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- Convenors:
-
Karol Zakowski
(University of Lodz)
Hanno Jentzsch (Vienna University)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Politics and International Relations
- Location:
- Iuridicum Novum, Room 4.18
- Sessions:
- Sunday 30 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Warsaw
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed) |
Accepted papers
Session 1 Sunday 30 August, 2026, -Paper short abstract
How do municipal governments in Japan cope with various types of debris, in addition to household waste, when natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods occur? While tracing their activities, this study pays particular attention to the central government’s underlying intention to assist them.
Paper long abstract
Municipal governments in Japan have traditionally managed daily waste for many years, even as decentralization has been developing since the 1990s. However, natural disasters in recent years, such as earthquakes and floods, have generated large quantities of debris. How do these governments cope with such debris, in addition to household waste, in case of emergency? By tracing their activities after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, this article examines the idea of “state will,” which refers mainly to the central government’s efforts to reassert centralized control through several projects of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment, despite the ongoing decentralization process. The findings reveal that more attention should be paid to the hidden politics of environmental governance, as illustrated in this case.
Paper short abstract
The paper tries to examine the changes in Japan’s agricultural policy by exploring the definitions of some key policy terms such as “the food self-sufficiency rate” and “bearers of agriculture.” It argues that as their meanings changed overtime, a major shift occurred in Japan’s agricultural policy.
Paper long abstract
Japan’s agricultural policy has been aimed “to improve the food self-sufficiency rate” and “to foster bearers [ninaite] of farming.” Even though these goals remained unchanged for several decades, the actual policy measures to achieve them have altered from time to time. The conventional explanation that focuses on interests of political actors [farmers, the governing party, and the Agricultural Ministry] have difficulties in explaining the incremental policy change, because their interests have remained largely the same. This study proposes a new explanation focusing on the definitions of such key policy terms as “the food self-sufficiency rate” and “bearers of agriculture.” The author hypothesizes that changes in the definition of those terms that defined some policy goals brought about a major shift in Japan’s agricultural policy. To test the hypothesis, the author conducts a historical analysis of Japan’s agricultural policy between the 1970s and the 2010s. In the analysis, the author explores policy discourse concerning agricultural policy among policymakers, the media, and intellectuals by conducting text analyses of such materials as the Japanese Agricultural Ministry’s policy documents, the minutes from the Japanese Diet, and the articles of Japanese newspapers. Also, the author conducts a set of interview survey of Japanese policymakers such as Diet members and retired bureaucrats. Through the analyses, the author tries to present the evidence for the causal link between the definition of key policy terms and a shift in Japan’s agricultural policy. The author expects to detect the changes in the meanings of those key terms, the ways in which those changes were translated into actual policies, and the reasons why the meanings and policies changed during the time period.