This research combines the quantitative content analysis of election coverage and survey data analysis to demonstrate the effect of TV shows on democratic politics in Japan. First, we classified 31 private TV shows into two categories-"hard news" and "soft news"-via the quantitative content analysis of coverage of the 2007 election. Secondly, we examined the effects of the programs on interest in the 2007 election as well as political involvement using the Asian barometer 2/CSES3 dataset. The results show that: 1) exposure to "hard news" positively correlated with interest in the election as well as political involvement, 2) exposure to "soft news" had a positive correlation with interest in the election only among less-informed people. This study reveals the importance of quantitative content-based classification to distinguish the particular effects of TV shows on democratic politics in response to diversifying forms of political news coverage.

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This study aims to examine the view of childhood in the Basic Law for Anti-Declining Birthrate Society Measure. We analyzed the minutes of the Diet about the Basic Law for Anti-Declining Birthrate Society Measure. The result clarified the following points: (1) Originally, declining birthrate was recognized as an issue of education. However, it became an issue of social security and a problem of decreasing work force because there was a close relation between them. (2) But concerns about political correctness changed the focus of the problem back into an education issue again. As a result, the Bill for Anti-Declining Birthrate Society Measure was passed in spite of several opinions against it.

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The "55-year system" (55-nen taisei) under the LDP-led government contributed to the institutionalization of policy making in Japan after 1955. In this regard, the prevalence of a strong tripartite relationship between the LDP agricultural politicians (Norin-Zoku), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) in policy-making protected the agricultural sector in Japan. However, the premiership of Junichiro Koizumi from 2001 to 2006 saw the emergence of a top-down approach in policy formulation in Japan. Analyzing recent policy initiatives in the agricultural sector, I found that the top-down approach in policy-making under the Koizumi leadership contributed to the successful removal of trade barriers on some agricultural products in FTA negotiations. However, changes in leadership style and in the policy-making process were insufficient to fully liberalize Japan's highly sensitive agricultural sector, especially with respect to the imports of rice due to strong opposition from the LDP agricultural politicians. In this paper, I examine how the change from the "55-year system" to Koizumi's top-down management style has influenced the pace of agricultural liberalization in Japan and why, despite the new policy-making approach, a complete liberalization of sensitive agricultural products, especially rice, did not take place. In particular, I examine how each actor pursued the protection of sensitive agricultural products.

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