These reforms were pursued in roughly two directions. The first was reform of the government organization to beef up the functions of the prime minister.
Administrative reforms launched under Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in the late 1990s resulted in establishing the Cabinet Office and a policy conference headed by the prime minister, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, was founded in 2001.
Second, the creation of the Personnel Bureau within the Cabinet Office enabled the prime minister's office to take control over the appointments of high-ranking bureaucrats.
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