Just as the sinking of the Titanic is embedded in the public consciousness in the English-speaking world, so the crash of JAL flight JL123 is part of the Japanese collective memory. The 1985 crash involved the largest loss of life for any single air crash in the world. 520 people, many of whom had been returning to their ancestral home for the Obon religious festival, were killed; there were only four survivors. This book tells the story of the crash, discusses the many controversial issues surrounding it, and considers why it has come to have such importance for many Japanese. It shows how the Japanese responded to the disaster: trying to comprehend how a faulty repair may have caused the crash, and the fact that rescue services took such a long time to reach the remote crash site; how the bereaved dealt with their loss; how the media in Japan and in the wider world reported the disaster; and how the disaster is remembered and commemorated. The book highlights the media coverage of anniversary events and the Japanese books and films about the crash; the very particular memorialization process in Japan, alongside Japanese attitudes to death and religion; it points out in what ways this crash both reflects typical Japanese behaviour and in what ways the crash is unique.

Just as the sinking of the Titanic is embedded in the public consciousness in the English-speaking world, so the crash of JAL flight JL123 is part of the Japanese collective memory. The 1985 crash involved the largest loss of life for any single air crash in the world. 520 people, many of whom had been returning to their ancestral home for the Obon religious festival, were killed; there were only four survivors.

This book tells the story of the crash, discusses the many controversial issues surrounding it, and considers why it has come to have such importance for many Japanese. It shows how the Japanese responded to the disaster: trying to comprehend how a faulty repair may have caused the crash, and the fact that rescue services took such a long time to reach the remote crash site; how the bereaved dealt with their loss; how the media in Japan and in the wider world reported the disaster; and how the disaster is remembered and commemorated. The book highlights the media coverage of anniversary events and the Japanese books and films about the crash; the very particular memorialization process in Japan, alongside Japanese attitudes to death and religion; it points out in what ways this crash both reflects typical Japanese behaviour and in what ways the crash is unique.

The choices made by governments about how to reward their top employees reveal a great deal about their values and their assumptions about governing. This book examines rewards of high public office in seven Asian political systems, a particularly rich set of cases for exploring the causes and consequences of the rewards of high public office, having some of the most generous and most meagre reward packages in the world. There are a range of economic, political and cultural explanations for the rewards provided by governments. Likewise, these choices are assumed to have a number of consequences, including variations in the levels of corruption and economic success. Reward for High Public Office includes case studies focusing on Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore. It will interest students and researchers of politics, public administration and Asian studies.

The image of the shinkansen - or 'bullet train' - passing Mount Fuji is one of the most renowned images of modern Japan. Yet, despite its international reputation for speed and punctuality, little is understood about what makes it work so well and what its impact is.

This is a comprehensive account of the history of the shinkansen, from its planning during the Pacific War, to its launch in 1964 and subsequent development. It goes on to analyze the reasons behind the bullet train's success, and demonstrates how it went from being simply a high-speed rail network to attaining the status of iconic national symbol. It considers the shinkansen's relationship with national and regional politics and economic development, its financial viability, the environmental challenges it must cope with, and the ways in which it reflects and influences important aspects of Japanese society. It concludes by considering whether the bullet train can be successful in other countries developing high-speed railways. Overall, this book provides a thorough examination of the phenomenon of the shinkansen, and its relationship with Japanese society.

The image of the shinkansen - or "bullet train" - passing Mount Fuji is one of the most renowned images of modern Japan. Yet, despite its international reputation for speed and punctuality, little is understood about what makes it work so well and what its impact is. This book provides a comprehensive account of the history of the shinkansen, from its planning during the Pacific War, to its launch in 1964 and subsequent development. It goes on to analyze the reasons behind the bullet train's success, and demonstrates how it went from being simply a high-speed rail network to attaining the status of iconic national symbol. It considers the shinkansen's relationship with national and regional politics and economic development, its financial viability, the environmental challenges it must cope with, and the ways in which it reflects and influences important aspects of Japanese society. It concludes by considering whether the bullet train can be successful in other countries developing high-speed railways. Overall, this book provides a thorough examination of the phenomenon of the shinkansen, and its relationship with Japanese society.

Using unprecedented access to the key actors inside the UK Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) and supporting interviews, this book explores how telecommunications regulation works from the inside.

Are public sector institutions being exposed to ever-greater oversight, audit and inspection in the name of efficiency, accountability and risk management? Controlling Modern Government explores the long-term development of controls over government across five major state traditions in developed democracies - US, Japan, variants of continental-European models, a Scandinavian case and variants of the Westminster model. A central aspect of the study is an eight country comparison of variety in the use of controls based in oversight, competition, mutuality and contrived randomness in the selected domains of the high bureaucracy at the core of the state, the higher education sector and the prison sector. Countries covered include Australia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the USA. Providing a comparison of trends in the last quarter century in control over public sector activities in OECD countries, this book will be invaluable reading for academics and graduate students focussing on political science and public administration, as well as policymakers in OECD countries.

Bureaucratic cutbacks are in the air all over the world. Many people appear sure that taxes are too high and that there are too many bureaucrats. The British government under Margaret Thatcher is generally seen as having been most successful in this regard, particularly on staff reduction. Between 1976 and 1985 there was a drop of nearly 20 per cent, from three-quarters of a million to fewer than 600,000 civil servants in the United Kingdom central government. How were these cutbacks implemented? Did certain civil servants and policy programmes take the brunt, or was the misery shared equally? Or is the entire thing a cosmetic exercise in numbers manipulation? In addressing these issues, Professor Dunsire and Professor Hood set out existing theories on management cutbacks and then test them against what happened in Britain, thus providing a full-length historical study of what actually happened in a decade of cutbacks in one country.

It was meant to be a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Nicola was working hard as an English teacher in Japan; she desperately needed a holiday. A long weekend with her boyfriend, Akira, and two other friends, Mai and Masashi, seemed ideal. The four of them would travel by Japan's safest form of transport, the shinkansen ('bullet train'), before boarding a ferry for the trip across to the quiet island of Sado. However, Nicola and her friends could never imagine that they would become caught up in a hijacking. Why would someone want to hijack this train? How would Nicola and her friends respond to being on a hijacked train? Would the police be able to catch those responsible? Hijacking Japan follows events in a real-time format during a dramatic day that threatens to bring the Japanese government to its knees.

The loss of a loved one is a traumatic event. If the loved one is your child, the emotions are further tested. Imagine having to cope with all of these feelings when also adding into the mix the challenges when the death happens on the other side of the planet in a country with a different language and culture. This is what one man had to face when his son died in the world's largest single plane crash. Peter Mathews lost his son Kimble, who was travelling with his fianc e Masako Nishiguchi, in the flight JL123 crash on 12 August 1985. From the time of the first phone call through his trip to Japan until his return back to the UK, Peter kept a diary and took photographs. Using these materials as a basis, this book provides an amazing insight into the events of August 1985. The book also includes details of the experiences and lessons learned by the JAL employee, Keith Haines, who was assigned to accompany the Mathews family to Japan. Their story is as relevant today as it was in 1985.

IRON AND STEEL - THEIR PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE - INTRODUCTORY - OF all the Commodities of Commerce Iron is by far the most important. In this country it forms the basis of an Industry which ranks second only to that of Agri-l culture, it enters essentially into every other manufacture, it is the maid-of-all-work of Science, the servant L of the Arts. The civilisation of nations is measured, , , l by it, wealth results from its possession and progress, , accompanies its use. In writing the story of iron in the short space which this book necessarily allows, it is manifestly impossible to deal with finished manufactures save those which are made directly from the raw material such as rails, girders, bars, plates, etc., and even these can only be treated in a very general way. The endeavour of the Author has been to write of the subject on broad lines, and thus give a comprehensive and clear account of it without too much detail. He wishes to express his . obligation to Scrivenors History of the Iuon Tuade, Swanks Iron in all Ages, and Sir Lowthian Bells work, Principles of the Manufacture of Iron and Steel, and to thank Mr. S. Marston, of the North Eastern Steel Co., and Mr. Henry Simpson, of the Middlesbrough Chamber of Commerce, for much valuable assistance. Gold is for the mistress-silver for the maid Copper for the craftsman cunning at his trade. Good said the a r o ns, i tting in his hall, But 1ron-cold Iron-is master of them all From the Poem Cold Iron in Rewards and Fairies, by Rudyard Kipling. By permission of Messrs. Macmillan 8-Co - CONTENTS - THE RAW MATERIALS CHAP. PAGE I. IRON ORES . . 1 11. COKE AND LIMESTONE . . 10 THE HISTORY OF IRON-MAKING III. ORIGINS AND PROGRESS .. 13 THE HISTORY OF MODERN STEEL PROCESSES IV. THE BESSEMER PROCESS . . 24 V. THE SIEMENS-MARTIN OPEN HEARTH PROCESS 37 VI. THE ELECTRIC FURNACE . . 41 THE PROCESSES AND PLANT USED IN IRON AND STEEL-MAKING VII. THE BLAST FURNACE AND ITS ACCESSORIES . 44 VIII. THE ACID OPEN HEARTH PROCESS-THE BASIC OPEN HEARTH PROCESS-COMPARISON OF THE FOUR STEEL PROCESSES-INGOTS AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT TREATMENT . 58-70 IX. FOUNDRY IRON-THE FORGE-OTHER PRO CESSES 72-80 - vii i L v111 CONTENT S CHAP. THE IRON TRADE PAGE X. THE HISTORY OF THE TRADE IN IRON. . 81 I XI. THE IRON TRADE OF VARIOUS COUNTRIESGREAT BRITAIN-GERMANY-THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA-FRANCE-BELGIUM - AUSTRIA-HUNGARY - RUSSIA-SWEDEN - THE WORLD POSITION . 96-1 15 XII. THE WARRANT MARKET . . 116 XIII. PROTECTIVE POLICIES AND COMBINATIONS OF MANUFACTURERS . . 130 APPENDIX . 146 INDEX . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TAPP1, NG - 4 BLAST FURNACE . . Frontispiece PAGE CATALAN FORGE . . 15 COGGING INGOTS . . 21 TEEMING STEEL FROM BESSEPvlER CONVERTER TO TR-4NSFER LADLE . 2 5 BESSEMER CONVERTER l BLOWING BESSERIER CONVERTER. FINISH OF BLOW . . 29 POURING lLIOLTEN IRON FROM LADLE INTO THE METAL MIXER . . 31 RESSEMER CONVERTER . . . 33 A SMALL SIEMENS-bZARTIN EXPERIMENTAL FURNACE . 38 BLAST FURNACE . . 46 COWPER STOVE . . 50 GJERS CALCINING KILN . 52 1 TALEOT TILTING STEEL FURNACES . . 61 MILD STEEL STERNFRAME AND BRACKETS FOR MAURETANIA AND LUSITANIA . . 71 X LIST oE ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE TOP HALF OF L. P. TURBINE CYLINDER . . 74 SMITHING OR SETTING CIRCULAR SAWS . . 78 SECTION OF PUDDLING FURNACE . . 80 QUARRYING IRON ORE IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA . . 111 CLARENCE IRON WORKS, WHERE SIR LOWTHIAN BELLS EXPERIMENTS WERE MADE. . . . 122 . A LARGE HAMMER. . . . 128 IRONAND STEEL - THE RAW MATERIALS CHAPTER I IRON ORES To begin at the very beginning it is necessary to consider the origin of the iron which is found in the rocks, from which it is extracted by the ironmaster. It has been estimated that iron forms 5 per cent...

This important new work updates the arguments of Christopher Hood's classic work "The Tools of Government" for the twenty-first century. Revised and updated throughout and drawing its examples from a wide range of places and contexts, it includes substantially increased coverage of how government gets information and an assessment of how the tools available to government have changed over time--especially with new developments in digital technologies.

The blame game, with its finger-pointing and mutual buck-passing, is a familiar feature of politics and organizational life, and blame avoidance pervades government and public organizations at every level. Political and bureaucratic blame games and blame avoidance are more often condemned than analyzed. In "The Blame Game," Christopher Hood takes a different approach by showing how blame avoidance shapes the workings of government and public services. Arguing that the blaming phenomenon is not all bad, Hood demonstrates that it can actually help to pin down responsibility, and he examines different kinds of blame avoidance, both positive and negative.

Hood traces how the main forms of blame avoidance manifest themselves in presentational and spin activity, the architecture of organizations, and the shaping of standard operating routines. He analyzes the scope and limits of blame avoidance, and he considers how it plays out in old and new areas, such as those offered by the digital age of websites and e-mail. Hood assesses the effects of this behavior, from high-level problems of democratic accountability trails going cold to the frustrations of dealing with organizations whose procedures seem to ensure that no one is responsible for anything.

Delving into the inner workings of complex institutions, "The Blame Game" proves how a better understanding of blame avoidance can improve the quality of modern governance, management, and organizational design.

The blame game, with its finger-pointing and mutual buck-passing, is a familiar feature of politics and organizational life, and blame avoidance pervades government and public organizations at every level. Political and bureaucratic blame games and blame avoidance are more often condemned than analyzed. In "The Blame Game," Christopher Hood takes a different approach by showing how blame avoidance shapes the workings of government and public services. Arguing that the blaming phenomenon is not all bad, Hood demonstrates that it can actually help to pin down responsibility, and he examines different kinds of blame avoidance, both positive and negative.

Hood traces how the main forms of blame avoidance manifest themselves in presentational and "spin" activity, the architecture of organizations, and the shaping of standard operating routines. He analyzes the scope and limits of blame avoidance, and he considers how it plays out in old and new areas, such as those offered by the digital age of websites and e-mail. Hood assesses the effects of this behavior, from high-level problems of democratic accountability trails going cold to the frustrations of dealing with organizations whose procedures seem to ensure that no one is responsible for anything.

Delving into the inner workings of complex institutions, "The Blame Game" proves how a better understanding of blame avoidance can improve the quality of modern governance, management, and organizational design.

The traditional understandings that structure the relationships between public servants and the wider political system are said to have undergone considerable change. But what are these formalized and implicit understandings? What are the key dimensions of such bargains? In what conditions do bargains rise and fall? And has there been a universal and uniform change in these bargains? The Politics of Public Service Bargains develops a distinct perspective to answer these questions. It develops a unique analytical perspective to account for diverse bargains within systems of executive government. Drawing on comparative experiences from different state traditions, this study examines ideas and contemporary developments along three key dimensions of any Public Service Bargain - reward, competency and loyalty and responsibility. The Politics of Public Service Bargains points to diverse and differentiated developments across national systems of executive government and suggests how different 'bargains' are prone to cheating by their constituent parties. This study explores the context in which managerial bargains - widely seen to be at the heart of contemporary administrative reform movements - are likely to catch on and considers how cheating is likely to destabilize such bargains.

Why does regulation vary so dramatically from one area to another? Why are some risks regulated aggressively and others responded to only modestly? Is there any logic to the techniques we use in risk regulation? These key questions are explored in The Government of Risk. This book looks at a number of risk regulation regimes, considers the respects in which they differ, and examines how these differences can be justified. Analyzing regulation in terms of 'regimes' allows us to see the rich, multi-dimensional nature of risk regulation. It exposes the thinness of society-wide analyses of risk controls and it offers a perspective that single case studies cannot reach. Regimes analysis breaks down the components of risk regulation systems and shows how they interact. It also shows how different parts of the same regime may be shaped by different factors and have to be explained and understood in quite different ways. The Government of Risk shows how such an approach is of high policy relevance as well as of considerable theoretical importance.

Based on two years of unprecedented access to the inner workings of Whitehall, this book by a leading team of scholars reveals the reality of regulation inside government. It examines the army of inspectors, auditors, grievance-chasers and other bodies devoted to oversight of public organizations. It documents the remarkable growth of such regulators over the two decades when public bureaucracies were being cut back substantially and explores the way they work in five different domains.

This book explores the unintended and unanticipated effects associated with 'modernization' projects and tackles the key question that they provoke - why do policy-makers persist in such enterprises in the face of evidence that they tend to fail? Paradoxes of Modernization first discusses what is meant by 'modernization' and 'unintended consequences', placing public policy reform within more general intellectual and social trends. It presents eight case study 'modernization' projects. Their architects promised faster trains, a more efficient and reactive health service, a more motivated public service, better performing local government, enhanced information for prospective US university students, reduced rates of child malnutrition in developing countries, and a free, open, safe, interconnected cyberspace for people to conduct their social and political life. Each case provides a neat story with a paradox that varies the modernization theme and tackles the question: why was the project pursued? The conclusion categorizes the cases in terms of their outcome, from success to disappointment, and suggests some strategies for a more balanced version of modernization for current and future policy-makers

This book explores the unintended and unanticipated effects associated with 'modernization' projects and tackles the key question that they provoke - why do policy-makers persist in such enterprises in the face of evidence that they tend to fail?
Paradoxes of Modernization first discusses what is meant by 'modernization' and 'unintended consequences', placing public policy reform within more general intellectual and social trends. It presents eight case study 'modernization' projects. Their architects promised faster trains, a more efficient and reactive health service, a more motivated public service, better performing local government, enhanced information for prospective US university students, reduced rates of child malnutrition in developing countries, and a free, open, safe, interconnected cyberspace for people to conduct their social and political life. Each case provides a neat story with a paradox that varies the modernization theme and tackles the question: why was the project pursued? The conclusion categorizes the cases in terms of their outcome, from success to disappointment, and suggests some strategies for a more balanced version of modernization for current and future policy-makers.

Why are vast sums spent on controlling some risks but not others? Is there any logic to the techniques we use in risk regulation? These are key questions explored in The Government of Risk. This book exposes the components of risk regulation systems and examines their interaction and explanation. The approach employed is of a high policy relevance as well as of considerable theoretical importance.

This important new study, by a leading scholar in the field, offers a fresh perspective on public management. In contrast to the widespread claim of the 'modernization gurus' that a new era of global convergence is dawning in public management, it uses cultural theory to show why ideas about how to manage government are inherently plural and contradictory and likely to remain so.