This book provides a systematic overview of public administration, planning, and public management in Japan. According to Ichiro Nakayama, one of the scholars who laid the foundations of planning administration in Japan, planning is realised through administration, and our society is constantly driven by countless plans and administrations. Unfortunately, however, the relationship between planning and administration is not a satisfactory one. This is because the roots of planning are thought and science, while the base of administration is organisation and technology. 

According to Ichiro Nakayama, the first president of the Japan Association for Planning Administration, planning is realised through administration, and society is driven by innumerable planning activities and administrative processes. However, the relationship between planning and administration is unfortunately not satisfactory, because planning is rooted in thought and science, while administration is grounded in organization and technology—and these elements are inseparably intertwined.　 

Recognizing the deep interdependence between planning and administration, this book is a reminder that the gap between them must be bridged. The field of planning administration spans the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences and involve a wide range of actors, including academics and researchers, national and local government administrators, and businesses and citizens. 

Chapters are written by leading experts in public administration in Japan—economists, political scientists, and public management scholars among them—some of whom have also served in positions of direct or indirect administrative responsibility in public administration, planning, and public management. This book appeals especially to researchers and practitioners of public administration, planning, and public management both within Japan and internationally.

Yoosung Park, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics

Tatsuro Sakano, Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Institute of Technology