The 'Japanese model' may well not preserve its distinctiveness in the general picture of global capitalism for many more decades but, if and when change comes, it will have very little to do with the current problems of Japanese banks or with the current economic downturn, much less with the...

This paper analyses the structure and functions of suppliers' associations (kyory-okukai) in the automobile industry in Japan. The bilateral assembler-supplier relationship has received much attention recently as a source of Japanese industrial competitiveness. However, this paper argues that...