Title: Effects of Political Reforms on Japanese Policy Formulation: Education and Economic Security

Time: February 22, 2024 (Thur), 12:00-1:00 p.m.

Venue: TSE A10

Guest Speaker:

1. Professor Harukata TAKENAKA(Professor of political science at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo)
2. Professor Satoshi MACHIDORI (Dean, School of Government, Kyoto University)

Summaries:

The two presentations examine the effects of political reforms in Japan since 1990s from various dimensions. The first presentation (Machidori) examines the relationship is on the effect of political reform on education policy. It is known well that political reform in the 1990s and the early 2000s covered almost all the areas of the public sphere and transformed the stateness of Japan. Some unpolitical areas were also affected and changed as results of political reform. Public education was a typical case of them and the effects of political reform continue today. The presentation will focus on why and how political reform affects education policy.

The second presentation (Takenaka) is on the prime minister’s leadership in formulating Japanese economic security policy. It aims at tracing formation and implementation of economic statecraft by the Japanese administrations including the Kishida administration in recent years and examines its implications on Japanese political structure. The policy formulation process highlights that the political reform since 1990s has made it easier for the prime minister to engage various ministries to implement economic security policy. It also highlights constraints on the prime minister’s leadership. First, the prime minister must rely on METI to implement most of the key measures. Second, it is up to private firms whether to respond to government request to secure and increase production of various important materials to enhance economic security.