Leveraging "Cool Japan"

How has the notion of “Cool Japan” been leveraged to promote Japan’s public diplomacy initiatives?

Japan’s main public diplomacy objectives are to “ deepen understanding of Japan among people in other countries and boost Japan’s image overseas”. Anime and manga have both been two cultural tools used by the Japanese to leverage their soft power influence.  The concept of “Cool Japan” has had a large attraction overseas.

Japanese traditional as well as contemporary values are reflected in its “Cool Japan” brand. As more and more people become aware and familiar with cultural aspects such as anime, manga, and K-pop, Japanese cultural values become more accessible to the outside world. “Cool Japan” works as a branding instrument for soft power where it presents a unified, cultural message of Japan.

Anime and manga have also influenced Japanese language initiatives between the United States and Japan. For example, the popularity of anime has extended to countries where Japanese is not the prominent language, thus needing to be dubbed to be understood. Instead of waiting months for language dubbing, anime has acted as a catalyst to promote Japanese language interest among students who would wish to watch anime in its original context. The increase in language exchange programs would thus create greater people-to-people connections and inherently increase a state’s soft power capabilities in the long run.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also used “Cool Japan” as a way to bring together people from diverse backgrounds. In the case of the Third International Manga Award competition, participants came from all over the world. Exhibitions such as the World Expo provide public diplomacy opportunities where Japan can not only showcase the anime and manga popularity, but also Japanese cultural traditions as well.

In the international realm, it has been difficult for Japan to overcome the negative aspects of its colonial past. Tensions between South Korea and China regarding past historical events will take greater public diplomacy efforts than just “Cool Japan”. It will be interesting to compare the Chinese and Japanese diplomacy efforts and changing economic situations. Will Japan’s public diplomacy efforts be enough to escape the shadow of a rising China?