japanese corruption essays

japanese corruption essays The Japanese political system has it's complexities like any other government. The most boggling one in Japan is it's corruption which has become so popular among the bureaucrats over the years. This government has tried to better itself with each party leader preaching a new hope or reform for the governments future. The question continues to arise on why things are the way they are in this country. With each new party that gains the majority votes, brings a downfall in the future to hurt the Japanese economy and political structure. It might be best said that "The Japanese people have been more than indulgent in allowing political corruption and have coined a saying describing the phenomenon: tok-age no shipp kiri-"Cutting the tail of the lizard." Nature has increased the lizard's chances of avoiding capture by its enemies by equipping it with a detachable tail. When a predator seizes a fleeing lizard by the tail, it breaks off and the lizard escapes. But this loss is not permanent as the lizard can regenerate this portion of its anatomy"(Hayes, 107). This metaphor perfectly describes the corrupt leadership in Japan. Most of corruption that takes place effects the party and its leaders but never causes anything permanent so it is very often that these immoral acts just "slide". This problem is what has caused political corruption to become almost a norm in Japanese society. The long term effects of this corruption has caused a severe damage to Japans political system but those who have gotten caught in scandals are treated with very little punishment. On a local level, there has been many cases of bribes connected to public works and bureaucratic favors. Vote buying has become very popular among the Japanese scandals. The money that was used was always aimed to be passed in an unseen manner. Most of the time these gifts were overlooked as political donations. Accounting regulations have been manipulated and ficti...