Japan is a representative democracy. The Diet (parliament), the highest organ of state, consists of two chambers: the more powerful lower house, the House of Representative, and the upper house, the House of Councillors. Executive power rest with the cabinet, which is responsible to the Diet. The Diet is responsible for designating the prime minister. The emperor is head of state, although his function is purely symbolic. Party politic is dominated by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled japan either alone or in coalition for most the period since 2955. The most recent lower house election was is September 2005, when the LDP won 296 of the 480 seats contested. The party currently governs in a coalition with New Komeito, which is backed by one of Japan's largest lay Buddhist organisations, Soka Gakkai. Parts of Japan's economic structure are similar to those of developed European countries. Historically, Japanese companies, like their German peers, have relied on bank financing rather than on equity and bond issuance, and employees at big firms tend to stay throughout their careers. Another striking feature of the economy is that it consists of two distinct tiers: first, the large and powerful multinational companies, many of which have become global household names in the past three decades; and second, the plethora of small, often family-owned enterprises. according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in 2003 just over 99% of manufacturing concerns were small to medium-sized companies with fewer than 200 employees; the value of shipments by such companies accounted for just 50.9%of total manufacturing shipments in 2003. This two-tier structure has been cited as one of the reasons for the dynamism of some parts of Japanese industry, as smaller companies provide the flexibility and innovation that is often lacking in larger enterprises. The pursuit of high rates of growth was the overriding element of economic policy for much the post-second world war period. However, the rapid rise in the value of the yen after the September 295 Plaza Accord, together with growing concern about the implications of a rapidly ageing population, produced a shift in emphasis from the late 1980s to the encouragement of boos productivity. A significant problem for the government in the 1990s was the friction over trade that arose a result of Japan's huge trade surpluses, which were also a major factor behind the frequent periods of upward pressure on the yen. Several measures to open markets in order to stimulate import growth have been announced since 1990, but these have largely failed failed to make much of a dent in the country's trade surpluses.

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