A Bureaucrat in every Japanese kitchen? On Cultural Assumptions and Coproduction

This article represents an analysis of the cultural assumptions that are involved in the implementation of coproduction schemes. Through a case study of a garbage disposal scheme in a Japanese city, two interrelated themes are examined: (a) the nature of programs of coproduction as universal arrangements for the creation and delivery of urban services, and (b) the peculiar Japanese models and premises that form part of the implementation of such programs in that sociocultural context. The article also includes an examination of how the Japanese case may contribute toward an understanding of the assumptions that lie behind the introduction of coproduction arrangements in other cultural contexts.