Japan 's Policy Making Scenario

Sakoku was the policy introduced to Japan in medieval times. Sakoku translates to ‘a country in chains’ or ‘the lock up of a country’. This policy proclaimed that no foreigner or Japanese could enter or leave the country, without the threat of death. The Tokugawa Shogunate, under Tokugawa Iemitsu, created this policy as well as an array of other edicts and policies to prevent foreigners and Japanese alike from entering or leaving Japan. These were established and put into action in 1633-1639 and remained in effect until 1853 when Matthew Perry and the Americans forced the Japanese rulers to remove these laws. However, these laws did not entirely isolate Japan, as some trade was allowed just under tight control.

The Isolation Policy or Sakoku was a policy adopted in 1641, during the time in which the Tokugawa shogunate was in power, the Edo period (1603 - 1868). It was enacted by shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. The policy, as the name suggests, meant that Japan was isolated from the most of the world. The bakufu (military government), accomplished this state of isolation by closing the borders, though contact with China and the Netherlands was still maintained through a single port in Nagasaki. The policy also meant that Japanese citizens could not leave the country. This isolation was to last until 1854, during which time the shoguns (military leaders) managed to keep Japan relatively peaceful.

Japan is a small island nation off the coast of Eastern Asia. Despite its size, Japan has proved to be formidable both economically and militarily. Since the expedition of Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 opened up the past feudalistic and reclusive Japan, this nation has expanded and adopted many imperialistic policies as well as taken a more aggressive military stance. Japan has changed in many ways, but has also continued upholding traditional practices throughout 1853 and 1941.

Before America entered WWII, the U.S. and Japan were trading partners. However, Japan had been involved in the Pacific Theater of WWII, conquering land across Asia and the Pacific Ocean, before the U.S. joined the war. As a result, American resources had aided Japan in imperializing other nations. Critical of America’s relationship with Japan, Dr. Seuss released a political cartoon, shown above. In the cartoon, a man wearing a sweater labeled “Japan” shops at a store run by a bird, which dons a hat with a U.S. flag design. The Japanese man orders “kerosene, some excelsior and a blow torch”, claiming his mother wishes to “bake a cake” (Seuss, “Gimme some kerosene, some excelsior and a blow torch. Ma wants to bake a cake”). Using these details,

The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan adopted in 1947. It is an unitary state, containing forty-seven administrative divisions, with the Emperor as its head of state. His role is ceremonial and he has no powers related to Government. Instead, it is the Cabinet, composing of the Ministers of State and the Prime Minister, that directs and controls the Government. The Cabinet is the source of power of the Executive branch, and is formed by the Prime Minister, who is the head of government. It is an unitary state, containing forty- seven administrative divisions, with the Emperor as its head of state. Japan was ruled by successive military shoguns. During this period, effective power of the government resided in the Shogun, who officially ruled the country in the name of the Emperor. The Shoguns were the hereditary military Governors.

The main topic of this research paper is taxation. Seeing that this topic is pretty open, I’ve chosen to write about the proposed idea of Fair Tax. Along with a little bit of insight on Fair Tax and a couple highlights of history, I’ll try and explain some pros and cons as well as give my opinion on the topic.

The United States (US) is constantly looking for ways to improve relations with other countries and to follow their National Security Strategy (NSS). To aid the US in analyzing different countries, the PMESII-PT is used as a formula to keep everyone on the same page. The PMESII-PT contains eight different variables which help the United States analyze how different countries can affect their National Security Strategy. These variables include: political, military, economic, social, information, infrastructure, physical terrain, and time. These variables can be used to help better understand the situation and most important aspects of any country. Japan is a major country that can have a large impact on US relations and build on the current NSS. Throughout this paper, the PMESII-PT variables are examined to help educate and show how Japan can affect the United States’ NSS. After reading this paper, one can gain knowledge on how Japan can have a large influence on US interests in the Pacific/ Asian Command (PACOM) region.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Japanese government was undergoing a new paradigm shift which modeled itself after the governmental laws and principles of the Constitution of the United States. The new law of the land was originally formatted and instated under the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), General Douglass MacArthur, and his orders to his Government section to model the nation’s new constitution in a manner that was agreeable to the United States. Unfortunately for some of the Japanese population, the constitutional provisions under US authority curtailed its sense of independence, and they wished for a more “Japanese” constitution. In an effort to reformat the constitution in a manner that catered to the needs of the Japanese people, Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama pushed for the creation of the Constitution Research Council, an organization whose purpose was to decide whether it was appropriate to revise the recently passed constitution. However, there was much clamor and controversy on what would be permitted to change between Japanese political organizations who longed for

In “The Coast at Takanawa in the Eastern Capital”, Hiroshige II captures a large crowd of

Government background: The government of Japan is a constitutional monarchy. This means that the power of the Emperor is limited and is relegated primarily to ceremonial duties. In many other states in Japan, the government is divided into three branches the Executive branch, the Legislative branch, and the Judicial branch, which was established in the Constitution of Japan. The Constitution defines the government to be in a unitary form of a parliamentary system.

In saying that the events surrounding 1868 in themselves do not constitute revolutionary activity per se, this does not detract from the fact that expansive changes did indeed occur throughout Japanese society during the Meiji period, but merely views these changes as stemming from a simple pragmatism on the part of the new leadership, rather than being the result of revolutionary activity, or revolutionary acts

Any aftermath of war can often be seen as a beginning. The destruction of cities and the loss of large amounts of people are the prices to pay for the end of a war. How can a country move on?

The culture of a place is an integral part of its society whether that place is a remote Indian village in Brazil or a highly industrialized city in Western Europe. The culture of Japan fascinates people in the United States because, at first glance, it seems so different. Everything that characterizes the United States--newness, racial heterogeneity, vast territory, informality, and an ethic of individualism-- is absent in Japan. There, one finds an ancient and homogeneous society, an ethic that emphasizes the importance of groups, and a tradition of formal behavior governing every aspect of daily living, from drinking tea to saying hello. On the surface at least, U.S. and Japanese

Globalisation has had a profound impact on the Japanese economy influencing levels of international trade, business operations, financial flows, government policy, labour markets and even environment. This movement has been driven primarily by numerous TNCs, trade liberalization, and the deregulation of the financial system, and numerous strategies adopted by the Government and Economy, resulting in the creation of a 'new' Japan.

While Japan’s economy may be contracting, the unemployment rate has lowered to 3.1 percent in October which came down from the 3.4 percent that is was at in January of 2015. The lowest value since July of 1995, but as the number of unemployment has declined sharply and employment has rose. The average of unemployment was 2.7 which was set in 1953. The unemployment rate for Japan is reported by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication.