Think tanks and policy analysis: meeting the challenges of think tanks in Japan

This Chapter is designed to address the challenges of present Japan think tanks, with a focus on policy analysis, through the three areas of analysis: 1) an overview of think tanks in Japan by articulating relevant gaps with key ingredients of strictly-defined think tanks; 2) an exploration of how think tanks have been incorporated into Japanese society, by identifying the differences between think tanks in Japan and in the United States, and articulating relevant policy and social systems interlinked to the state of think tanks; 3) a case study of the 2011 Tohoku Disaster which examines how the state of think tanks in Japan is relevant to specific public policy. Based on these analysis, the final section provides a discussion of policy analysis and think tanks in Japan in the context of seeking for alternative models.