ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some institutional forms of corruption in Japan. In 1999, the National Public Service Ethics Law was passed after several scandals had occurred, also signaling the changing prestige of civil servants in Japan. The law states rules regarding gifts, exercise of duties, punishment, required ethics training, and other legal schemes for the suppression of corruption. The unique values and cultures of Japanese public officials, which originated from the tycoon era, were shared among the samurai class that was absorbed into the Japanese civil service in the late nineteenth century. Criminal law provides the basic penalties for bribery in Japan. The law and the rule require each ministry to provide training for public service ethics and proper conduct. Various legal schemes in Japan are designed to discourage corruption within government. The e-transaction between government offices and citizens or private companies has a possibly significant impact on the anticorruption policy.
