THE GOVERNMENT OF MODERN JAPAN: INTEREST GROUPS IN JAPANESE POLITICS Most Powerful Interest Groups: Business, the Four Major Groups |
|
Gerald L. Curtis :: Now, as in other capitalist market economies, the most powerful interest groups tend to be the interest groups of businessmen, of labor, and of agriculture. In Japan, the businessmen are organized into four major interest groups. The most important one is an organization called Keidanren [Japan Federation of Economic Organizations]. And Keidanren is the federation of economic organizations to which the presidents, the chief executive officers of Japan’s major corporations and the leaders of major corporate organizations, like the automobile association or the chemical industry association and other associations, are members. And this organization has many sub-committees and groups that make recommendations to the government on public policy issues of concern to the business community. It is the center for business power in Japan. A second major interest group among Japanese businessmen is an organization called Keizai Doyukai [Japan Association of Corporate Executives]. This organization tends to be run, or to be populated, by people who are somewhat younger than the chief executive officers in Keidanren, and to take a longer-term perspective on the Japanese economy, and try to think through long-term issues for Japan and how the business community should deal with the kinds of structural issues that face the economy. The third big organization and important organization among Japanese businessmen is an organization called Nikkeiren. And Nikkeiren, which is often called in English the Japan Employers Association, is the association that is concerned with labor relations. And so Nikkeiren’s major role is to try to create some unity within the Japanese business community as to how to deal with labor demands for increased wages and other issues relating to the labor market. And finally there’s an organization among Japanese businessmen that, in English we have it in America as well, is the Chamber of Commerce, the national Chamber of Commerce, or in Japanese Shoko Kaigisho. And the Shoko Kaigisho, or the Japan Chamber of Commerce, is the organization for leaders of small and medium-sized industry. So, Keidanren is the organization of big industry and big industrial associations, Keizai Doyukai the organization of far-sighted businessmen concerned with long-term issues, Nikkeiren the organization of businessmen concerned with labor issues, and the Shoko Kaigisho — or Chamber of Commerce — the organization of businessmen from small and medium-sized companies. |
| Back to Asian Topics Home |
