ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the various tools and practices in use, especially the policy evaluation system and the Incorporated Administrative Agency, which are central to modern performance management reforms in Japan. Performance management reform is a relatively focus of the central government in Japan. Performance management gained increased importance during the late 1990s and broad awareness with the introduction of the policy evaluation and Incorporated Administrative Agency systems in 2001. Many authors have noted that Japanese public administration is characterized by weak executive leadership and departmental sectionalism, which hinder government performance. In order to respond to changing socioeconomic circumstances and severe financial constraints, many governments have sought to improve their performance and accountability through institutionalizing modern performance management tools. Growing concerns about performance and the demand for evaluation information among parliament members, media, and citizens seem to close the policy information disparity just a bit; this had once belonged exclusively to the bureaucrats.
