In Japan, the main local administrative affairs are traditionally allotted to prefectures and municipalities, while communal disposal systems, fire-fighting and regional development takes secondary importance. However, two new changes to the frame of local governments have altered the main frameworks of national and provincial governance. With decentralization reforms taking effect, more local bodies are gaining autonomy and departing from uniformity. This has allowed methods of cooperation between governing bodies to diversify– trends which augur a dissolution of uniformity in Japanese local administration. If left alone, it may eventually lead to disparities between principal and peripheral bodies, and thus complicate the administrative systems further. How will these changes affect future community development? This book aims to address the dynamism of concepts of wide area public service in Japan. It advocates the use of flexible strategies to ensure service standards are best suited to each regional demand. This concept can be called “departure from uniformity”. This book also examines the advantages and disadvantages of these shifts for the future of Japanese public policy, and suggests various strategies to prevent further complications; e.g. autonomous settlement zone. Regional Administration in Japan: Departure from uniformity will interest researchers of Japanese public policy and public administration. This book will also engage researchers of Japanese politics and Japanese studies in general.

In Japan, the main local administrative affairs are traditionally allotted to prefectures and municipalities, while communal disposal systems, fire-fighting and regional development takes secondary importance. However, two new changes to the frame of local governments have altered the main frameworks of national and provincial governance. With decentralization reforms taking effect, more local bodies are gaining autonomy and departing from uniformity. This has allowed methods of cooperation between governing bodies to diversify– trends which augur a dissolution of uniformity in Japanese local administration. If left alone, it may eventually lead to disparities between principal and peripheral bodies, and thus complicate the administrative systems further. How will these changes affect future community development? This book aims to address the dynamism of concepts of wide area public service in Japan. It advocates the use of flexible strategies to ensure service standards are best suited to each regional demand. This concept can be called “departure from uniformity”. This book also examines the advantages and disadvantages of these shifts for the future of Japanese public policy, and suggests various strategies to prevent further complications; e.g. autonomous settlement zone. Regional Administration in Japan: Departure from uniformity will interest researchers of Japanese public policy and public administration. This book will also engage researchers of Japanese politics and Japanese studies in general.

Japan's regional geoeconomic strategy -- Foreign economic policy, domestic institutions and regional governance -- Geoeconomics of the Asia-Pacific -- Transformation in the Japanese political economy -- Trade and investment : a gradual path -- Money and finance : an uneven path -- Development and foreign aid : a hybrid path.

This is the first major study of politics and public administration in Japan to balance the prevailing view of the regional policy process from above" with a view "from below." Developing a comparative framework for understanding the place of localities in policy making, he demonstrates that relations among localities in Japan are much more important than previously supposed. Originally published in 1983. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book analyzes issues related to economic challenges for Japan’s regional revitalization. Japan’s responses to such challenges and to the problem of an aging population are of deep interest to the nations outside of Japan. This book brings together 19 articles contributed by Japan’s leading scholars, originally prepared for an online policy information portal, SPACE NIRA launched by the Nippon Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) with Dr. Tatsuo Hatta, President of the Asian Growth Research Institute, as its General Editor. This book is a significant and useful reference for all scholars, students, and individuals with an interest in current policy issues in Japan.

Taking the Goki-Shichido (Five Home Provinces and Seven Circuits of Ancient Japan) as a theoretical framework, this book examines shrinking Japan from a regional variation perspective by municipality along the ancient Tokaido, which comprises 15 provinces, and seven prefectures today. The study identifies the principal explanatory factors based on the small area data of e-Stat through GPS statistical software tools such as G-census and EvaCva, within a historical perspective. This historical knowledge helps in understanding the significance of the regional cultural heritage that remains in each municipality today. The book pays special attention to municipal variations within the same prefecture, presenting a completely unique approach from what other researchers have pursued. This volume studies two present-day prefectures along the ancient Tokaido for detailed analyses of the impacts of regional variations of population decline in Japan. They are Shizuoka Prefecture, made up of the former Tootoumi, Suruga, and Izu provinces, and Mie Prefecture, formed by the ancient provinces of Iga, Ise, Shima, and the eastern part of Kii as examples to show the impacts of municipal power on regional variations of shrinking Japan. The reasons for selecting these two prefectures of the ancient Tokaido are twofold. First, they are made up of a multiple number of the ancient provinces. Second, other prefectures that fall under the Tokaido have been studied in the previous works of the present author by adopting the same methods of analyses. Thus, by presenting unique analyses of regional variations on small municipal levels, with demographic variables, social indicators, and historical identities of municipalities in Shizuoka and Mie prefectures along the Tokaido, this book offers suggestions for effective regional policy to revitalize shrinking Japan to a sustainable one.

Japan faces significant challenges in both traditional and non-traditional areas of national security policy as the economic resurgence of China and the loss of US hegemonic clout significantly transform the strategic landscape of the Asia-Pacific region. How is Japan coping with this new global and regional politico-security environment? What strategic moves has it taken to best position itself for the future to maximize its global and regional influence? More importantly, how is Japan perceived within the region by traditionally close regional partners such as the US and Australia, by supporters in Southeast Asia, and by new competitors -- most prominently China and India? What international role do these nations wish Japan to play? In this comprehensive volume, these crucial questions are explored in-depth by a group of scholars both distinguished and diverse.