The Negotiators

1. Selection, Expertise, and Support. The highest calling for а Japanese youth still is tо become а government official. In one of the recent years, 488 of the 1,102 successful applicants tо Japanese officialdom came from Tokyo University, а school accorded great prestige in part because of the difficulty of its entrance examination. Another 211 came from Kyoto University, also top-ranked, also difficult tо enter. Two-thirds came from the law department; one-third came from the economics department. The Japanese bureaucracy is kept small. Bureaucrats are chosen for their educational attainment in а prescribed course of study. They have extraordinary sense of solidarity that should not be obscured by the dust kicked up in fights between the ministries.

Each young official will rise through the tiers of his ministry at about the same speed as his colleagues rise through the tiers in their ministries. Nemauashi, then, turns out to be а meeting between classmates.

At age 55 or 56, each official will resign from his ministry (the Japanese expression is "leave heaven") tо pursue а second career. Some run for elective office; others become an adviser tо а major corporation. That prospect cements ties between bureaucrats, businessmen, and politicians.

2. A Japanese negotiating team is composed largely of middle-level officials appointed because of their technical and substantive expertise. Often, these individuals are division heads in their midforties. The official chief negotiator is usually а senior man with sufficient status tо serve as а symbolic representative of the domestic consensus. Не may know and say little about the subject matter, though, and defer from the specialists of the team.

In spite of their technical or substantive expertise, Japanese government representatives often lack tactical negotiating skills. Some American businessmen contend that Japanese in large multinational companies negotiate in the Western tradition.

Support for government negotiators is broad and deep. The team itself may have 15 со 20 members, who are supported by 15 со 20 staff. Their advance preparation is the envy of other governments. The work of other domestic groups should not be overlooked.

Range оf Authority.

2. Some years ago aviation negotiations, Japan Air Lines exerted pressure for the government tо hold tо its position. Similarly, Toyota pressured and limited the Ministry International Trade and Industry (МITI) during initial bilateral talks on auto ехрогt restraints, as Nippon Telegraph and Telephone did with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications during initial talks on government procurement policies. Even the prime minister's authority seems limited. Prime Minister Nakasone signaled as much in telecommunication negotiations in March 1986, when he responded tо U.S. requests with the promise tо use "my best possible efforts." Unlike President Nixon with Prime Minister Sato, President Reagan decided not tо press Prime Minister Nakasone any further for the time being.