Dear Prof. Thies,

There is an article on 'The CIA and Japanese Politics'
by Chalmers Johnson, Norbert Schlei and Michael Schaller in Asian Perspective,
42:4 (2000), pp. 79-103. Your student might want to talk to Michael Schaller directly.

One point your student should consider is whether to study CIA involvement in Okinawan politics as well as in mainland elections. I've seen a document in which Reischauer discusses channelling money to the Okinawan LDP via backchannels in Tokyo. I can't remember where I saw this document but it was probably FRUS.

Lastly, if your student were also interested in considering State Department propaganda in Japan, perhaps try this book:
Chizuru Saeki, US Cultural Propaganda in Cold War Japan
(2007)

I hope this is useful.

Regards,

Alexander Bristow
DPhil candidate in International Relations Oxford University