We have witnessed an abundance of literature on the Japanese culture and its impact on management in business and industrial organizations. Paradoxically, the literature on Japanese public administration has given little explicit consideration to the cultural aspects of public bureaucracy. Much of the literature on public administration focuses on the issues of central and local governments, administrative functions, and administrative guidance. Although discussions of the institutional, structural, legal, and functional dimensions of public bureaucracy contribute to an understanding of ministerial conflicts, power and authority in intergovernmental relations, and the intergovernmental processes of policy implementation, they do not explain how public bureaucracy is sustained by its organizational members. When we look not at the explicit meaning of the obvious of Japanese administration, but instead look at the meaning of hidden dimensions (Hall, 1963 and 1987), we can learn a great deal about people's behavior, their action orientations, and their consciousness in the context of administrative culture (Ingersoll and Adams, 1992; Geertz, 1973; Polanyi, 1966; Schein, 1992). In this article, we will attempt to shed some light on the inner workings of Japanese public administration by focusing on its social and cultural elements. We will explore the subjective meanings that administrative phenomena have for public administrators. The tacit and subjective elements, such as feelings of loyalty, obligation, harmony, conformity, and caring, are not apparent and cannot be understood merely from an institutional and objective point of view. By examining these phenomena, some latent elements that distinguish Japanese administration from that of other countries should also become visible. It would be presumptuous for us to think that we could provide a clear picture of all the hidden dimensions of administration in this article. We will only attempt to pass on some important aspects of administration that we have learned from intensive interviews of 30 former public managers and executives, researchers, and academics. Our discussions are also based on our own observations on administration supported by literature. Japanese public bureaucracy, like bureaucracies in other countries, embraces the ethos of bureaucratic structure, hierarchy, specialization, rules and regulations, complex structures, technology, and size - nearly four million public servants work for the central (1,168,000) and local (2,840,000) governments (Center for Administrative Management Research, 1992, p. 33). Some questions that have troubled Western scholars for years are: To what extent does traditional culture influence the behavior and actions of public employees? How are decisions made in the bureaucracy? Why are Japanese administrators so committed to their everyday work? These and other questions may be partially answered through an understanding of the idiosyncratic aspects of Japanese administrative culture. The Subject Meanings of Vertical Relationships Japan is characterized as a vertical society (Nakane, 1970), one in which all human relationships are based on a person's hierarchical position, status, educational background, seniority, and gender. The old Confucian style relationship between master and servant or older and younger is today the relationship of bureau chief and section chief, manager and subordinate, and senior and junior. Most public employees, whatever their organizational positions, are aware of the senior (senpai) and junior (kohai) relationships. When a former bureau chief who served in the Economic Planning Agency was asked to describe his relationship with his immediate boss, he first stressed that he had been fortunate to have his senpai as a supervisor. His senpai, like himself, graduated from law school at the University of Tokyo and shared his alma mater. Because of this connection, he was able to establish a highly paternalistic and trusting relationship. …