In 1998 the Japanese government was rocked by a series of scandals that seemed to threaten the entire postwar order. This book focuses on what these scandals meant for the Japanese system -- and for the rest of the world. The largest scandal centered on Hiromasa Ezoe, the founder of the Recruit group of magazines, who spread millions of his unlisted shares among Japan¹s powerful elite to gain influence. Holstein shows how hopes for political and social change in Japan in the wake of the Recruit scandal were dramatically overblown. Drawing on exclusive interviews with participants, Holstein provides an incisive analysis of U.S.-Japanese relations.