Iron Triangle (Japan)

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The Iron Triangle ( Japanese 政 官 業 ト ラ イ ア ン グ ル , seikangyō toraianguru ) is a multifaceted interweaving of interests between politics, bureaucracy and companies in Japan .

The iron triangle

bureaucracy

The bureaucracy consists mainly of the MITI (Ministry of Trade and Industry), which is now called METI . Since there is no legal basis for their actions, they are dependent on the cooperation of industrial companies. They issue recommendations on which companies should act ( administrative guidance ). However, if companies do not act according to the will of the bureaucracy, it can happen that applications are forgotten that are important for this company.

Politician

Politicians have the investment resources to support businesses. They protect the interests of companies and develop them; this gives them the prospect of retirement ( amakudari ). In contrast to the bureaucracy, they have tangible (material) leverage. By supporting individual companies, they can expand their own power.

Companies

Mostly keiretsu (up to the Second World War zaibatsu ) are meant , the large corporate conglomerates , such as B. Mitsubishi , Marubeni , Sony or Mitsui are. These companies donate to zoku and thus also have an influence on the formation of will within the party. Also, because politicians do not want to give the bureaucrats power in the decision-making process because they need the company's money, they work for the company.

→ This mutual support and dependency encourage corruption .

Historical development of the Iron Triangle from 1945

1945–1973

The American occupation banned zaibatsu, but through the Korean War , the US recognized the importance of the zaibatsu, revived and subsidized them.

Industrial policy is an instrument of the state. The politicians began to promote certain areas as the state can dispose of the distribution of the investment funds.

The import of foreign technologies for industry was allowed, but at the same time goods available in Japan were prevented from being brought onto the market by foreign companies. This protected Japanese companies from international competition. In the years that followed, a strong export industry developed.

In the 1960s, the Iron Triangle held together and the economy grew stronger, yet continued to work with the government. In the 1970s, the Iron Triangle was weakened due to pluralization and scarcity of public funds. With the 1973 oil crisis, companies no longer acted in the spirit of corporatism , but oriented themselves towards internal company advantages.

1973–1985

There was high environmental damage due to industrial enterprises. Among other things, the basic environmental law (unique in the world at the time) is intended to ensure that the environment is better protected. The rise in oil prices and the associated recession made Japan's high dependence on international framework conditions clear.

A turning point came: Instead of energy and raw material-intensive production, knowledge-intensive branches were promoted. The oil dependency should be reduced in order to achieve better environmental compatibility. Future industries (microelectronics) were built up with their own technologies and at the same time heavy industry was rationalized and switched to a technology-intensive manufacturing industry and a growing service society.

1985-1996

With NTT's IPO and its stock rising rapidly to record highs, companies invested in them instead of their own businesses. Land was used as a means of payment for securities and their prices soared astronomically.

Hyper-speculation led to the bubble economy bursting in 1989. This ushers in the longest period of recession in Japan since the end of World War II.

In 1995, Iron Triangle corruption scandals were exposed through the illegal loan scandal from the Tokyo Kyowa Credit Association and Anzen Credit Bank . Bankers were arrested, but politicians and bureaucrats got away with warnings and were not held accountable.

literature

  • Eisuke Sakakibara: Structural Reform in Japan: Breaking the Iron Triangle. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC 2003, ISBN 0-8157-7676-4 .

swell

  • Blechinger, Verena (1998): Political Corruption in Japan. Causes, Reasons and Attempts at Reform. Verbund Stiftung Deutsches Übersee-Institut, Hamburg.
  • Federal Agency for Civic Education. Friederike Bosse: Economic Structures (Issue 255, 1997)
  • Economic structures