Negotiation and Policy Change - Administrative Structure of Japan after the Environmental Wave

- 1 - Introduction From the early sixties until the end of seventies, Japan adopted a series of environmental policies following its economic miracle. For the extraordinary success in dealing with pollution constrains, Japan’s experience in environmental management has become an area of considerable research interest in inter-national academia. The pioneering achievements in the enactment of anti-pollution policies in Japan from 1960 to 1970 has been a matter of intense academic research and popular interest for the possible transferability of Japan’s experience to Asian developing countries now facing similar environmental problems to those Japan experienced in the past (Jänike 2002). In the literature particularly attention has been devoted to exploring the conceptual outcomes behind a successful policy-making to preserve environment and upgrade the quality of life. Respectively in the Japanese context, as well as in many Western countries, most of the literature has focused on particular policies and measures used after the rise of environment concern, but there has been much less discussion about the dynamics playing at the administrative level which de facto constituted a cornerstone for promoting successful partnership between the government and the private sector in dealing with pollution constrains. In general this process is the result of a complex interaction of influences and not of a single, isolated factor (Mol 2001); indeed environmental policy formulation and enforcement undoubtedly depends on strict and well-designed policy strategies, but it is the inter-communication between ministries and an equal task-sharing among institutions which permit an effective functioning. According to scholars, from the administrative and institutional perspective, the context of four elements is important to assess environmental management systematically; they are administrative cooperation, interaction between ministries for environmental improvement ,day- to-day operational rules for organizations, and the link between both formal and informal environmental institutions to promote administrative guidance, both at national and local level. These four elements work together to produce social-capacity support for all environmental managerial activities. In the specific case of Japan, the power-sharing structure found in the environmental administration has helped ministries to make join efforts in the formulation of policy once consensus on the need for action has been achieved. After the rise of social movements and protests, the cooperation between ministries has been deeply involved in the process of responding to the growth/environment dilemma; MITI and MHW in particular have been