The Japanese Power Game: What It Means for America

Nineteen eighty-nine was an extraordinary year in Japanese politics-it was the year the Japanese government was rocked by a series of scandals that seemed to threaten the entire postwar order. The Japanese Power Game is the first book to focus on what these scandals meant for the Japanese system and for the rest of the world. The largest scandal centered on Hiromasa Ezoe, the founder of the Recruit group of magazines, who spread millions of his unlisted shares among Japan's powerful elite to gain influence. When he was exposed, Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, who was one of many top politicians implicated, was forced to resign. His replacement, Sosuke Uno, was soon ousted in a sex scandal. The career of still-powerful former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone was destroyed.

Western pundits heralded the overthrow of a corrupt system. A Socialist woman, Takako Doi, appeared headed for power. Real change seemed imminent-and with it the possibility of a new era in U.S.- Japanese relations.

In a series of startling revelations, Holstein shows how hopes for political and social change in Japan in the wake of the Recruit scandal were dramatically overblown. It was the challengers to the status quo, not the establishment, who were punished. Nor have the Japanese lost their competitive clout. Even as the Japanese power game is played at home, the Japanese are extending their systems and values to the United States and increasing their influence on American perceptions and politics.