Question 1

Amakudari,or "descent from heaven," refers to

Accepted Answer

A)   the creation myth legitimizing the divine right of Japan's emperor.
B)   the practice of retiring bureaucrats assuming positions in corporations or public office.
C)   government loans to Japan's strategic industries.
D)   illicit campaign contributions coming from corporations. B

Question 2

What impact did postwar democratization and Westernization have on the development of civil society in Japan? Does the Japanese bureaucracy limit or facilitate widespread civil society participation in government?

Accepted Answer

A good answer will note that democratization and Westernization being imposed on Japan severely limited the "bottom-up" function of ordinary civil society in favor of a "top-down" approach.The Japanese bureaucracy was largely retained during these processes to organize and co-opt interest groups that were important in fostering the state's goals of economic development and political stability,resulting in a corporatist system that limited the role of unions,consumer groups,and others in the political process.

Question 3

Which of the following best describes Japan's process of developing a modern economy and political structure?

Accepted Answer

A)   Modern economic and political development came through centuries of grassroots industrialization and local democracy.
B)   Modern economic and political development came primarily through a popular revolution in the sixteenth century that created one of the world's first democracies.
C)   Modern economic and political development occurred in a rapid,top-down process forced by elites in the late nineteenth century.
D)   Modern economic and political development was a product of post-World War II Japanese emulation of Western European states. C

Question 4

Ainu and burakumin are examples of

Accepted Answer

A)   new quasi-federal regions in Japan.
B)   environmental groups in Japan.
C)   neocorporatist business organizations inside the iron triangle.
D)   groups in Japan that face discrimination.

Question 5

Japan's lower house is elected by which of the following electoral systems?

Accepted Answer

A)   single-member district
B)   proportional representation
C)   plurality single-member district
D)   mixed single-member district and proportional representation

Question 6

In which of the following ways does the Japanese Diet's House of Councillors differ from the House of Representatives?

Accepted Answer

A)   It is more susceptible to the introduction of pork-barrel projects.
B)   It cannot be dissolved.
C)   It has more power than its counterpart.
D)   Its members are elected more frequently.

Question 7

Which of the following statements about the position of the Japanese prime minister is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A)   The prime minister is appointed by the emperor and then sent for approval by the Diet.
B)   The prime minister is chosen by the House of Representatives and is subject to approval by the House of Councillors.
C)   The prime minister draws the cabinet from the House of Councillors.
D)   The prime minister is elected by the political party holding a majority of seats in the House of Representatives.

Question 8

Which of the following statements about the Meiji Restoration is accurate?

Accepted Answer

A)   Cabinet ministers held real power,and the position of emperor was reduced to a symbolic figurehead.
B)   It involved creation of a Western-style parliament in which delegates had little real power.
C)   Oligarchs furthered the restoration by eliminating all traces of native religions and embracing secularism.
D)   Meiji foreign policy involved a shattering of treaties with the West while emulating Western policies.

Question 9

How does Japan's current economic situation compare to its economy during the 1980s?

Accepted Answer

A)   Iron triangles have less influence in the current economy.
B)   The current economy experiences lower unemployment but higher GDP per capita than was seen in the 1980s.
C)   The developmental capitalist model has been traded for a liberal model with very little state influence.
D)   The government carries more public debt now than it had in the 1980s.

Question 10

Would you judge the reforms imposed on Japan during the American occupation successful and beneficial? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Would you judge the reforms imposed on...

Question 11

Japan's iron triangle includes which of the following three constituencies?

Accepted Answer

A)   workers,politicians,bureaucrats
B)   politicians,businessmen,workers
C)   businessmen,soldiers,politicians
D)   bureaucrats,businessmen,politicians

Question 12

Japan currently faces territorial issues with which three of the following countries?

Accepted Answer

A)   North Korea,China,and the Philippines
B)   North Korea,Russia,and the Philippines
C)   Russia,China,and South Korea
D)   Russia,Taiwan,and South Korea

Question 13

Article 9 in Japan's postwar constitution

Accepted Answer

A)   severely restricts immigration.
B)   renounces war as a sovereign right.
C)   renounces the emperor's divinity.
D)   separates church and state.

Question 14

Describe Japan's industrial policy.How did government guidance and support lead to decades of booming growth,and what were the structural problems that became apparent in the 1990s?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe Japan's industrial policy.How did government guidance...

Question 15

Which of the following best describes the majority of current Japanese attitudes toward foreign policy?

Accepted Answer

A)   isolationist
B)   militarist
C)   pacifist
D)   integrationist (favoring an EU-like model for Asia)

Question 16

As they came into power in 2009 the Democratic Party of Japan promised voters to

Accepted Answer

A)   maintain corporate welfare.
B)   expand public works.
C)   weaken the iron triangle.
D)   end support of agriculture.

Question 17

Which of the following is the best description of the period known as Taisho democracy?

Accepted Answer

A)   feudal-era localized democratic experiments
B)   political system imposed on colonies by imperial Japan
C)   elitist democracy practiced in Japan today
D)   short-lived era of democratization during the 1920s

Question 18

Explain Japan's "one-and-a-half" party system.Why was that system so stable and why did that stability fracture in 2007?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Explain Japan's "one-and-a-half" party system.Why was that...

Question 19

Historically,Japan's political leadership has been characterized by a persistent division of labor between

Accepted Answer

A)   bourgeoisie and proletariat.
B)   those who rule and those who symbolically reign.
C)   shoguns and zaibatsu.
D)   warriors and clerics.

Question 20

The Meiji Restoration refers to the

Accepted Answer

A)   nineteenth-century modernizing revolution in Japan.
B)   eighth-century introduction of Buddhism to Japan.
C)   seventeenth-century introduction of Christianity to Japan.
D)   resurgence of Shintoism in feudal Japan.

Exam 6: Japan