Why do politicians serve on the boards of private firms, and why do firms bring politicians onto their boards? We examine this question of "politically connected firms" by drawing on a new dataset of "moonlighting" activities by Japanese politicians. Specifically, we focus on incumbents who were...

Employing a survey method to explore attitudes towards foreign workers in Japan, we uncover evidence that upends the conventional wisdom that “socio-tropic values” are anchored in perceptions of threat. Building a new typology that differentiates among native-born citizens who value or fear...

Scholars have argued that there is a broad gender gap in support for the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan. We uncover strong evidence that age, rather than gender, along with rural or urban location, serves as the most critical determinant of party support. Through logistic...