Amakudari: The Hidden Fabric of Japan's Economy (ILR Press books)

Amakudari, by putting together different data sources, presents a useful, bird's-eye view of the extensive practice and serves as a good introduction to the topic, especially for those to whom the sheer scope of amakudari in Japanese society would be news.

A major strength of the book is its data: Colignon and Usui provide extensive information on a host of amakudari-related problems. They also succeed in giving the reader a clear sense of why this topic is important-the various forms of amakudari are well laid out so the reader can see how different bureaucratic agencies connect to business, to public corporations, and the political world.

Colignon documents the networks and informal relationships that make Japanese capitalism less than a pure market-driven system... and that there is no clear line between acceptable corporatism and corruption.

The authors of Amakudari show the complexity and intricacy of the amakudari system to the fullest. This book is a remarkable achievement that appeals to a wide spectrum of readers.

The current debate over the nature of 'welfare capitalisms' would be greatly enriched with more material on Asian nations such as that provided by Colignon and Usui. Japan scholars, however, will also find this book extremely useful, not because of new ideas about the Japanese political-economy, but because of a wealth of new data confirming much of what we had already suspected. In no industrial society today do we find a power elite as united and commanding as in present day Japan.

This book provides the most complete data to date on the extent of movement from top ministry positions into corporate boards, public organizations, and political positions. The use of multiple data sources is also instrumental in showing us that the practice of all forms of amakudari have changed little since World War II.

This volume presents a study of a set of Japanese practices collectively known as amakudari, or 'descent from heaven,' where high-level bureaucrats move from government ministries to top positions in public and private corporations as well as national politics.... In the last ten years, amakudari has become the chief obstacle to reform in Japan, and its legitimacy has been undermined by glaring government corruption and the gross mismanagement of the economy. This extremely interesting work reveals important hidden networks of influence in the Japanese political economy and contributes to further revealing the cultural specificity of Japanese capitalism.