The administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on April 23 kicked off its second round of public wrangling with bureaucrats over the funding of semigovernment bodies.

The latest round of screening, or shiwake, by the Government Revitalization Unit, targets projects managed by independent administrative institutions and public interest corporations.

This portion of the screening, which is intended to find a way to either sharply reduce or abandon wasteful projects, aims to scrutinize 151 projects being worked on by 47 semigovernment bodies whose purpose is to perform tasks deemed necessary for the public good, but whose purview lies outside the reach of the government or private companies.

These bodies are often criticized for using public money inefficiently and providing cushy post-retirement jobs for senior bureaucrats through the notorious practice of amakudari (descent from heaven).

The Japan Times