying to do what they couldnt do in
the US
o They went to Japan
On the Japanese side
o overnighta spiritual revolution ensued which tore
asunder a theory and practice of life built upon two thousand
years ofhistory and tradition and legend (Sept. 1946)
o worlds great laboratory
o MacArthur believed these
The Japanese embraced defeat
o Japan thought they were the victims of war, not the
perpetrators
o Difficult living conditions, etc.
o They wanted to start anew
Magazine titles in occupied Japan- New Era, New Life, New
Life Japan
Shift in US priorities from 1945-1947: democratization and
demilitarization; then to make sure that Japan never invades
another Asian country again
o 1950s- political stability and economic growth; making sure
Japan remained capitalist and a power that would fight Asian
communism
War Crimes

War responsibility; Internatioanl Military tribunal of the Far East

established from 1946-48
o Class A and B and C criminals; 26 officials
o MacArthurs conviction that the Emperor could not be
touched; he had such a spiritual hold on the Japanese people;
they would have to use him to facilitate occupation
New Years Day, 1946- Declaration of Humanity
o Emperor surrenders spiritual powers; authority; defers to
American power and with support of Americans promotes the
Imperial Tours of Inspection (1946-51)- a tour of Japan
Purging of about 220,000 politicans, military officers,
businesspeople, colonial officials, who had prominent positions
o The purged banned them from holding any government
positions
Releasing of the Left
o Released about 2500 political prisoners that were imprisoned
during wartime- socialists or communists
Disbanded the military; about 5 million soldiers
Zaibatsus- conglomerates with military; at the heart of industrial
and military production- these were driving engines of Japans
wartime military production and expansionism
o Breakup of the zaibatsus- help in fostering small and medium
sized enterprises, which then formed the basis of a middle
class
Rights for workers
o Legal bargaining, strikes, etc.
Reforms- agricultural
o 2 million farmers and communities became the backbone of
support for government
o this is where it began in terms of occupational authorities;
you need property holders in the countryside for democracy
to work

Reverse Course
Political stability and economic growth
National Police Reserve; Self-Defense Force

Rise in power of Communists and Socialists because they opposed

the war
o This worried the occupational forces
The Postwar Constitution
Conservatives complain the Universal segments of the Constitution
are too Americanized- the loss of the Japanese culture
Chapter 2, Article 9, confusing
o 1. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on
justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war
as a sovereign right of the nationa dn the threat or use of
force as a means of settling international disputes
o 2. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph,
land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will
never been maintained. The right of the belligerency of the
state will not be recognized
socioeconomic rights; working environments; etc.
heavy US influence on the Constitution
The Diet
Article 43; this establishes Japan as a parliamentary system
Article 96- provision for Constitutional Revision
o You have to have 2/3 majority in both Houses
Abe tried to revise Article 96 to make it a majority of both houses,
only then can you have a referemdum- attempting to make it easier
to make a revision

1/29
Discussion Questions
Yoshida identifies closely with the oligarchs; began his career as a
foreign service officer after graduation from Tokyo University;
ambassadorship to Italy and UK
In the eyes of militarists, he was a weak-kneed liberal
Attempted to broker a deal on Manchuria with the British, but
resigns from foreign service after Japanese military precipitated war

Open contempt for military, opposition to the Axis Pact,

anticommunism, arrest for Konoe Memorial
o He became allies with SCAP
67 when Japan surrendered
arguably a liberal, but never even nominally a democrat, he bowed
pragmatically to the Americans
worked diligently to sell Japanese people on the idea that the values
of new Japan were consistent with that of traditional Japan; he
turned to history to legitimate wholesale change
militarists were to blame for abusing the imperial prerogative
he claimed democracy had always formed part of the traditions of
our country
insisted Meiji Constitution was preeminently democratic,
preeminently unmilitaristic
o much of his political genius lay in his understanding that the
absence of truth in these claims rendered them no less
reassuring
concentrated his policy choices entirely on Japans national interests
Japanese right believe he sold out to the US; MacArthurs
entertainer
However, he was determined to negotiate with Americans at every
turn; he met Americas needs but never nestled complacently in its
pocket
Advent of Cold War- Left wanted unarmed neutrality while Right
insisted on rearmament
Yoshida used this opportunity to level with America and let Japan be
an ally in training
o Post-treaty basing of US troops in Japan
o Threatens to invoke Article 9 to prevent rearmament
Outbreak of Korean War, 75000 men in the National Police Reserve
Dulles wanted Japan to rearm, but Yoshida refused; used MacArthur
to good advantage and explained to Dulles that Japan could make a
larger contribution to the free world as an economic power rather
than a military power
Centering- he was able to preserve the imperial household,
eviscerate the Left, restore much of the prewar bureaucratic,
economic elite to leadership without giving the militarists a way
back and while empowering his supporters
Kishi formed the Liberal Democratic Party LDP to take power away
from Yoshida
He did not displace the Yoshida mainstream, he widened
conservative hegemony

o He was Tojos closest deputy for nearly a decade

Rumors that he had enriched himself while a bureaucrat in
Manchuria- connections to the opium trade, combined with personal
control of the movement of capital in and out of Manchuria made
him very influential and rich
Corrupt politics and politicians; Article 14 allowed PM direct control
of prosecutors; protection of corrupt officials ; Yoshida leaves office
Dec. 1954
Kishi stepped up at insisted on the revision of the Constitutionworked relentlessly for rearmament, becoming an equal security
partner of the US, and enjoy an autonomous foreign policy
Yoshida did not want Kishi on his Party; Kishi joins to displace
Yoshida from within
Democratic anti-communism
1955 LDP is formed; wins absolute majority of seats in the Diet
1958, LDP regains power, and adds 10,000 soldiers to Japans
uniformed defense force
o concerned that teachers were too sympathetic towards
communism, Kishi introduced legislation that pushed for
moral education in public schools and evaluation of teacehrs
o his unreconstructed authoritarianism saw protests from the
Left and within the LDP (three cabinet members resigned in
protest)
o Kishi had to deal with the largest mass demonstrations in
Japanese history
Strong business disillusionment with Kishi; Kishi was contributing to
the issue by unleashing factional competition for funds and seeking
to broaden LDP resources
Business support came from two tracks: formal track and internal
track; Kishi turned to the internal, informal track
Instead of replacing individual ministers, as Yoshida had done, Kishi
changed entire cabinets to spread the wealth
Kishis long sources of funding from long ago were revealed
Using M-Fund American resources; Public resources- systematically
employed government programs to generate business for political
supporters that, in turn, may have generated substantial kickbacks
Unlike Yoshida, Kishi promised reparations to Southeast Asian
nations; but he made sure that they would be paid back in
predominantly Japanese-manufactured capital goods and servicesallowing his business supporters to reap the windfall
Structural corruption developed along lines pioneered by Kishi, and
continues to shape contemporary Japanese politics

He personified Japans transwar continuities; the industrial policy

instruments he pioneered in the 1930s in Japan and Manchuria
served as a boilerplate for Japans postwar economic miracle
He managed to connect backwards to ultranationalists and power
brokers; connecting forward to the higly refined instruments of
structural corruption
End of the war, Tanaka had loads of money and was safe in Korea
He gravitated towards Yoshidas mainstream of postwar
conservatives
Instead of fighting against senior bureaucrats from different
ministries, Tanaka worked with them, outsmarted them, and used
them- 80% of a PMs job consists of getting the civil service to do
what he wants
Hardly a year after entering the Diet, Tanaka was arrested for the
first time for taking a bribe
Set up a series of ghost companies- firms without eomployees or
offices that traded endlessly and profitably in real estate,
particularly real estate that was soon to be the site of a
government-built power plant or bullet-train right of war or
reclamation prject
When the Tanaka cabinet took over, it was the most popular
government in Japans postwar history, with a 62% support rating
Tanaks discerning eye saw through the fictions of democracy; he
focused on the clear and simply fact that basic decisions involving
the law are made outside the legislature; he realized money was
the motehrs milk of politics; whoever controlled the largest amount
of it controlled the system
Set up a patron-client relationship
Lockheed needed to sell to ANA; they needed to get rid of the
current president, who had already taken an option on DC-10s, and
get a new president who favored Lockheed; persuade the Japanese
Ministry of Transportation to delay any airbus imports until 1974,
when the TriStar would be ready; sell ANA on buying TriSatars; and
to win Transportation Ministrys approval of the sale
Lockheed paid a kickback of $50,000 on each plane to the president
of ANA; bribed the PM, the secretary general of LDP, the MITI
minister, Minster of Transportation, etc.
Tanaka believed he had not been convicted of bribery, but been
made a scapegoat by his political oppoennts and the left-tending
journalistic establishement of Tokyo for practices that are all too
common in Japanese politica life

Court established a new precedent when it held that as PM, Tanaka

had the authority to dictate through administrative guidance what
airplanes All Nippon Airways should buy; instead of resigning, he
decided to fight back
Tanaka, despite bribery and informal politics, managed to
redistribute income from the rich sectors to the poor ones and
ensured that high-speed growth did not benefit one group to the
exclusion of others
Tanaka achieved factional success through mastering the principal
determinants of the factional system: the multimember
constituency and the judicious use of money to render one
candidate more attractive than another
Tanakas success ended the balance of power and led to open
warfare between new order and the old order
Lockheed case led to a problem with Japanese politics; support for
Tanakas faction was required for anyone who wanted to become
PM, but the leawder of the majority party could nto govern with
Tanakas backing or without it
o This resulted in a lack of decisive leadership in the party, deep
voter frustration, and an almost total loss of accountability in
Japanese politics
o
Movement away from a bureaucratic leadership structure and more
towards the party leadership structure
o This is because of excessive sectionalism and jurisdictional
infighting within the bureaucracy
o More expertise about policy among senior LDP politicians than
in the past
o A shift in the recruitment of political leadership away frome xbureaucrats and toward long-incumbent pure politi cians,
usually from rurual constituencies
o
2/10
The State
Max Weber- the state claims the monopoly of legitimate physical
violence within a given territory (1864-1920)
Organizations in a state: military, police, bureaucracy, internal
intelligence/security organizations
Webers argument emphasizes a homogenization of modern state
structures
o That is, every state would have a Ministry of Finance, Foreign
Affairs, Treasury, Defense, etc.
Expansion of authorities: welfare state, developmental state

Centralized states: Japan, Britain, France

Decentralized/federal states: US, Germany

The Japanese State in Comparative Perspective

11 ministries
o Finance (MOF): fiscal conservatism; macroeconomic
mismanagement
Lost prestige and credibility in 80s and 90s because of
economic mismanagement- blamed for bubble
economy; dramatic rise in stock and land prices in late
80s, which led to a financial crisis in the 90s
Defense (MOD): formerly Japan Defense Agency, JDA
o Did not exist until 2007; historically the JDAJ
o 2007- PM Abe made Defense a priority on par with other
organizations as MOF
Foreign Affairs (MOFA): pro-US, Russia School v. China School
o Yoshida was from MOFA
o Most MOFA officials believe that good Japanese diplomacy and
national security is good US-China relations
o Russian and Chinese were important for languages
Economy, Trade, and Industry (formerly MITI): pro-nuclear power;
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF): food self-sufficiency;
TPP
Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MLIT)
Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT)
Health, LAbour and Welfare (MHLW): Aging society, low fertility
Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Justice (MOJ),
Environment (MOE)
Educational Background:
Meritocracy: Tokyo Imperial University
o Since the Meiji period becoming a bureaucrat was to become
social elite
o Entering the bureaucracy was a way for those who are less
fortunate to become wealthy and enter a higher class
o Important meritocracy
Law degrees
Japanese bureaucrats think their job is closed
o They dont trust the free market; they think they are the ones
who know it over everyone and are the ones who should
correct the law

MOF- Small, tight-knit community

Japan has 127 million people; only 850,000 officials- 0.7% of the
population
Bureaucratic culture
Particularly relevant with regards to Japan
o Bureaucracies in japan tend to be status-quo and census
oriented
o They value repetition of past patterns of policy-making
o Difficulty in thinking strategically/about the future
MOF bureaucrats do 1400 hours of overtime per year;
9,691 senior positions in Japanese government- 287 females (3%),
government says this is a great job. This is the highest and the
goal is 5%
amakudari goes to smaller, less competitive banks ; weaker and
local banks; if a large citi-bank receives amakudari, it means they
have lost control
Part 2
Electoral Systems, Campaigns, and Voters
Majoritarian v. Proportional Representation systems
Majoritarian: single member districts (SMD), first-past-the-post,
Westminster
o Britain, US, Canada; former British colonies
o Duvergers law: 2-party system are usually results of
majoritarian representation (because of mechanical effectpressure to become more centrist- and psychological effectvoters themselves are aware that in a system like this, there
is no point to vote for unwinnable parties); one-party
government
Proportional: multi-member districts (MMD)
o Constinental Europe (Scandinavia), L. America, Africa
o Multi-party system, coalition governments
Mixed (SMD+PR): Germany, Italy, Japan (~1994), Mexico, Russia
Meiji oligarchs created the electoral system which elites which could
consolidate support, were the only ones that got the vote
In the early 1990s, political reform meant electoral reform as well
o 1993- LDP loses majority in Hosue of Representatives
o non-LDP coalition in 1993/94 that passed the reform

2/19
Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition
are forever forming associationsThere are not only commercial and
industrial associations in which they all take part, but others of a thousand
different types- religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very
limited, immensely large and very minute
-Alexis de Toqueville, Democracy in America (1835, 1840)
Civil society is organized, non-government, nonmarket sector
People can engage in sphere relatively free of government control
and regulation
What is distinctive about Japans civil society?
The bureaucratic state is relatively small in size in Japan, but has a
lot of authorities, prerogatives, reaches out horizontally and
vertically into society
Civil societies are usually small and local in origin; professional
organizations in American context
PIP status- Public Interest Legal Person- given by the Japanese
government
Media
Spectator; politically neutral- reports what happens
Watchdog- starting point of the media is to be critical of the
government and what happens in general
Servant- media reinforces the government; shapes public opinion in
the way the government wants
NHK- public broadcasting corporation of Japan; this became a lot of
news when its president, appointed by the current Diet comented
that comfort women was not just Japan, but all countries had it
etc
Civil society to liberalism- to check the power of authority ; preventing
the tyranny of the powerful
2/24
Social Movements and Judiciary
Paper due noon Friday March 7; NO NEED TO SUBMIT HARD COPY

Social movements are part of civil society; they aim to transform the
dominant political agenda
This is particularly important to Japan because political agenda
there has been, in some ways, decided by the tightly knit iron
triangle (LDP, bureaucracy, corporations)
2 strategies: popular movements and protest; litigation
o litigation- to hold dominant interests liable over violations of
laws and constitution
first set of social movements were anti-war and anti-American protests
the largest ever political movement and organized protest started in
Tokyo in the 1960s and spread through other cities
this was in protest to the renewal of the 1951 treaty between China
and US
o asymmetric treaty that did not oblige the US to protect
Japan; said that the US could use stationed troops and have
bases in Japan for protecting the security in the foreign east;
there was no clause for US to protect Japan
deep skepticism of wartime government and conservative agenda
under Kishi; they felt Japan would be entrapped in a military
conflict led by the US in the Cold War

a lot of civil society groups are locally based (town, villages,

hamlets)- these people are engaged in the most part in nonpolitical activities
o it is important to emphasize that we should be precise about
weak civil societies
some groups can be very strong, but end up working
with the state and promoting local level activities and
non-political initiatives
koenkai is LDPs civil party organization

3/3
Explaining Japans Economic Miracle
A. Explaining economic growth
Demand side

Keynesian equation: Y=C (households) + I (business) + G

(government) + (X-M)
Macro view of economy; leads to Keynesian policy prescription:
government deficit spending; leads to recession- households and
businesses are not spending, so the government must spend; when
C and I do not rise, G must rise
Supply side
Instead of focusing on households as collective entities, they think
about what happens to inputs in the production process
o Inputs in various equations that are mentioned are land,
labor, and capital
o Factor endowments and comparative advantage
Extensive v. intensive growth
More micro view
Political economy explanations:
a.
state intervention in the market (goods and
services, financial, labor)
b.
integration in the world economy: strategic
trade; capital inflows/FDI

Japan had a growth in youth population; general increase in population

which explains a lot of growth; labor growth physically, and a labor growth in
the shifting from rural to urban areas
Growth productivity
Growth in capital/supply of savings, which links to the macro story
Supply-side story- capital and labor story (Fig. 3.2)
Demand side story
Should have read other sstuff; exports imports
Johnson article: MITI and the Japanese Miracle
They adopted the concepts of scientific management and took a lot
of ideas

Infrastructure, implementing new labor laws,

Industrial policy; developmental state
Overloading system
o With the banks in the postwar era; in order for their
companies to be competitive for their shareholders, they had
a lot of banks publicly fund them so they wouldnt have to be
worried about instability; after developing they could go back
to an establishe system
Due to overborrowing from corporations, this made companies
more vulnerable to foreign buyouts; government organized
companies into conglometrate groups that protected them from
foreign influence, but also allowed government to concentrate
capital into key sectors
o Combination of lending and organizing money meant
government was controlling what areas of econmy at each
time
o State shielded companies from foreign buyouts
o Government was involved in forming cartels; consolidating
smaller firms
A lot of economic reform was stationed by MITI
A state that deploys various policy instruments to supplement its
economic structure
o A dynamic view of the economy
Administrative guidance- not a law passed by Diet; MITI issues
various guidance, it isnt binding, but there is enough public
opportunity, and firms see benefit as well
o This guidance is formation of cartels and oligarchic
monopolies
Capital controls- control of money coming into and moving out of
Japan
o First of Johnson reading
o This law controlled allocation of foreign exchange; when you
control this, firms need permits to move things
o Importing natural resources- easy to approve; importing cars,
manufacturing (things that are attempting to increase
domestic production), it is very difficult
Developmental state

o The state operates not by displacing the market, as under

socialism, but becoming a player in the market- creating
incentives, supplying capital and information, lowering risks
for approved activities, providing protection from foreign
competitors, encouraging competition in strategic industries,
and facilitating changes of industrial structure in order to keep
as many high value added jobs in Japan as possible
o selective access to government financing; targeted tax
breaks; government-supervised investment coordination in
order to keep all participation of influences
o I cannot prove that a particular Japanese industry would not
or could no have grown and developed at all without the
governments industrial policy (although I can easily think of
the likely candidates for this category)The controversy over
industrial policy will not soon endThe important point is that
virtually all Japanese analysts, including those deeply hostile
to MITI, believe that the government was the inspiration and
the cause of the movement to heavy and chemical industries
that took place during the 1950s, regardless of how one
measures the costs and benefits of this movement
Chalmers Johnson
Gerschenkron
German economic early 20th century;
Argued that what matters is ability to mobilize money (capital) and
direct it to an activity
This was heavy industrizliation (steel, chemical, ship building)- risky
enterprise; private firms are rarely interested in taking this risk
In Germany, Gerschekon saw Germany build tanks, and saw Russia
mobilizing as well
Japan ended up (along with Asian Tigers) having the highest rate of growth,
and the lowest rate of economic inequality
Japan did this before everyone; this was in the 50s
Read the other articles goddamn
State intervention might work in previous sectors that required
intervention, but not in this NTT
3/5
SP Anderson , welfare state involving de-commodification for
capitalism and people in the labor market
o In capitalism, people become a commodity in the labor
market (wages=price)

o This commodity needs to be protected- welfare state sick,

poor, elderly, unemployed
3 models- 3 actors (state, market, family); they all play a role in
protection and de-commodification
o liberal
influence comes from the liberal ideology; typically
anything that has the name liberal means English
speaking countries
US is a more pure model
Liberal ideology is anti-state; skeptical of intrusion of
government
Relatively unregulated market provides various welfare
benefits
Bifurcation in the way the benefits are provided
State sector provides for poor and needy; liberal
welfare states have means of tested benefits- you
have to demonstrate you do not have enough
means to support yourself
i.e. 401k; contributory system- put your savings
this year up to $17,500 per year, taking it off your
taxable income and your fortune with regards to
your money is entirely dependent on what
happens to the financial market
womens welfare tends to be high
o conservative
France, Germany, Italy
Influenced by conservative ideology in the late 19th
century
Bismarckian; thought of the welfare state as a way to
combat the rising working class, socialism, mobilization
of labor unions, and rising democrats
Reactionary, authoritarian, hierarchy based, antisocialist, anti-left
Post-WWII- form of countries in which Catholics are
majority; also tend to have Christian Democratic
Parties- Germany Italy
Uses a mechanism of contributory insurance- your
wealth benefits are tied to employment; firms and
workers contribute to a fund
Assume full employment; if you dont then state
provides benefits

Because this is tied to employment, conservative means

to preserve class differences ; purpose is not
redistribution but preservation
Male breadwinner model
o Social-democratic
Sweden, Scandinavian countries
The ideological foundation is the socialism of the left
Labor unions
State is the main provider of benefits; high taxes on
everybody
Benefits are provided through tax revenues directly;
generous, and distributive- everyone gets the high
standards of benefit
Women tend to dominate in private sector, men
dominate in public sector

Japan- a quirky Conservative welfare state?

Contributory based; occupation based; workers and firms contribute
to insurance funds
Preservation of class differences
Retirement
This is where there is a link between welfare and developmental
state
The most important part of the system is postal savings (post office
as a bank)
Japan and the Varieties of Capitalism (VOC)
Liberal Market Economy (LME) v. Coordinated Market Economy
(CME)
o LME- relationships short term and market based
o CME- relationships long term and non-market based
Financial markets
o Direct (stocks and bonds) v. indirect (Banks)
Labor Market
o Mobile/flexible v. rigid/inflexible
Skills
o General v. specific
o LMEs tend to promote general skills (

Inter-firm relations
o Short term v. long term contracts
Comparative institutional advantages
o Radical v. incremental innovation
o
3/10
Central Banks, Financial Crises, and Abenomics
Central bank independence- central banks form and regulate
monetary policy
Monetary policy- aims to affect the money supply, which then
affects outcomes such as inflation, output, growth, and employment
2 policy instruments:
o discount rate- rate with which central banks(CB) charge
banks when they borrow from CB
o open market operations- CB buy and sell assets and typically
government bonds/debt; expansionary policy that a CB
purchases assets (government bonds), which means they
give money to those who sold these things; contractionary
policy- government sells assets which takes money from
private loans
high CBI countries- Germany before the Euro, US, and Switzerland
o there is SOME correlation that these are all federalized
countries
low CBI- Japan, Britain, France before the Euro
o three governments that are strongly centralized
CBI does have significant impact on rate of inflation- high CBI
typically has lower rates of inflation
o Impact on growth and employment (real variables) are not as
clear
Japans bubble economy: 1985-90
Symptoms: textbook case of bubble economy; this was what made
Japan see stagnation in the next 20+ years

US 98-2000 dotcom bubble; mortgage backed securities (MBS)bubbled real estate loans and resold as legitimate assets (which
turned out to not have that much value)
Germany in post-WWI
Asset price inflation- assets (things that have financial valuestocks, land, real estate, MBS) have a gap between consumer
prices
asset prices are siginificantly higher than consumer prices
financial crisis happened with a policy mistake by the CB to
excessively expand its money supply
hosuehodls and businesses have access to cheap loans, so they get
more money at a cheap rate; BUT there is not enough outlet
(papers) for productive investments (this could be real estate or
stocks, and these investments actually have returns)
depression in stocks and real estate prices; this leaves us with
borrower side (households and businesses) with too much debt they
cannot pay off (bad liabilities), and banks have TOO many BAD
assets (they have lent to too many businesses and households
which cannot pay back the money)- these loans have not led to
productive investments, so they are not performing and
banks/financial institutions know in their heart they wont get this
money back
NPL- non-performing loan ; once there are too many bad assets,
banks are unwilling to lend money and businessnes are unwilling to
borrow money because they are too busy dealing with the bad
investments
This happens on both assets and liability sides
2007 US the amount that the private sector had borrowed on the
net basis -4.8% of GDP; 2008 global financial crisis; 2010 this
number becomes +8.7% of GDP- savings by households and
businesses
o this is a shift in 13.5% reduction in annual basis of the
amount of funds which are borrowed/spent/invested by
households and corporations
o corporations are sitting on cash, but are not spending; this is
not leading to productive investments or job creations
when a financial crisis hits, what can a central bank do?

In Japan, public circulation of currency has barely changed, in spite of

the fact that CB are doing such operations,

Abenomics
How to deal with NPL and politics behind this.
Who bears the cost of NPL- lenders (banks), borrowers (firmsshould they go bankrupt), or tax payers
On one hand, arguments can be made that with the collapse of one
financial institutions, with the world so interconnected these days,
that the collapse of one institution would have a catastrophic impact
on the international financial institutions
3/12
Politics of Economic Reform
Monetization of government debt in Japan- Koo asks that if CB directly
purchases bond from government- this is not happening today in
US/Europe/Japan; this is because in terms of net savings or net deficit that
the private sector are in the positive; what he is basically saying is that what
the CBs were doing is taking away direct purchasing (going to these banks
and directly purchase)
Problem of balance sheet recession- there is actually net positive in
terms of savings from corporations
Quantitative (QE) v. Qualitative Easing
QE- it expands the balance sheet of Central Banks, since CBs are
purchasing government bonds; asset column expands
Qualitative easing- to replace risky and less risky assets that banks
hold with more liquid and safer assets; giving safer assets (usually
government bonds to banks) in return for more risky assets (such
as MBS- mortgage based security)
Why has reform been so slow in Japan? Abenomics?
Demand side- 3 actors that spend money- households, businesses,
and government (C, I, G)
Supply side- land labor capital (inputs); productivity growth- tech,
regulatory barriers, Total Factor Production (TFP)
Deflation and inflation- alter the cost benefits for consumers
businesses, creditors, debtors
Deflation- prices are lowered, meaning that private actors and
househodls have little interest to spend; they are waiting for the
next great deal for prices to go down
o For businesses, they expect their earnings to go down, which
means they also have little incentives to invest
Inflation- businesses invest more; opposite impact compared to
deflation

o Value of debt goes up over time; the money that was

borrowed 10 years ago in the current price level goes up
Key to supply-side reform- to raise productivity, not quantity, of
land, labor, and capital
TFP- measures productivity growth of various sectors
Koizumis Neoliberal Economic Reforms
What was interesting was that he found a villain- this was the LDP
He was a popular, charismatic figure
Abenomics
Japan is back by my Abenomics
3 arrows: monetary expansion; fiscal stimulus (mixed result)- part
of it is a lot of this goes back to NPL and non-productive public
works
o slowdown in spending from 2013/14 fiscal year; consumption
tax increase coming up next month April 2014- 5 to 8%
structural reforms- what has been done
o geographically designated zones- 6 sectors- special economic
zones
o tourism, medicine, agriculture, urban revitalization, and
eeducation, etc.
o
3/24
Labor Markets and Varieties of Economic Inequality
No class next Monday
Talking about women inequality and nonregular workers
Energy Security, Climate Change, and the Nuclear Disaster
I. The Making of Japans Energy Policy
A.
Thinking about energy policy
1.
the triad of goals
i. efficiency: use per unit of GDP; costs

B.

C.

ii. security: reliable supply; import

dependence
iii. environmental impact: fossil fuels;
radiation, nuclear waste
2.
energy mix
fossil fuel
nuclear power
renewables
Japans postwar energy policy *(Samuels)
Energy mix: historical and comparative data
Efficiency: regional monopolies (TEPCO), generation and
transmission
Japan tries to reduce use of coal in 1960s
Energy security: oil shocks (1970s); diversification; nuclear v.
renewables
o 1973- oil prices quadruple; Iranian Revolution 1979; need to
turn to nuclear power
Environment: GHG emissions; National Energy Strategy (2010)
Japan and the Kyoto Protocol
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC)
Domestic political coalition: civil society groups, MOFA, MOE;
Keidanren
Annex I (developed) and developing economies: differential
historical responsibility

II. The Fukushima Disaster and Japans Energy Policy

A. the Fukushima nuclear disaster (Funabashi/Kitazawa, Samuels):
o Nuclear allergy: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Lucky Dragon 5
Incident (March 1954)

o Peaceful use of nuclear energy: scientific leadership; national

security
o State promotion, lack of regulation:
METI and Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA);
Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC)
Nuclear villages: poor, rural communities
METI; business (manufacturing, utilities), labor unions;
LDP; scientists
o The Absolute safety myth; Pluto Boy
B. Contemporary debate
i. LDP governments return to power:
1. Drive to restart nuclear power plants
2. Fossil fuel imports, current account deficit
(weak yen)
o US shale gas revolution: Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
o Nuclear power plant exports
o
4/2
National Defense and the US-Japan Alliance
Japans Security Policy during the Cold War
Core characteristics
o Aversion to use of force (Katzenstein):
Article 9 of the constitution: Kellg-Briand Pact (1928)
Article 9: 1/ aspiring sincerely to an international
lpeace based on justice and order, the Japanese
people forever renounce war as a sovereign right
of the nation and the threat or use of force as a
mean of settling international disputes

2/ In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding

paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as
other war potential, will never bee maintained.
The right of the belligerency fo the state will not
be recognized.
This means Japan cannot initiate war, no
offensive operations
Exclusively defense-oriented policy- self defense force
(GSDF, MSDF, ASDF)
Problem of entrapment- an ally will entrap you on
issues or conflicts that you do not care about ; no
two or more states have the EXACT set of
interests; even if they DO share the same set of
interests, that no two states care about the same
issues with the exact same intensity;
Fear of abandonment- an ally will abandon you on
the very thing you care about
o Dependence on US: Yoshida doctrine
Alliance politics: abandonment and entrapment
No military reciprocity: Japan-US Security Treaty (1951,
1960)
1951 Security Treaty- signed at the tiem when the
US occupation ended in Japan
Article I of 1951 Treaty (this treaty was to expire
in ten years)- Japan grants, and the USA accepts,
the right, upon the coming into force of the treaty
of Peace and of this Treaty, to dispose the US
land, air and sea forces in and about Japan. Such
forces may be utilized to contribute to the
maintenance of international peace and security
in the Far East and to the scrutiny of Japan
against armed attack from without, including
assistance given at the express request of the
Japanese Government to put down large scale
internal riots and disturbances in Japan, caused
through instigation or internvention by an outside
power or powers.
US has the option to utilize Japanese military;
Japan followed alliance mainly to advance US
security interests rather than to protect Japan
1960: Article V

Each Party recognizes that an armed attack

against either Party in the territories under the
administration of Japan wudl be dangerous to its
own peace and safety and declares that it would
act to meet the common danger in accordance
with its constitutional provisions and processes.
Any such armed attack and all measures taken as
a result thereof shall be immediately reported to
the Security Council of the UN in accordance with
the provisions of Article 51 of the Charter. Such
measures shall be terminated when the Seucrity
Council has taken the measures necessary to
restore and maintain international peace and
security.
Concentration of Us military bases in Okinawa
Collective self-defense: UN Charter, Art. 51; Cabinet
Legislation Bureau (1981)
More specifically the RIGHT of collective selfdefense; the right of a state to defend its ally
when its ally comes under attack, but the state
itself is not necessarily under attack
UN Charter, Article 51: Nothing in the present
Charter shall impair the inherent right of
individual or collective self-defence if an armed
attack occurs against Member of the UN, until the
Security Council has taken measures necessary to
maintain international peace and security.
Measures taken by Members in the exercise of
this right of self-defense shall be immediately
reported to the Security Council and shall not in
any way affect the authority and responsibility of
the Security Council under the present Charter to
take at any time such action as it deems
necessary in order to maintain or restore
international peace and security.
o Gradual development of military capabilities:
Deense spending: 1% of GDP, PM Nakasone Yasuhiro
(1987)
Nuclear weapons: 3 Non-Nuclear Principles (1967);
extended deterrence
Three Principles on Arms Exports (1967)
In response to gradual revival of Japanese arms
industry

Under the Three Principles, arms exports to tehf

ollowing countries or regions shall not be
permitted
Communist bloc countries
Countries subject to arms exports embargo
under the UNSC resolutions
Countries involved in or likely to be involved
in international conflicts
Paradigms, theories, explanations (Katzenstein)
o Realism
International system: states, anarchy, distribution of
power, offensive v. defensive
US commitment and buck-passing
o Liberalism
Economic interdependence, democratic peace,
international institutions, domestic politics
Economic diplomacy, contributions to UN, World Bank,
etc.
o Constructivism
Culture, norms, values: international system (human
rihts); domestic level
Norms of non-violence, institutionalization of norms in
state structure
Japans security policy debate in the post-Cold War era
Changes and continuities (Samuels)
o Recent military missions
The Gulf War trauma (1991): UN-led Peacekeeping
Operations (PKO)
Afghanistan (MSDF), Iraq (GSDF, ASDF)
o Guidelines for J Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation:
1978, 1997, 2014
Situations in areas surrounding Japan: Korean
Peninsula, Taiwan Strait
SDFs rear area support: non-combat areaes, defensive
operations
Collective self-defense? (constitutional revision?)
o Military capabilities
National Defense Program Guidelines: 1976, 1995,
2004, 2010, 2013
Loosening the Three Principles of Arms Exports
Nuclear Weapons?
Explanations (Katzenstein, Samuels)

o Realism/international system:
Collapse of Soviet Union, Chinas rise, N. Korea:
missile/nuclear capabilities
US foreign policy and the War on Terror
o Liberalism/constructivism
Domestic politics; generational change (elites, public)
Norms, institutional change?

4/7
The Rise of China
I. Cooperation and Conflict in Japan-China Relations
A. Historical evolution
1949-1972: PRC (CCP) v. ROC (KMT, Kuomintang, Nationalists)
1972-92
o strategic context: Nixon Shock, US-Japan-China cooperation
v. USSR
post-Stalin, Kruschev turns USSR reformist and a rift
emerges in the 50s; 1969 after border war between
Russia and China, the ultimate manifestation of the
Sino-Soviet split emerged
1972- Treaty of Peace and friendship between China
and Japan
first decade of Sino-Jpanaese relations were between
corporations and firms; it was only the next two
decades that led to increased closeness
o economics: Deng Xiaopings reform; Official Development Aid
(ODA)
Japan was admired in China as a model of economic
growth
o Tiananmen Square Incident (June 1989)
o History problem, ECS, mostly depoliticized
1992-present
o Chinas rise; concerns about military modernization
o Taiwans democratization: Taiwan Straits Crisis (1995-96),
revised Guidelines
o Economics: Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, environment
o History problem: yaukuni Shrine visits by PM Koizumi, Abe
o ECS: increasing politicization, militarization
B. Explanations (Calder, Kitaoka)
Realism (international system, power)

Liberalism (interests): economic interdependence, multilateralism,

political regimes
Constructivism (identity): Chinas patriotic educational campaigns;
Japans generational change

II. The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands and the ECS

A. Historical evolution
Origins of the dispute over territorial sovereignty
o Japanese claim: terra nullius in 1895
o UN report (1968); 1971 as the critical date
o Reversion of Okinawa and US role; Japans administrative
control
Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ): UNCLOS; middle line (Japan) v.
continental shelf (China)
Crawler collision with Japan Coast Guard (JCG) (Sept. 2010)
o Escalation: embargo of rare earth metals
o Mutual miscalculations
Nationalization
o Noda government: Tokyo Governor ISHIHARA Shintaro
o Anti-Japanese protests
Militarization:
o At sea: China Maritime Surveillance (CMS), JCG
o Chinas new Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ); aircraft
scrambles
US-Japan alliance dynamics
o Article 5 (security treaty); SCC statement
o Crimea analogy: japans fear of abandonment, US fear of
entrapment
B. Explanations (Smith, Katz)
Realism: China as a revisionist power? (9-dashed line in SCS)

Liberalism: economic interdependence, multilateralism, political

regimes
Construtivism?

4/9
Paper due April 25th
I. Japan-ROK Relations
Cold War: US hub and spokes
o 1945-65: No diplomatic relations
Syngman Rhee (1948-60): divided Korea; Korean War
(1950-53)
Strong anticommunist; strong connections with
DC- Americans relied upon him in S. Korea
Anti-Japanese; pro-American
South korea was one of the poorest countries in
the world in the 1950s- its income per capita was
next to Nigeria
Corrupt, totalitarian; Rhee steps down because of
mass protests and an experiment in
democratization begins
Park Chung Hee (1961-79): diplomatic normalization
(1965)
Military coup; miracle years in the 60s and 70s
Parks daughter Park Geun-hye (Saenuri, New
Frontier, Party- president)
Served in Japanese Manchukuo Imperial Army;
served with the Kwantung Army in WWII- part of
the colonial elite in Korea
Diplomatic normalization with Japan in 1965;
consisted of 500 million in war reparations- this
was government to government compensation
Park at the time understood economic
development and aid and trade with Japan, which
was part of why ROK undergoes economic miracle
o Constitutional constraints: Nixon-Sato Communique (1969)

o 1965-90: Underdeveloped security cooperation

Park and ROKs economic miracle: trade, aid, FDI
PM Nakasones visit (1983); Pres. Chun Doo Hwans
visit (1984); RIMPAC- Rim of the Pacific among US
allies- Japanese and Korean militaries began
participating in multilateral exercises with US to start to
know each other in a multilateral context
Post-Cold War (Lee): Bilateral, trilateral, multilateral mechanisms
o DPRKs nuclear weapons and missile programs
Diplomatic isolation and regime survival (military
first): role of PRC- China had embarked under
economic reform under Deng Xiaoping; reformist
communist economy whereas N. Korea became isolated
China establishes diplomatic relations with the
ROK in 1992- they have ties with both ROK and
DPRK- prioritization of capitalist economic
relations
Between 1996-98 famine because of Sino-Soviet
split
1st nuclear crisis (1993-94): Agreed Framework; Korea
Energy Development Organization (KEDO)
Agreed Framework- US, Japan, EU, and S. Korea
provide civilian nuclear energy/reactors to provide
for DPRK energy needs in return for N. Korea to
stop its nuclear weapons program
nd
2 nuclear crisis (2002): Six Party Talks (SPT, 2003);
nuclear tests
SPT- 2 Koreas, China, Russia, US, Japan
They always take place in Beijing; very much a
China led process since China at this time has the
strongest and most influential player with regards
to N. Korean economy
Missile tests: Taepodong launch (August 1998);
suspicious ships
2010: sinking of Cheonan (May); attacks on
Yeonpyeong island (Nov. )
o Japan- ROK cooperation and rivalry
ROK: democratization, nationalism; global economic
power, KORUS FTA
Japan: economic stagnation; LDPs decline; TPP?
History problem: Yasukuni visits; Kono statement on
comfort women

Dokdo/Takeshima territorial dispute

DPRKs abduction of Japanese citizens
General Security of Miilitary Information Agreement
(GSOMIA) in 2012
After N. Korea attacks in 2010, Japan and ROK
want to share intelligence and military info; but it
failed in summer of 2012 because of S. Korean
civilian opposition
Japans collective self-defense in a Korea contingency
Explanations
o Realism, power distribution, and international system
Role of the US: fear of abandonment?
DPRKs military power: Soviet Union, PRC; Japan-ROK
balance of power
o Liberalism
Economic interdependence, competition
Political regimes: democratization; DPRKs dictatorship
International institutions
o Constructivism: post-colonial identities

DPRKs Abduction of Japanese Citizens

Politicization in Japan (Sameuls)
o Koizumis visit to Pyongyang (Sept. 2002): Politicization
o Comparison with ROK
Effects on Japans Korea policy: cooperation in SPT

4/14
Globalization and Asian Regionalism

I. Japan and the Politics of International Trade

A. Politics of international trade
Multilateralism v. bilateralism/regionalism
o Bilateralism- lack of rules because of lack of actors
o All of these solutions involve trade creation and trade
diversion
o Regional trade agreements are discriminatory, which leads to
trade creation between the members, and also tends to lead
to trade diversion by discriminating against non-member
economies
There are more efficient producers outside of the
framework, which means they lose out
o Its not all great news
PTA/FTA/EPA: trade creation v. diversion
B. International trade during the Cold War
Multilateralism: GATT, WTO
o GATT- very much a Western-oriented organization; trade
liberalization occurred but more or less between US, Western
Europe, and Japan; to some extent Latin American and other
developing economies, but first 3 decades was liberalization
of developed countries or middle-income economies
o Japan becomes part of the GATT with large support from US
in 1955; Japan benefits from GATT regime
o Increased exports was because Japan joined GATT at a
relatively early period
o Bilateral opponent during the Cold War
o Late 1950s US and Japan began to agree on Voluntary Export
Restraints
Bilateralism: Politicization in US-Japan relations
o Voluntary Export Restraint (VER)
Government to government negotiation; sectors evolve
from textiles to steel to autos; these are the measures
they try to restrain
Trade disputes; US started to run trade deficit against
Japan
Evolved in the mid-1980s- Reagan administration MOSS

C.

o Market-Oriented Sector Specific Talks (MOSS), SemiConductor Trade Agreement (STA)

MOSS under Reagan addressed telecommunications,
medical, etc.
STA was to increase American exports to Japanese
markets
o Structural Impediments Initiative (SII); auto and auto parts
disputes
Japans contemporary trade strategy (Pekkanen/Solis/Katada)
Ambition and stagnation fo the WTO Doha Round
o 2001; but has been stopped
o attempt to liberalize the manufacturing sector in developing
economies; at the same time liberalize agriculture in
developing economies
o many of these protections also take the form not of traditional
formal barriers (tariffs and quotas), but non-tariff barriers
(NTB)
o GATT Article XXIV, 8(b)
A free-trade area shall be understood to mean a group
of two or more customs territories in which the duties
and other restrictive regulations of commerceare
eliminated on substantially all the trade between the
constituent territories in products originating in such
territories
this means if there is trade between agriculture and
manufacturing, you HAVE to liberalize both of them to
be effective
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC, 1989-): FTAAP(?)
o
Japans FTA/EPA
Tras-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
o US-led: 21st century Agreement:rule-making
This is supposed to be an agreement that sets the
global standard- covering US and Japan, extremely
large economies; supposed to set new rules that might
jumpstart both administrations
Certainly on issues like regulatory liberalization (rules
about state-owned enterprises(SOE), government
procurement)
o Japans agriculture (5 protected sectors); US auto industry
o Japan-Australia EPA (2014)

Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP)

o ASEAN+6= Australia, New Zealand, India (democracies) +
ASEAN+3
o Japan-PRC-ROK trilateral (?)- ASEAN+3
o ASEAN+8= ASEAN+6 + US and Russia

II. Japan and the Politics of International Money and Finance

A. Politics of international money and finance
a. Fixed (Bretton Woods) v. floating (post-Bretton Woods) exchange
rate regimes
b. Capital flows: controls v. liberalization; capital outflows and
financial crises
c. Financial crises and liquidity (short-term credit) facilities: IMF v.
regional/bilateral
B. International money and finance during the Cold War
Bretton Woods System: fixed exchange rate; capital controls
Post-Oil Shocks (1970s): macroeconomic policy coordination in G7 : locomotive theory
Plaza Accord (1985): raise the value of the undervalued yen
C. Asian Financial Crisis (1997-98) and Global Financial Crisis (200709)
Origins
o Emerging market funds
o Pegged currencies
o Capital account liberalization
Diagnoses and policy prescriptions
o IMF; Washington Consensus: crony capitalism

o Japan: liquidity crisis; defeat of the Asian Monetary Fund

(AMF) proposal
Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI; May 2000)
o ASEAN+3 (Japan, China, ROK)
o IMF link
Global financial crisis (Grimes): CMI and the problems of
surveillance

4/16
I. Origins of Japans History Problem
The nature of Japans history problem
o Empire, war, and atrocities
Nanjing Massacre
Comfort women
Many of them were Korean women
Biological experiments (Unit 731)
On mostly Chinese citizens
o Education: textbooks (Ienaga)
Ienagas law suits v. MEXT (former MOE)
Society for Textbook Reform: selective history; LDP,
corporate sponsors
Revision of the Fundamental Law of Education (06)
o Yasukuni Shrine (Togo)
Imagined community of emperor, soldiers, bereaved
families, deities (kami)

Post-World War II: non-state, religious institution

Becomes a private institution; still a Shinto
shrine, but not directly financially supported by
the state; it is a private religious institution
Japan Association of Bereaved Families (JABF):
pensions, Class A war criminals
Yushukan: Pearl Harbor attack; war of liberation in Asia
PM visits: Koizumi, Abe
Causes of Japans history problem (Berger)
o Realism (power, international system):
Cold War: US occupation; authoritarian capitalist states
in Asia
Post-Cold War: shift in power; China, ROK
o Liberalism/constructivism (Domestic politics, identity)
Japan: generational change
ROKs democratization; PRCs nationalism, antigovernment protests
II. Japans Official Apologies and Their Consequences
Official apologies:
o Statements about Japans wartime conduct:
Murayama statement (8/15/95): deep remorse and
heartfelt apology
Koizumis statement (8/15/2005); Abe? (8/15/2015?)
o Kono Statement on comfort women: Abe (March 07);
reexamination?
Concrete effects?
o Summit sanctions: no side-bilaterals in ASEAN+3 for
Koizumi; Abe?
o PRC; anti-Japanese protests: April 05, fall 2010/2012

o ROK: problems in bilateral and trilateral (US-J-ROK) security

cooperation
o Territorial disputes: Senkaku/Diaoyu; Dokdo/Takeshima
o A regional strategy? Australia, India, Philippines, Vietnam
o
4/23
Contemporary Problems of the US-Japan Alliance
I. The Politics of Okinawa Bases
A. Historical evolution
Ryukyu Kingdom: Okinawa Prefecture (1879)
Battle of Okinawa (1945); US territory (1945-72)
o Bases are a great public service, providing goods to the
people; however, they dont see or hear or smell or think
about military bases- many Japanese mainlanders ignore this
plight of a sustained military base operations on a small
population of Okinawans
o Disproportionate costs that the Okinawans have to pay in
relation to Japanese
o Rape of 12 year old by 3 marines in Sept. 1995 in Okinawa
B. Politics (McCormack, Calder):
NIMBY problem
Vested interests and structural dependence on Toky
o Host Nation Support (HNS)
o Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA)
C. Futenma Marine Corp Air Station in Ginowan (Mochizuki/OHanlon)
Special Action Committee on Facilities and Districts of Okinawa
(SACO)
o The two governments in 1996 reached an agreement to
eventually close the Futenma base and to move the base by
creating a new base in a fishing village called Henoko

o Okinawa is the only overseas-based USMC base; want to

reduce 18,000 Marines to 10,000; the 8000 Marines will move
to a base in Guam, where they have to build new bases to
accommodate these soldiers
Futenma Replacement Facility (FRF): Henoko (Nago City)
DPJ PM Hatoyamas politicization (2009-10)
o Fall 2009, Hatoyama promised the Okinawans that the Marine
bases would be moved out o the Okinawa Prefecture to
somewhere else; At the least it would be outside the
Okinawa prefecture he made this declaration without
having any coordination or agreement from any other
communities; he did not get any support from any
community; resigned in 2010
o This problem persisted
o Current agreement- US keeps bases until at least 2022;
Japan tries to keep this there; domestic issues, etc.
o Very DC/Tokyo driven process
o Japanese feel secure knowing marines are there; US officials
might have different opinions, but in general there is a
ceratins ense of security protected by US presence in the ECS
o US military officers argue that it is extremely important that
they are there
II. The Contemporary Debate over National Security
A. Overseas deployment
Part of multinational force, in non-combat areas: UN PKO
o Prior to 1992, there was NO overseas deployment of Japanese
troops
o However, they have been limited and a MULTINATIONAL
mission, not unilateral
o Because of constitutional constraints, they are in NONCOMBAT
areas
War on Terror: US-led coalition of the willing
o Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law (2001-10): MSDF
o Iraq Special Measures Law (2003-08): ASDF(2003-08); GSDF
(2004-06) in Samawah
These special measures law have expiration dates- it is
a temporary, limited, and expirable law; they might
need to be extended
o Anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden (2008-): Djibouti
military base
B. Security Cooperation

a. US: A roadmap for realignment implementation (2006)

i. US Armys I Corp and GSDF in Camp Zama
1. Integration of US Army I Corps into a GSDF base in
Camp Zama, near metropolitan Tokyo; they now
work together more and more coordination between
both groups
ii. US 5th Airforce and ASDF HQ in Yokota Airbase
iii. US Marine Corps crisis response capabilities: Hawaii,
Guam, Okinawa
iv. Ballistic Missile Defense: Bilateral Joint Operations
Coordination Center (BJOCC)
v. Operation Tomodachi: humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief (HA/DR)
b. Security cooperation with other countries:
i. 2+2
1. two from Japan (Defense and foreign ministers, and
two from other countries)- with US for a long time
2. attempt to pursue security cooperation with Korea,
India, France, Indonesia
ii. New Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment
and Technology
1. Prohibition to countries which violate treaties or UN
resolutions, or which are destined to be a party to
conflict
2. Limitation to cases- limited to joint development and
production projects with allies and friendly countries;
in general activities which enhance security
cooperation and SDF activities
3. Appropriate control for transfer to third countries;
how do you make sure a third country doesnt get it
C. Collective self-defense and constitutional revision (press articles)
Idea that Domestic law/domestic constitution overrides the UN
charter; constitutional revision to have collective self-defense
Possible scenarios for the exercise of the right of collective selfdefense
Democracy and domestic debate
Individual v. collective self-defense?
D. Plutonium stockpile and nuclear weapons?

Continuity and change?

Institutionalized change- Katzenstein; Japan needs to break the
status quo; unless this collective identity of peace and TNP change,

4/28
REVIEW SESSION NEXT MONDAY
Conclusion: Demography and Migration
I. Japans Demographic Destiny?
Dimensions of Japans demographic destiny (Jackson;
Eberstadt/Katz)
o Decline in total population
o Decline in fertility: Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
o Decline in working population: aging society
Consequence of Japans demographic trends
o Democracy: inter-generational conflict
o Capitalism
Supply-side: labor quantity and productivity
Demand-side: decline in consumption, investment
(private sector); public spending/debt
Foreign policy and national security?
II. Contemporary Poltiics of Immigration
Status quo and policy proposals
o Contemporary data: ethnic and locational variations

o Popular discourse and media portrayal

o Immigration as industrial policy?
Nikkei Latin Americans- Nikkei (Japanese descent)Nagoya, Tokai
Zainichi Koreans (Osaka, Kamai)
o Internalization of Japanese universities (Dujarric/Takenaka)
Comparison with ROK (Chung)
III. Thinking about Japans Future
Democracy:
o Conservative ideology
Emperor (Bix; Maruyama), textbook (Ienaga), leaders
(Samuels)
US occupation (Dower), constitutional revision (Repeta)
o The Iron Triangle
Bureaucracy (Amyx), LDP (Johnson), interest groups
(Garon/Mochizuki)
Civil society (Garon, Upham, Feldman, Aldrich) and
media (Freeman, Hardacre)
o Institutional change: electoral and party systems
MMD-SNTV to SMD/PR (Ramseyer/Rosenbluth,
Reed/Shimizu)
Rise and fall of LDP and DPJ (Krauss/Pekkanen,
Kushida/Lipscy)
Capitalism
o Neoliberal institutional changes and economic stagnation
Financial crisis and Non-performing loans (NPL)
(Feldman/Porte, Koo)
Corporate networks/practices (Vogel)
Structural reform (Jorgenson; Hoshi/Kashyap;
Maclachlan)
o Demography, labor market, migration (Eberstadt/Katz,
Chung; Schaede, Schoppa)
o Energy policy after the 2011 earthquake/tsunami (Samuels,
Kitazawa/Funaba)
Japan in the World
o US-Japan alliance (Katzenstein, Samuels, McCormack, Calder)
o Chinas rise and Northeast Asia (Calder, Smith/McClean;
Kitaoka; Lee, Samuels)
o Domestic politics and Japans global role
(Pekkanen/Solis/Katada; Grimes; Berger)
o