Legislative influences in Japanese budgetary politics

Following World War II (W.W.II), Japan adopted a democratic parliamentary system. Since its formation in 1955 the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had monopolized Japanese legislature (Diet) for over 35 years. However, it is said that at the center of the budgetary process was the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Elite bureaucrats rather than politicians are typically seen as the agenda-setter. The action of politicians, in particular members of the LDP, to influence the budgetary resource allocation has been largely unexamined. This paper empirically examines the influence of the LDP on the supplementary budget formation and on the revenue-sharing. We find that the LDP had a significant impact on the budget formation. Further, we find that the LDP manipulated transfers from the central government to local governments presumably to maintain its electoral positions.     

In search of ‘history's flesh itself’: Nakano Shigeharu and literary imagination

Nakano Shigeharu (1902–1979) made an intriguing remark late in his literary career concerning the role of literature. He claimed that the task of literature for him was to seek ‘history itself’ or ‘its flesh itself’. Distilled in this comment is the essence of the literary praxis Nakano pursued throughout much of his career. One fruit of this endeavor was a novella, ‘The First Chapter’ (1935), a tale that critically engages with his recent past. Through the analysis of ‘The First Chapter’ and other relevant writings by Nakano, I explore in this article what he meant by ‘history's flesh itself’ and how Nakano wielded his literary imagination to register this ‘flesh’ in his prose fiction, in ways that invites a different kind of remembrance of the past.