THE JAPANESE CABINET MINISTERS:CHANGE AND CONTINUITY,1885 THROUGH 1964

Abstract

The main theme of this study is the change and continuity in the recruitment and composition of the members of the Japanese Cabinet from its inception in 1885 to the end of the third. Ikeda cabinet in November, 1964. The objectives of. This study is twofold First, some social attributes and characteristics of the members of the Japanese Cabinet, which have been hitherto impressionistically observed by researchers of modern Japanese politics, are to be tested on. The basis of empirical data. Secondly, it is hoped that an investigation into the social attributes shared commonly among those individuals represented in the political leadership of Japan in a given period and over different periods might throw some new lights on the nature and extent of political development' and change that took place in Japan since her emergence as a modern state. Various biographical data for 501 individuals who had. Served in the Japanese Cabinet with or without portfolio between 1885 and 1964 were collected and processed to determine what common social characteristics were shared among them in a given period and over, different periods; what specific characteristics were associated with varying styles of Japanese regime and whether or not any of the characteristics was a factor contributing to the emergency of these persons as members of the cabinet in a given period or under a specific regime.