Low growth, population ageing and depopulation, and new trade relationships with the East Asia region have made it increasingly necessary for Japan to reform its economic and institutional systems.   A key element of this reform concerns Japan's policies for regional development.

This report reviews progress with different aspects of this reform, such as reform of territorial planning, regional economic policy, urban policy, rural development and administrative and fiscal decentralisation.  It highlights the challenge facing the Japanese government as it combines new approaches to policy-making at the central level with mechanisms that assign a greater voice to regional and local actors.