The Politics of Telecommunications Reform in Japan

The paper examines the development of the policy debate over reform of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), in order to examine how the process of regulatory reform is shaped in Japan. The study argues that, while the NTT reform debate mainly took place between NTT management and labour and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), the development of reform policy involved several actors, with divergent interests, who influenced the process ot varying degrees at various stages. The study also explores ways in which the change from a single-party government to a coalition government had a significant impact on the ability of particular actors to influence the process.