The Digital Transformation and Japan's Political Economy

This Element explores how the Japanese state is trying to balance the unfolding demands of the digital economy.

Ulrike Schaede (Author), Kay Shimizu (Author)

9781108925709, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 June 2022

75 pages
23 x 15.2 x 0.4 cm, 0.15 kg

Digital transformation and demographic change are usually seen as two separate but equally threatening events that foreshadow job replacement, industrial decline, and social bifurcation. Because Japan is the world's frontrunner in demographic change with an ageing and shrinking society, it is facing these two disruptions at the exact same time. This creates a 'lucky moment,' as it presents an opportunity to employ one as a solution for the problems caused by the other. For example, Japan's traditional sectors are replaced by digital systems that demand fewer people while offering new jobs. Emerging technologies are opening fresh opportunities for Japanese companies to compete globally. The twin disruptions are also upending Japan's political economy. As companies reinvent business strategies and employees reskill to pursue individual careers, the state is reorganizing to find a new role in balancing the unfolding demands of the digital economy.

1. Introduction
2. De?nitions: The digital transformation (DX) and demographic change
3. Context: Japan's political economy in the post-WWII era
4. The DX and business: new technologies, Industries, and global strategies
5. The DX and people: new employment patterns and reskilling
6. The DX and the State: toward a new political economy
7. Conclusion: the DX and Japan's new political economy.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Politics & government [JP]