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Party in Power Japan’s Liberal-Democratic Party has been continuously in power since it was formed in 1955. It has therefore been PARTY responsible for virtually all the impor­ tant policy decisions made since that time in the name of the Japanese govern­ ment, and it is likely to remain in this position of power for many years to IN POWER come. The book focuses attention par­ ticularly on the processes involved in the formulation of controversial policies. The Japanese Liberal-Democrats Emphasising the importance of organisa­ and Policy-making tion factors and group environment, Dr Fukui examines the party mem­ bership, its organisation, intra-party factionalism, and the connection with extra-party support groups. He goes on to analyse in detail some of the more important issues with which the govern­ ment has been involved in recent years. This is the first study of policy-making in Japan’s party in power. The writer has combined the historical approach with an analysis of all aspects of the party. He presents a picture of one side of the Japanese political scene which is a most important jumping-off point for future comparative studies of political parties. For Western readers, and par­ ticularly political scientists, it provides some surprising insights into contem­ porary Japanese politics, and is essential reading for the complete understanding of Japan today. HARUHIRO FUKUI Price in Australia $8.50 Japan’s Liberal-Democratic Party has been continuously in power since it was formed in 1955. It has therefore been PARTY responsible for virtually all the impor­ tant policy decisions made since that time in the name of the Japanese govern­ ment, and it is likely to remain in this position of power for many years to IN POWER come. The book focuses attention par­ ticularly on the processes involved in the formulation of controversial policies. The Japanese Liberal-Democrats Emphasising the importance of organisa­ and Policy-making tion factors and group environment, Dr Fukui examines the party mem­ bership, its organisation, intra-party factionalism, and the connection with extra-party support groups. He goes on to analyse in detail some of the more important issues with which the govern­ ment has been involved in recent years. This is the first study of policy-making in Japan’s party in power. The writer has combined the historical approach with an analysis of all aspects of the party. He presents a picture of one side of the Japanese political scene which is a most important jumping-off point for future comparative studies of political parties. For Western readers, and par­ ticularly political scientists, it provides some surprising insights into contem­ porary Japanese politics, and is essential reading for the complete understanding of Japan today. HARUHIRO FUKUI Price in Australia $8.50 This book was published by ANU Press between 1965–1991. This republication is part of the digitisation project being carried out by Scholarly Information Services/Library and ANU Press. This project aims to make past scholarly works published by The Australian National University available to a global audience under its open-access policy. PARTY IN POWER PARTY IN POWER The Japanese Liberal-Democrats and Policy-making HARUHIRO FUKUI AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY PRESS CANBERRA 1970 © Haruhiro Fukui 1970 Printed in Australia Registered in Australia for transmission by post as a book SBN 7081 0216 6 Library of Congress Catalog Card no. 70-80992 National Library of Australia reg. no. Aus 69-536 Preface The doctoral thesis out of which the present book grew was originally pre­ pared during the period 1964-7 in the Department of International Relations of the Australian National University Research School of Pacific Studies. Throughout this period I enjoyed the generous assistance of many individuals and organisations, both in Canberra and in Japan. I am indebted especially to Professor J. D. B. Miller, then head, and to Mr D. C. S. Sissons, then a Fellow, of that department. Professor Miller was responsible for the general administrative arrangements for my stay and work in the Australian National University, and facilitated the completion of the thesis in innumerable ways. As my thesis superviser, Mr Sissons helped me directly throughout the three years of research and writing I spent in the Australian capital. Not only with the general planning and execution of the research program but also with the presentation of the arguments and evidence in the original thesis, Mr Sissons offered me most valuable advice and innumerable suggestions. I also owe a great deal to Dr J. A. A. Stockwin for his generous assistance, particu­ larly in improving the style of my writing. In fact, the problem of language proved to be one of the most difficult I had to solve in writing the thesis and in this connection Dr Stockwin’s assistance was indispensable. But for the unfailing help and encouragement so generously given to me by these two competent scholars, this book would never have been written in anything close to its present form. My sincere appreciation is due to Professor Colin Hughes of the University of Queensland, Professor Ronald P. Dore of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Professor Nobutaka Ike of Stanford University. All three supplied me with many valuable and detailed criticisms and sug­ gestions for the book’s improvement. I am most grateful for the personal courtesy as well as the expert advice they so liberally gave me. I must also express my gratitude to the Australian National University for having made it possible for me to undertake and complete the research by offering me not only a generous scholarship grant but also a most con­ genial environment in which to work. Both the Oriental Section of the University Library and the National Library of Australia greatly facilitated my work by letting me freely use their valuable collections and also in many cases by purchasing new materials specifically for the sake of my research. In Japan so many people contributed either information, useful insight and advice, or both, to the preparation of the book, especially during my three months fieldwork in Tokyo from December 1965 to March 1966, that it is difficult to acknowledge them individually. I should like, however, to mention the special co-operation and courtesy I received from the Committee on Public Relations and the Committee on National Organisations of the Liberal-Democratic Party, the Kokumin kyökai, the Kokumin seiji ken- kyükai, and the political affairs sections of the principal national dailies. It is also appropriate that I should express my appreciation of the help given by the Liberal-Democratic Party members of the National Diet, their secretaries, and the officials of various factions, who not only responded willingly to my request for interviews but often helped me attend and observe party functions and meetings, including the 17th Party Conference of January 1966. Finally, I would like to thank Mrs Ruth M. Schneider and members of her staff in the Department of Political Science of the University of Cali­ fornia at Santa Barbara who kindly typed the final manuscript with their usual efficiency and care. H.F. Contents Preface v Abbreviations xi Introduction i PART ONE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1 Evolution of the Prewar Party Models 9 2 Transmission of the Prewar Heritage to Postwar Parties 32 PART TWO FACTORS UNDERLYING LDP POLICY-MAKING 3 Membership 57 4 Party Organisation 81 5 The Intra-party Factions 107 6 Connections with External Groups 144 PART THREE CASE STUDIES 7 Compensating Former Landowners 173 8 Constitutional Revision 198 9 Relations with the People’s Republic of China 227 Conclusion 263 Appendixes 269 Notes on Sources 282 Index 289 Tables 1 Occupational backgrounds of conservative MHCs, 1947-65 60-1 2 Occupational backgrounds of Socialist members of the Diet 62 3 Educational backgrounds of LDP members of the Diet 63 4 Educational backgrounds of Socialist members of the Diet 63 5 Classification of LDP Diet members by occupational and educational backgrounds, November 1965 64 6 Distribution of higher public servants by universities attended, i965 65 7 Percentages of former public servants and local politicians in LDP Cabinets, 1955-65 66 8 PARC officials with public service backgrounds and those who were formerly local politicians 67 9 LDP headquarters 84-5 10 Factions in the LDP, 1955-67 109 11 Sources of LDP income by categories of donations 147 12 Donor groups classified by the combined values of their con­ tributions and categories of their recipients, 1965 149 13 Sources of factional incomes by categories of donors,1965 154-6 14 Distribution of the official LDP leaders associated with the National Farmland League 183 15 Distribution by occupational categories of LDP Diet members appointed advisers to the National Farmland League 190 16 Distribution by ministries of former public servants appointed advisers to the National Farmland League 191 17 Distribution of the League’s advisers and standing advisers by factions 192 18 Public opinion on constitutional revision, 1952-63 214 19 Prewar and wartime Diet members among conservative party members elected to the postwar House of Represen­ tatives, i946-65 2i8 20 Prewar and wartime Diet members among conservative party members elected to the House of Councillors, 1947-65 219 21 Occupational backgrounds of members of the LDP Investi­ gation Committee on the Constitution, November 1965 220 22 Factional distribution of members of the LDP Investigation Committee
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