Examples of transport policy formulations: Japanese institutions and organisations from ancient times to the present

Abstract

This descriptive and interpretative paper illustrates Japanese institutions and organisations that are related to transport at different points of time, and what specific internal and external innovations in transport technology or policy processes were introduced. The New Institutional Economics defines institutions as the “rules of the game” that consist of both the formal legal rules and the informal social norms that govern individual behaviour and give structure and meaning to social interactions of institutions and organisations. The research methodology includes site visits and interviews, and the interpretation of historical literature in English and in Japanese. People are the driving force behind policy and research events and this is illustrated with seven Japanese case studies: administrative practices in the ancient port of Naniwa; canals constructed by merchants in 17th Century Osaka; early railways and the 1964 bullet train (shinkansen) and the Chuo Maglev railway under construction early 20th Century aviation, autonomous driving vehicles under development, and research into private financing initiatives (PFI). An understanding of the history of change, and the dominant actors involved, is essential when analysing current institutional and organisational arrangements and how they may change under internal or external pressures, as illustrated by the future Japan Society 5.0 and the transformation to “agile governance” and what this means for transport policy development.