Shadow Shoguns: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Postwar Political Machine

by Jacob M. Schlesinger

This is a vivid account of the corrupt and improbable political machine that ran Japanese politics for twenty years, from the early 1970s to the early 1990s, the period during which Japan became the world's second-largest economy.

Reviews

"Washington lobbyists, Moscow mafiosi, and Beijing party bosses stand back! . . . Here is one of the longest running big-time political sleaze serials of the past quarter-century. . . . This was a book waiting to be written, and not only has Schlesinger done it, but he has also produced a fine job of political reporting."

— New York Times Book Review

"In a rollicking style, Schlesinger . . . demolishes the popular misconception that politicians are boring. His is a tale of monstrous personalities. . . . This is the most entertaining short history of Japanese politics this reviewer has encountered."

— The Economist

"A story which is told vividly in this well researched and reliable account. . . . A superb analysis of Japan's politics and economic affairs."

— Washington Post Book World

" Shadow Shoguns is a lively and anecdote-rich account of the eerie parallels between Tokyo's now-battered political machine and New York's Tammany Hall. . . . Schlesinger masterfully demonstrates why Prime Minister Tanaka personified the collusive ties between Japanese politicians and Big Business."

— Business Week

"A fascinating and penetrating tale about the Tanaka machine that dominated Japan's politics for several decades and whose demise in the early 1990s has created a political vacuum that accounts for many of Japan's current problems."

— Foreign Affairs

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Asia, Biography

368 pages, Paperback

First published May 8, 1997

Reviews

[Nikhil Narain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant peek inside the political machinery of post-war Japan.

Follows the fortunes of Tanaka Kakuei and his disciples who, in the final decades of the 20th century, cynically exploited the links that bind money and power together to orchestrate their rise within the Liberal Democratic Party and on the national political stage, often wielding their enormous influence from behind the scenes.

The book concludes with a look at how the machine broke down in the early 90s due to a complex combination of external and internal factors, and what this momentous shift in the nature of power might mean for the future of Japan's democracy.

If you are interested in Japan's political developments following the Satō administration, this is a must-read.

[Kurishin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent description of post-war Japanese politics and how they have helped to develop Japan into what it is today. From excess sovereign debt to the world's best infrastructure, the development is in here.

[Alex Helling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadow Shoguns by Jacob M. Schlesinger is about the japanese LDP’s political dominance as a party through the 60s to the 90s when they won every election. This was enabled by the creation of a political machine that exploited flaws in the system to tie up the benefits of being in government to keep winning. This exploitation involved copious amounts of money - and this was of course a time of rapid development for Japan so there was money to go around. The LDP machine used businesses’ money to grease the political machine and win reelection for MPs. While the MPs would get contracts for development in their regions and constituencies. This is pork barrel politics on a lavish scale.

The key player in developing this machine is Kakue Tanaka, and the book ensures that it is not dry, indeed I found it riveting, by being focused on telling the story of this political machine through telling Tanaka’s biography, as well as those of three of his acolytes; Noboru Takeshita, Kurita Kaku, and Ichiro Ozawa. It does not cover much of the actual political debates - for example there is very little on some of the big questions such as signing the security treaty with the US. As where politicians were on the issues is not particularly relevant to the story. Instead it is the story of these politicians' influence, how they built it up, and how it finally collapsed.

While I picked this up for its’ historical interest thinking the political relevance would be marginal given Japan is not a major international player and this is now 25+ years old the book contains a lot of potential lessons on democracy. The corrupting influence of money on politics is clearly a big theme and warning. But perhaps less obvious is just how far a democracy can get from being representative - with both political parties essentially working together there is no competition. And finally I am very in favour of proportional representation - and I have always particularly liked multi member constituencies as an option but in Japan we have just those multi member constituencies essentially enabling corrupt politicians. And making it very difficult to throw them out because they only need a minority of votes, and because that corruption delivers for their constituents.

There are a few things the book lacks; no pictures - unusual on anything so recent where there must be plenty of images to choose from, though I guess the cover does show the four key participants so perhaps the author felt nothing else was needed. Also no map - given the constituencies and their geography is quite significant to the story this could have been helpful.

At the time of publishing the events were very recent, however now this is becoming more historical. It would be nice to have a more recent update to see what has changed since - after all the LDP is still in power. Has somewhat more competitive politics that followed the collapse of the machine stuck?

So despite it being a book of political journalism rather than really being a history book I feel this still has relevance and can hold the interest of the reader. It is an excellent read which I would recommend to anyone interested in politics and democracy.

[Eskil · Rating 4 out of 5]

En fantastisk engasjerende og spennende bok! Med humor og møysomhet gir den et klart og lettforståelig bilde av japansk pengepolitikk i etterkrigstida, og er uvurdelig lesing for alle som vil forstå japansk politisk utvikling.