Japanese Ministries
The Japanese government's executive branch is primarily composed of ministries.
Contents
Current Ministries
Cabinet Office (内閣府, Naikaku fu)
National Public Safety Commission (国家公安委員会, Kokka kouan iinkai)
Digital Agency (デジタル庁, Dejitaru chou)
Reconstruction Agency (復興庁, Fukkou chou)
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (総務省, Soumu shou)
Ministry of Justice (法務省, Houmu shou)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外務省, Gaimu shou)
Ministry of Finance (財務省, Zaimu shou)
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (文部科学省, Monbu kagaku shou)
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (厚生労働省, Kousei roudou shou)
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (農林水産省, Nourin suisan shou)
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (経済産業省, Keizai sangyou shou)
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (国土交通省, Kokudo koutsuu shou)
Ministry of the Environment (環境省, Kankyou shou)
Ministry of Defense (防衛省, Bouei shou))
Notable Historic Ministries
Home Ministry (内務省, Naimu shou)
Ministry of Home Affairs (自治省, Jichishou)
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (通商産業省, Tsuushousangyou shou, most commonly known as MITI)
History
Pre-War
Civil service exams were instituted in the Meiji era to promote a professional and prestigious bureaucracy.
Todai Law earned and maintained a reputation for producing students capable of passing the exams. Similar to Harvard and Yale in the United States, it is now entrenched in national policymaking.
Post-War
Aside from the Home Ministry, much of Imperial Japan's government was left as-is by GHQ. This left the bureaucracy in a powerful position.
While ministers were elected members of the Diet, all other members of a ministry (up to and including vice ministers) were career bureaucrats. This led to a functional structure similar to the IMF; the minister as a figurehead, the vice minister as the de facto head.
This status was maintained by the amakudari system, whereby retiring bureaucrats were gifted a job by the vice minister exercising their high-level connections to corporate boards.