Administrative reform and innovation: the Japanese case.

Japan has undergone tremendous economic and social changes. The prodigious economic growth of the 1960's has lifted Japan to third place among highly industrialized countries in terms of its gross national product. Technological innovations in industrial processes and production which have contributed to this economic development have become so widespread as to include even the process of management, and the introduction of various modern managerial techniques is making Japan into a computerized managerial society. According to the 1965 census, about 70 per cent of the total population of 98 million lives in cities, and 45 out of every 100 persons are concentrated in greater Tokyo, Japan, whose population increased by 5.5 million between 1955 and 1965. Urbanization at this speed and on such a scale has brought with it, in both urban and rural areas, many serious problems which lead to changes in the traditional outlook and customs, and, above all, in social and cultural values. The rise of new generations, the popularization of higher education, widespread ownership of television sets, etc., have contributed to these changes.