The people's post office : the history and politics of the Japanese postal system, 1871-2010 / Patricia L. Maclachlan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maclachlan, Patricia L., author.

Series:

Harvard East Asian monographs ; 338.

Harvard East Asian monographs ; 338

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postal service--Japan--History--19th century.

Postal service.

Postal service--Japan--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 358 p. :) ill. ;

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London : Harvard University Asia Center, [2011]

Summary:

In 2001, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichirō launched a crusade to privatize Japan's postal services. The plan was hailed as a necessary structural reform, but many bemoaned the loss of traditional institutions and the conservative values they represented. Few expected the plan to succeed, given the staunch opposition of diverse parties, but four years later it appeared that Koizumi had transformed not only the post office but also the very institutional and ideological foundations of Japanese finance and politics. By all accounts, it was one of the most astonishing political achievements in postwar Japanese history.Patricia L. Maclachlan analyzes the interplay among the institutions, interest groups, and leaders involved in the system's evolution from the early Meiji period until 2010. Exploring the postal system's remarkable range of economic, social, and cultural functions and its institutional relationship to the Japanese state, this study shows how the post office came to play a leading role in the country's political development. It also looks into the future to assess the resilience of Koizumi's reforms and consider the significance of lingering opposition to the privatization of one of Japan's most enduring social and political sanctuaries.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

The Japanese Post Office in Theoretical and Comparative Perspective

"Making Use of Private Energies": The Origins and Early Evolution of the Modern Japanese Postal System

Public Servants with Private Interests: Postwar Commissioned Postmasters and the Politics of Self-Preservation

The Commissioned Postmasters: The View from Inside

The Postwar Postal Regime and the Failure of Reform

Setting the Stage: The Hashimoto Reforms

Koizumi Jun'ichirō and the Politics of Postal Privatization

The Revenge of the Postal Regime

Works Cited

Index

Harvard East Asian Monographs.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [333]-347) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-68417-512-7

OCLC:

1132663352

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9781684175123 DOI