The Influence of Amakudari on the Japanese Legal System

Abstract

Amakudari or “descent from heaven” refers to the retirement of Japanese government officials into private or quasi-public sector employment. Amakudari is a commonly-identified feature of the Japanese political economy. However, the effect the practice may have on the structure and functioning of the Japanese legal system has received little attention, even though amakudari is often accomplished through law and regulation, such as exemptions allowing ex-bureaucrats to join an otherwise tightly-regulated profession or legal requirements that businesses in a particular industry deal with a designated foundation or other ostensibly private body.

This article examines numerous examples of how amakudari and law intersect, including through Japan’s multitude of legal professions (both private and governmental), as well as in the countless foundations and quasi-governmental entities that may exist primarily to provide employment for ex-bureaucrats. It also delves into some of the ways in which the practice may warp the functioning of the legal system, both in terms of reserving opportunities in spheres of regulated activity for older persons with governmental connections at the expense of new (younger) entrants, as well as by driving up costs through the introduction into economic activity of unnecessary intermediaries. The practice of “internal” amakudari – retirement from one government job into another with a higher retirement age – and its impact on the judicial system (where summary court judgeships may function as a post-retirement job for court personnel) is also discussed.