Merger Assessment in Japan: The Declining Importance of Market Shares

In this chapter, we explore recent developments of antimonopoly law in relation to merger control in Japan. Arai (2004) states that Japan’s merger control policy is competition oriented, systematically designed, and transparent but that the policy is regulatory. In March 2007, the Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) revised the Guidelines to Application of the Antimonopoly Act Concerning Review of Business Combination (Business Combination Guidelines) based on three factors: (i) international consistency, (ii) enforcement experiences, and (iii) economic theory. The JFTC amended the notification rules and Business Combination Guidelines in July 2011, which canceled the earlier consultation system and gave early signs of how the reforms would influence the JFTC’s merger practices.