The country's basic social contract has so far proved resistant to reform, even in the face of persistently adverse conditions. In this book, Leonard J. Schoppa explains why it has endured and how long it can last.

Leonard J. Schoppa is Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Education Reform in Japan: A Case of Immobilist Politics and Bargaining with Japan: What American Pressure Can and Cannot Do.