Japanese competition law

Japanese competition law consists of the Antimonopoly Act (独占禁止法, Dokusen Kinshihō; "AMA"), officially the Act on Prohibition of Private Monopolization and Maintenance of Fair Trade (私的独占の禁止及び公正取引の確保に関する法律, Shiteki-dokusen no Kinshi oyobi Kōseitorihiki no Kakuho ni Kansuru Hōritsu; Act No. 54 of April 14, 1947), and several other statutory laws such as the Subcontract Act.

The AMA was introduced during the postwar United States-led-and-controlled Allied occupation. President Harry S. Truman, on 6 September 1945, issued a presidential directive instructing the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) to dissolve Zaibatsu structures. Prior to World War II, Japan had no antitrust laws. There were seventeen Zaibatsu organisations, the four largest of which had controlled approximately a fourth of all of the paid-up capital in the Japanese economy just prior to the World War.