Internationalization and Japanese Public Administration

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan began to build a modern state as a latecomer. Operating under international regimes, Japan proceeded to build an administrative state while referring to models provided by various other countries. The behavioral pattern of modifying and selecting aspects of models provided by Western countries in line with conditions in Japan constitutes a basic behavioral pattern characteristic of public administration in Japan. This chapter analyzes the development of public administration in Japan starting in the second half of the nineteenth century from the perspective of the interaction between the international regimes and domestic dynamism across three stages: the construction of a modern state under unequal treaties, reforms carried out during the Occupation regime under the GHQ (General Headquarters of the Allied Powers), and reforms carried out in response to external pressure for internationalization and globalization. In addition, the division of roles among multiple levels of government corresponding to international, national, and local frameworks and the institutional choices that are made at each level in the context of the modern operations of public administration in Japan will be examined in accordance with specific examples of the domestic implementation of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement.