It’s really one of the unusual things about Japan. A lot of these guidelines and rules and regulations are worked out and implemented by Japan’s massive bureaucracy without a lot of input from politicians (except for when it comes to approving budgets). The Prime Minister will say, “We want to do this,” and then leave it to the bureaucrats in the various ministries to come up with ways of making it happen.
It is no exaggeration to say that the country is actually run day-to-day by career bureaucrats, while at the same time, the competitive salaries, stability and significant benefits that bureaucrats receive make it a very popular career choice…to the point where upwards of half of boys and girls in Japan say that their dream profession is “public servant.” I’m not saying that bureaucracy is the way to go, but “Japan Inc.” (as it is often called) makes it work.
