Administrative Guidance of Japanese Local Government for Air Pollution Control

Administrative guidance (Gyoseishido) has been conducted in the various fields in Japan. During the post-war period, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI, currently the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) frequently issued administrative guidance in order to promote infant industries, protect declining industries, rearrange the national industrial structure and control public enterprises (Oyama, 1996, p. 44). While MITI only partially succeeded in attaining these objectives, the guidance has often been lauded as a successful soft tool adopted by the national government that contributed to the remarkable development of the Japanese economy. On the other hand, the accusation has often been made that the guidance is a symbol of the opacity and ambiguity of the Japanese administration, and this assertion has been made particularly by the United States government, which is impatient with the trade imbalance between the two countries (Shindo, 1992).