ABSTRACT
The legalism which has persistently dominated the thinking of the kambatsu (literally, official clique) has deep historical roots in the Sino-Japanese tradition of an elite chosen from scholar-statesmen. In addition, the bureaucracy in modern Japan was able, between 1868 and 1945, to build almost unassailable defenses against inroads by any other group desirous of assaulting its citadels of power. It is a tribute to the strength and morale of this elite corps to say that of all the prewar cliques-the aristocracy, the military, the zaibatsu, and the bureaucracy-the bureaucracy was the last to change under the impact of Occupation and post-Occupation reforms, if indeed it has changed at all.
