Using an institutional and empirical approach, this book analyses the role of formal rules (laws and regulations) and informal rules (norms, practices, and shared beliefs) in the Japanese economy. Through in-depth studies of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, financial regulation, organized crime, and markets for everything from venture capital to legal talent, Milhaupt and West show that institutions play a crucial and overlooked role in the structure of the Japanese economy, which often is portrayed as being governed exclusively by interpersonal relations and bureaucratic fiat. As these rules change, Japanese actors are responding, reshaping corporate governance and financial markets, while eroding the bureaucracy's power.