Administrative Guidance in Japan (Gyosei-Shido)
| Date | 01 June 1982 |
| Published date | 01 June 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002085238204800215 |
| Author | Hiroshi Shiono |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Administrative
Guidance
in
Japan
(Gyosei-Shido)
UDC :
35.077.8
(52)
by
Hiroshi
SHIONO,
Professor,
Tokyo
University
I.
THE
MEANING
OF
ADMINISTRATIVE
GUIDANCE
It
would
be
apt,
first
of
all,
to
provide
two
examples
of
administrative
guidance
in
Japan.
In
Japan
there
is
a
law
regulating
building
activities
known
as
the
Building
Standards
Law.
A
person
who
plans
to
build
a
house
must
submit
his
plan
to
an
administrative
agency
as
provided
by
the
law.
The
administrative
agency
will
approve
the
plan
when
it
meets
the
requirements
provided
by
the
Building
Standards
Law.
However,
the
existence
of
certain
buildings
which
meet
the
legal
standards
may
conflict
with
the
interests
of
neighboring
residents.
Amongst
these
conflicts,
what
is
most
frequently
observed
in
urban
areas
in
Japan
is
the
problem
related
to
neighboring
residents
being
deprived
of
sunshine
and
drafts
which
they
previously
enjoyed.
In
recent
years,
interference
of
T.V.
signals
due
to
high-
rise
buildings
has
become
another
cause
of
such
conflicts.
In
origin,
they
are
private
conflicts
which
can
be
settled
in
courts
of
law
according
to
the
Japanese
legal
system
and
there
are
a
considerable
number
of
court
deci-
sions
related
to
such
conflicts.
But
it
can
be
pointed
out
that
certain
regulations
in
the
Building
Standards
Law
are
insufficient
for
the
purpose
of
maintaining
a
comfortable
housing
environment
and
result
in
these
con-
flicts.
In order
to
cope
with
the
situation,
a
great
number
of
municipalities
set
up
guide-
lines
concerning
building
activities
in
addition
to
the
Building
Standards
Law
and
requested
building
owners
to
observe
the
guidelines.
The
standards
of
such
guidelines
are
more
stringent
than
the
Building
Standards
Law.
The
pur-
pose
of
the
guidelines
is
to
establish
regulations
which
are
not
provided
by
the
Building
Standards
Law
(for
example,
the
regulation
concerning
sunshine,
lots,
and
so
on).
Such
guidelines
are
not
ordinances,
because
the
Building
Standards
Law,
being
a
State
law,
pre-empts
the
regulations
concerning
building
activities
and
it
is
considered
that
municipal-
ities
cannot
legally
issue
ordinances
in
this
area.
Therefore,
the
request
made
by
municipalities
on
the
basis
of
such
guidelines
does
not
have
direct
legal
effect.
Building
owners
who
do
not
observe
the
regulations
contained
in
the
guidelines
will
not
be
penalized.
As
will
be
mentioned
later,
municipalities
are
establishing
several
different
measures
in
order
to
provide
practical
effects
to
the
guidelines.
However,
from
the
legal
standpoint,
it
is
up
to
building
owners
to
observe
the
guidelines.
Energy
conservation
is
one
of the
important
national
policies
in
Japan.
One
of
the
measu-
res
implemented
has
been
the
reduction
in
television
broadcasting
hours.
In
Japan,
there
are
many
private-commercial
broadcasting
sta-
tions
besides
NHK
which
is
the
public
broad-
casting
station.
There
are
no
regulations
con-
cerning
the
daily
broadcasting
hours
of
each
station.
However,
the
government
recognized
that
energy
conservation
could
be
promoted
by
reducing
broadcasting
hours
and
the
Minister
of
Posts
and
Telecommunications
requested
each
station
to
restrict
television
broadcasting
after
midnight.
Such
a
request
was
not
based
on
any
statutory
authority,
nor
did
it
have
any
direct
legal
effect.
Therefore,
broadcasting
stations
have
no
legal
obligation
to
comply
with
the
request.
But
in
reality,
all
stations
usually
conclude
their
broadcasting
sometime
between
midnight
and
2
a.m.
The
above-mentioned
two
cases
exemplify
administrative
measures
which
are
referred
to
as
&dquo;
administrative
guidance
&dquo;
in
Japan.
No
legal
definition
of
administrative
guidance
exists.
The
term &dquo;
administrative
guidance &dquo;
was
not
in
use
when
the
system
of
adminis-
trative
law
was
introduced
in
Japan
about
a
century
ago,
but
the
measures
of
administra-
tive
guidance
themselves
probably
have
been
in
existence
for
a
long
time.
It
was
in
the
1960s
when
administrative
guidance
was
wide-
ly
covered
by
the
mass
media
that
it
eventually
attracted
the
attention
of
students
of
adminis-
trative
law.
Administrative
guidance
is
a
rela-
tively
new
concept
and
scholars
are
in
agree-
ment
on
a
basic
definition
although
slight
dif-
ferences
exist
as
regards
the
details.
My
definition
of
administrative
guidance
is
as
fol-
lows :
&dquo;
Administrative
activities
which
administra-
tive
organs
provide
to
other
parties
without
To continue reading
Request your trial