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The extraordinary account of how Japan’s most powerful institution, the Ministry of Finance, maintains its tenacious and undisputed control over the nation’s economy
The first account of how Japan’s most powerful institution, claiming a divine mandate superseding the rights of elected government and origins which predate the Constitution, pursues an historic vision of greatness for Japan.
The Ministry of Finance, or Okurasho, has established for itself supra-legal powers. Orthodox economic theory, popular democracy, the judiciary, the media and foreign governments are treated with open disdain in the all-consuming pursuit of superior Japanese strength.
Subject to its own agenda, the Ministry of Finance has been instrumental in the downfall of at least two postwar prime ministers in its campaign to manipulate the national budget balance.
The truth and range of Okurasho’s power across Japan’s economic and political landscape have never before been properly examined. The superelite who run the Ministry are almost exclusively graduates of Tokyo University, and their suitability is controlled to the extent that ministry officials organize the marriage of young Okurasho members to the eligible daughters of rich industrialists and politicians.
Central to Japan’s postwar success, the Ministry has borrowed 300 trillion yen ($3 trillion) worth of workers’ pension savings and used the money for all manner of purposes, including propping up the stock market. With no plans for funding this vast liability – four times the size of Japan’s annual budget – this is a fiscal time bomb waiting to explode.
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Review:
From the Back Cover:
‘A timely work on how the Ministry of Finance is promoting the crash of Japan’s entire financial system.’
Kenichi Ohmae, author of The Borderless World
Japan wields enormous power within today's capital markets. Yet behind its success lies a unique and strange institution – the Okurasho, or Ministry of Finance. Claiming a divine mandate which supersedes the right of elected governments, and origins which predate the Constitution, it pursues a historic vision of greatness for Japan – and a few rewards for itself.
For Japan's Ministry of Finance is much more than just a government department. It is a political, economic and intellectual force without parallel in the developed world. The Okurasho enjoys a greater concentration of powers – formal and informal – than any comparable body in any other industrialized democracy. In Japan there is no other institution with more power.
Orthodox economic theory, popular democracy, the judiciary, the media and foreign governments are all treated with open disdain in the shadow of the Okurasho's all-consuming mission to strengthen Japan, subject to its own agenda. Since the war the Ministry has been instrumental in the downfall of at least two prime ministers in its campaign to manipulate the national budget balance.
A vital asset in Japan's post-war reconstruction, the Ministry has now become a liability in the country's transition to a fully-fledged modern economy. In addition, it has borrowed pension savings to the value of 300 trillion yen (US$3 trillion) and used the money for, amongst other things, propping up the stock market. With no plans for funding this vast liability – four times the size of Japan's annual budget – here is a fiscal time bomb waiting to explode.
This fascinating and timely exposé by a highly-respected financial journalist reveals truths about the Japanese economy which few in the financial world will have known before.
"The club Okurasho seems to have a culture where self-interest is allowed to override all other considerations. An institution which is, by law, a servant of the people has become, in fact, their master."
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- PublisherHarperCollins Business
- Publication date1998
- ISBN 10 0002558548
- ISBN 13 9780002558549
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages224
- Rating
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