Amakudari

brings substantial benefits to a firm, creating near monopolies for companies due to the influence of former officials holding high-ranking positions in the companies.

The benefits to a firm with amakudari executives can be substantial. The Japanese Highway Service Association, for example, is a public corporation in which a large number of amakudari officials hold high-ranking positions (“The System to Sustain Monopoly,” 1996, p. 34). The association is in complete control of its subsidiary operations and, in fact, has sole responsibility for all highway service facilities in Japan, such as restaurants and gas stations. Companies that have relations with this public corporation run all such facilities in a monopolistic fashion, leading to a complete lack of competition. Amakudari officials help to maintain this monopoly.

concerns bureaucrats and industrial leaders who act in concert to control the reins of government.

Government officials in Japan have tremendous authority and often abuse it. Bureaucrats and industrial leaders act in concert to control the reins of government, and a series of well-publicized corruption scandals has brought to light the collusive relations between these worlds.

is regarded as necessary in Japan because as one moves upward through the ranks, opportunities for promotion become fewer and competition and conflict among officials becomes more serious.

Government officials regard amakudari as necessary because as they move upward through the ranks, opportunities for promotion become fewer and competition and conflict among officials becomes more serious (Ikuta, 1992, pp. 35–37). Friction can be severe, and those officials who fail to win elite ministry posts are expected to resign before they reach the normal retirement age. Bureaucrats who retire early usually take it for granted that they have the right to obtain high-ranking positions in the private sector on the grounds that they passed a first-class civil service exam after graduating from some of the best schools (Tokyo University, for example).

is valuable since former government officials can gain information, authorization, and preferential treatment from their government contacts.

In order to gain useful information from the government, authorization for projects, and preferential treatment concerning regulations, former officials are expected to work as links between government agencies and the firms. As recompense for amakudari, not only secret government intelligence but also standard certifications and even financial subsidies are exclusively provided to a particular corporation (Stern, 1996, pp. 260–261).

amakudari, n.Definitions

amakudari