Exiting the Global Economic Superhighway (PDF)

Hideki Kato started his career at the Japanese Ministry of Finance, where he was involved in fiscal and monetary policy, taxation, and national macroeconomic management, as well as practical operations. Through his time at the Ministry he was able to grasp the essence of Japan's political issues, which are described in detail in this book. At the Ministry's Policy Research Institute, he conducted a comparative study on the political, administrative, and welfare systems of ten countries around the world, publishing the findings. He also published a book describing a range of environmental issues and measures to deal with them-a pioneering work at the time-and organized a study group comprised of scholars from the fields of history, anthropology, religion, and natural sciences, publishing several books on a theory of civilization that summarized the achievements of the study group.

As Founder and President of the policy think tank Japan Initiative, Mr. Kato has been involved in a variety of research and proposal activities regarding financial, monetary, welfare, educational, and political systems. He has placed particular emphasis on activities in the field of local government, where national policies are carried out.


Across hundreds of projects, Japan Initiative has engaged citizens and residents, chosen through random sampling, at both the local and national levels, and in many cases the results have become government policy. In addition, at the request of the Indonesian government, the same method has been adopted by local governments in that country, and is attracting attention as a new form of democracy originating from Japan.