For students of power and politics in Japan, Tokyo is where the action is. Important decisions are made in Nagata-cho or Kasumigaseki. Even when it comes to local issues, the central government is the key player -- or at least, that's the gospel.
The contributors to this collection of case studies would disagree. Well, five of the six would. Their investigations of various local initiatives, ranging from freedom-of-information laws to Okinawan bases, show there is room for local political actors to take the lead. The results vary, but, explained Ellis Krauss, a veteran Japan hand from the University of California at San Diego, the evidence shows "there is room for far more local initiative than the old stereotype . . would suggest."
One important arena has been laws that call for the public disclosure of information. The wining and dining of national officials, known as "kankansettai," and filching government monies through the use of fictitious business trips (known as "karashutcho") are time-honored practices. By one estimate, the two totaled over 40 billion yen and implicated over 20,000 local officials in early 1998.