Reforming the Japanese civil service: evaluation of the Hashimoto Reform, 1996–1997

Abstract

The Hashimoto Reform of 1996–1997, the largest-scale administrative reform effort in Japan, was not so much appreciated by the public in Japan. However, it showed significant accomplishment in solving the traditional problems in the Japanese civil service, and promoted a more performance-based discussion about its function. But its shortcomings are as instructive as its success. It failed in improving stubborn sectionalism by averting a drastic reform in the personnel management system, and lacked a strategy focused on service orientation which is indispensable to improve accountability of the civil service.