ABSTRACT

The modern civil service system in Japan arrived in the nineteenth century when the modernization movement, often described as the “Meiji Restoration,” started in 1868. The new constitution in 1946 and the following new civil service law in 1947 sought to reform the character of civil service drastically, making it more representative and creating a democratically responsive group of officials who would serve the people as “civil servants”. Civil servants should seek to use their abilities with a stronger sense of mission to address challenges facing central and local governments. The National Personnel Authority improved the recruitment exam for first-class civil servants by introducing history and classics to cultural subjects, requiring knowledge of economics for law specialists and vice versa, and increasing the importance of the essay exam. The government has progressed in making civil service system reforms, reflecting the initial “Outline of Public Administrative Reform” and “Outline of Civil Service System Reform.”