Publisher's Synopsis
The extraordinary account of how Japan's most powerful institution, the Ministry of Finance, maintains its tenacious and undisputed control over the nation's economy The first account of how Japan's most powerful institution, claiming a divine mandate superseding the rights of elected government and origins which predate the Constitution, pursues an historic vision of greatness for Japan. The Ministry of Finance, or Okurasho, has established for itself supra-legal powers. Orthodox economic theory, popular democracy, the judiciary, the media and foreign governments are treated with open disdain in the all-consuming pursuit of superior Japanese strength. Subject to its own agenda, the Ministry of Finance has been instrumental in the downfall of at least two postwar prime ministers in its campaign to manipulate the national budget balance. The truth and range of Okurasho's power across Japan's economic and political landscape have never before been properly examined. The superelite who run the Ministry are almost exclusively graduates of Tokyo University, and their suitability is controlled to the extent that ministry officials organize the marriage of young Okurasho members to the eligible daughters of rich industrialists and politicians. Central to Japan's postwar success, the Ministry has borrowed 300 trillion yen ($3 trillion) worth of workers' pension savings and used the money for all manner of purposes, including propping up the stock market. With no plans for funding this vast liability - four times the size of Japan's annual budget - this is a fiscal time bomb waiting to explode.
