Evidence-based policy making in Japan (2016-23): institutional setting, administrative interpretation and barriers to implementation.

INTRODUCTION: This article examines how evidence-based policy making (EBPM) has been institutionally situated and interpreted within Japan's central administrative system, and what this reveals about barriers to its implementation. METHODS/DATA: The study uses document analysis of Policy Evaluation Expert Committee minutes from 17 central ministries and agencies from 2016 to 2023. The dataset comprises 131 meeting minutes and 374 EBPM-related statements. The study first examines the institutional setting in which EBPM has been introduced, then analyses how EBPM is interpreted, and finally identifies barriers. FINDINGS: Japanese EBPM is operationalised through existing policy evaluation and administrative project review arrangements. It is interpreted mainly as a reform-oriented practice aimed at improving policy rationality, reviewability and internal coordination, while policy effectiveness validation remains limited. The main barriers are primarily institutional, especially conceptual ambiguity and fragmented institutional alignment. CONCLUSION/IMPLICATIONS: The study provides a systematic and empirically grounded account of how EBPM is interpreted and operationalised within Japan's central ministries. It shows that EBPM is a context-shaped practice, whose operation is shaped by administrative systems, institutional settings and evidence demand. These findings highlight the need to analyse EBPM in relation to the institutional environment in which it is embedded.