The Operation Mechanism Of Japanese Think Tank

Think tank, originating from English language, is usually regarded withsymptoms of non-profit, independence, studying public policies and targetinginfluencing public policies.The modern “think tank” was first born in the United States after World War I,and then gradually spread all over the world. Before entering into the integrationperiod at21stcentury, the Japan think tank has gone through its initial stage and threefoundation climaxes. According to the statistic of The2014Global Think Tank Reportreleased by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the LauderInstitute of the University of Pennsylvania, the number of Japan’s think tank is108and ranks9thin the world. In the ranking based upon researches on the think tankmembers, scholars and journalists, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA)ranked as No.13worldwide, No.1in Asia, which tied the record in2013.JIIA is a world-recognized leader among Japan think tanks. By studying the caseof JIIA, we can learn that big think tanks in Japan always have councils and attachimportance to the supervisory mechanism. The talent mechanism of these big thinktanks usually consists of project-centered research teams. Their capital resource tendsto be diversified. Japan’s think tanks indirectly influence government policies invarious ways, while comparing with their European and American counterparts, theirinfluence is quite limited and restraint by many kinds of elements.