SUSAN CARPENTER worked for seven years in an American branch office of the Japan External Trade Organization, a Special Status Corporation. She is currently a Visiting Research Scholar in the School of Management at the University of Edinburgh.

• List of Tables Acknowledgements Introduction Special Corporations: On and On and On They Go The Bureaucracy: Origins of Power The Power of the Bureaucracy: The Continuing Saga The Interpersonal Networks Between Government and Business The Ties That Bind: Amakudari and Shukko The Japan External Trade Organization: The Scent of a Ministry Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index