The roots of both the Japanese and French bureaucratic systems can be traced to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who as controller general under "the sun king" Louis XIV was instrumental in ushering in mercantilism to Europe and exerted great influence over the government control of the private sector.
One of his biggest contributions was to accumulate huge national wealth for 17th-century France by promoting industry and trade and by building roads, canals, port facilities and merchant fleets, although much of that wealth was wasted by a series of wars waged by the king.
At the same time, like a super human bureaucrat he imposed one restriction after another on private commercial activities, and created a "big government" which has become the foundation of the all powerful bureaucracy in France.