The Contemporary Japan Group at the University of Tokyo's Institute of SocialScience
(ISS,or Shaken), welcomes you to a lecture by


Steven Reed (Very lately of Chuo University)

Political Corruption and Scandals in Postwar Japan: A Historical Overview

DATE AND PLACE Thursday, April 19, 2018 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Akamon Sﾅ紅ﾅ贀 Kenkyﾅｫtﾅ贀 Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo

ABSTRACT Japan has been plagued with political corruption scandals throughout its history. However, a closer look reveals a great deal of change in the kind of corruption that caused those scandals. I will describe a surprisingly wide variety of corruption scandals and trace the changes in type for the postwar period, from 1947 to date. I also analyze how corruption became public knowledge and trace the changing levels of transparency. I conclude that the political reforms of 1994 significantly enhanced transparency, which resulted in an increase in the number of scandals but a reduction in the levels of corruption. The lesson to be learned from postwar Japanese history is that one should worry about corruption when there are few scandals in the news. A dearth of scandals does not mean low corruption. It means that corruption is being successfully covered up.

SPEAKERSteven R. Reed has recently retired from Chuo University where he taught for 25 years. His best known work is Making Common Sense of Japan (University of Pittsburg Press). He has recently co-edited and contributed to Kﾅ肯eitﾅ贀: Politics and Religion in Japan, (Institute of East Asian Studies, The University of California, Berkeley) and the Japan Decides series from Palgrave Press covering the elections of 2012, 2014 and 2017. His most recent book is Political Corruption and Scandals in Japan (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press), co-authored with Matthew M. Carlson, upon which this talk will be based.

CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome. For more information, including maps and a list of past lectures, please visit our website:

http://web.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cjg/
or contact
Gregory W. NOBLE (noble@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp <mailto:noble@iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp>)