Richard J. Samuels 
The Politics of Regional Policy in Japan [PDF ebook] 
Localities Incorporated?

This is the first major study of politics and public administration in Japan to balance the prevailing view of the regional policy process from above’ with a view ‘from below.’ Developing a comparative framework for understanding the place of localities in policy making, he demonstrates that relations among localities in Japan are much more important than previously supposed.
Originally published in 1983.
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