Japan's New DPJ Government, the Environment and the Future of the Construction State

Extract

In the wake of the DPJ landslide victory and the first decisive defeat of a reigning Japanese government in more than half a century, attention has focused on two signature issues of the Hatoyama administration:

• The U.S-Japan and China-Japan Relations and the possibility of a more independent Japanese foreign policy.

• The critique of neoliberalism and the possibility of economic and social policies more effectively addressing Japan's troubled economy and growing intra-societal divisions.

Less attention has been paid to environmental issues and their intersect with policies associated with the construction state pioneered by the Liberal Democratic Party over half a century. Yet these policies also have profound implications for Japan's economic future.