This book provides an updated and comprehensive review of the development of Japan's local government system over the past half century. It corrects the view that Japan is over-centralized by providing examples of expanding local government autonomy over time. Such examples include the success of local initiatives in anti-pollution, healthcare, and welfare policies. It also shows that gradual and controlled decentralization, as practised in Japan, has helped avoid coordination problems while providing time and resources for local governments to build capacity to undertake development projects, programmes, and planning. In so doing, it offers an alternative to the view that maximum autonomy quickly granted is the best way to develop local governments.