Soft Power and Cool Japan: Shaping Japan's National Image

Matosian Agapi Elmarovna ORCID: 0000-0002-7390-4268 Postgraduate student; Department of Theory and History of International Relations; Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 10k2 1142220025@pfur.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Transformations in the international system, combined with a decrease in the global influence of the United States, the formation of China as a global power and the consolidation of India as a middle power, marked the beginning of the emergence of new mechanisms of interaction in East Asia. Historically, the analysis of East Asian regional policy has been based on the study of the balance of power and the interaction of major powers in order to protect their national interests. After the end of the cold war, the countries of the East Asian region ceased to be considered as a dependent subsystem, whose role is related to the international situation. In addition to the use of so-called "hard power" mechanisms in East Asia, much attention is being paid to the need to promote cultural products and exchanges. In this regard, the study of the peculiarities of Japanese cultural diplomacy is particularly relevant. At the same time, such exchanges, which often fall within the scope of what J. Nye called it "soft power", which is carried out in order to realize state interests. According to Nye, the concept of "soft power" is related to the ability of a nation to "attract attention by making others want the same as you" ^{[1, p.94]}.

The discussion about the use of culture for political and economic purposes has been conducted in Japan since the beginning of the 20th century, at a time when the country was striving to become an imperial power on a par with its European and American counterparts. During the period of Japanese colonization and occupation of East and Southeast Asian territories (1895-1945), Japan's cultural diplomacy was aimed at convincing local communities in neighboring countries to accept Japan's dominant geopolitical position in Asia, especially in Korea, Taiwan, and China. The cultural policy of this period was based on the idea of using other aspects of control, in addition to militaristic coercion, to transform the opinions and perceptions of the inhabitants of the colonies and acquire the "Japanese spirit". However, due to the defeat of the Japanese Empire in World War II, cultural policy and, of course, the tools of hard power were completely limited.

Post-war Japan faced the need for a fundamental rethink of its domestic and foreign policy. The formation of a new course of foreign policy was carried out under the conditions of the San Francisco system, referring to the following significant agreements: the San Francisco Peace Treaty (1951), which also defined the borders and conditions of its independence, and the Japan-US Security Treaty (1951), according to which Japan renounced its military forces, transferring the authority to protect the United States. Since the signing of the Security Treaty, one of the goals of foreign policy has been to maintain stable relations with the United States and its neighbors, comply with the basic provisions and principles of the Yoshida doctrine (Shigeru Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan from 1948-1954), and affirm the idea of pacifism in accordance with the Constitutional Norms of 1947 ^{[2, p.25]}.

As part of its foreign policy, Japan has actively pursued the course of establishing a favorable environment in the region, ensuring its territorial security and contributing to economic progress. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between the declared policy and its practical implementation caused contradictions both within the country and internationally. Japan's rapid post-war development and economic rise, often referred to as the "Japanese miracle," has caused considerable concern in the West, which continues to regard Japan as a source of potential aggression. In addition, a very negative image of Japan has developed in the countries of East and Southeast Asia in connection with its war crimes during the Second World War ^{[3, pp. 7-10]} Today, neighboring countries are unable to forget about the atrocities committed by the Japanese Empire, and the lack of direct or "real and sincere" apologies for war crimes, and in some cases even the lack of sensitivity, further exacerbate the problem. It was these factors that served as an incentive for Japan to try to improve its situation and rebuild its image in the hope of regaining trust at the regional level.

The Japanese government has persistently tried to develop a strategy for the recovery of the national economy. Since the early 1990s, it has implemented a number of monetary and financial measures to overcome economic stagnation. The most successful was the promotion of cultural products within the framework of the new public diplomacy. Strategies to strengthen the country's image introduced the world to a new highly developed Japan with powerful technologies and an interesting national culture, and the growing popularity of animation, comics, national cuisine, video games, and music led to the implementation of the Cool Japan project ^[4].

Developing and strengthening the Cool Japan strategy

The phrase "Cool Japan" was originally mentioned in an article by American journalist Douglas McGray in 2002, where he described the scope of the phenomenon of "Japan's Gross National Cool", paraphrasing the English term "Gross domestic product" (approx. D. McGray talked about the "coolness" of Japan, meaning the phenomenon of popularization of all Japanese abroad: manga (comics), anime (animation), design, fashion, lifestyle and other aspects of popular culture ^{[4, pp. 46-47]}. In particular, Japanese characters such as Pikachu, Hello Kitty and Mario Bros have become widely known worldwide among the younger generation.

At the same time, it should be noted that McGray's article designated the term "Cool Japan", which was later used as the basis for describing the popularity of Japanese culture, perceived as "cool" and attractive abroad, and also allowed it to be correlated with the concept of Japan's soft power. This initiative has found support among Japanese academic circles and political figures. In April 2005, the government announced that Japan would become a culturally creative country by 2020. This, in turn, attracted the attention of a wide range of experts in the USA, Europe and Asia and led to the recognition of a fact that was already difficult to deny: the increasing popularity of Japanese pop culture products among consumers in different parts of the world. P. E. Lam noted that it was the creativity and unconventionality of Japanese culture that contributed to its primary popularization. Taking into account the circumstances that have arisen, the Japanese government has attempted to use the cultural component to implement "soft power", despite the fact that this was not intended as the main goal of distributing manga and anime ^{[5, pp. 351-352]}.

To. Iwabuchi wrote that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) took the initiative in this area by developing the "Cool Japan" strategy and establishing an agency to promote it in 2010 ^{[6, p.188]}. Cool Japan is "fundamentally" a policy of creating a new image of the country, striving to present Japan not only as a technological country and a leader in industrial production, but also as a cultural and creative power. As part of the Cool Japan initiative, joint events were held to explore foreign markets, disseminate relevant information abroad, and conduct and organize international events. Thus, the MET sought to replenish the arsenal of Japan's "soft power" through a policy of promoting creative and cultural industries ^{[7, P.42]}.

The Cool Japan strategy is also part of an initiative designed to help the private sector make better use of the aforementioned phenomenon of Japanese culture's popularity in the global market. According to the Cool Japan Proposal report published in 2012 by the Creative Industries Department of the MET Office, Japan's nominal GDP declined by 55 trillion yen from 2008 to 2011. In turn, the real economic growth rate dropped to 1%, reaching even lower values during the first decade of the 21st century. According to the report, the Japanese economy has fallen into a vicious cycle of stagnating domestic demand. In this regard, the ICC recognized the need to take into account global demand, revitalize the regional economy and transform the industrial structure. Such measures eliminated uncertainty, ensuring youth employment and the survival of small and medium-sized businesses ^[8]. One of the main tasks of the MET was to capitalize on Cool Japan's economic benefits. The report also noted that the success of Cool Japan's mechanisms would enable:

o the revival of domestic and external demand;

o transformation of the industrial structure.

Such achievements opened up additional income channels and provided employment, which contributed to the growth of the regional economy. Cool Japan was aimed at strengthening Japan's international cultural position in the region. The neighboring Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as Korea) began liberalizing the media in 1988, and in 1999, President Kim Dae-jung (1998-2003) passed a law on the development of the Cultural Industry and allocated 1.15% of the national budget for this project. Observing the growing spread of Korean television series, especially Winter Sonata, throughout Asia at the beginning of the 21st century, the Japanese government was determined to expand its national influence in the media industry and project cultural power on the international stage through the promotion of a new strategy. Therefore, in addition to the broad capitalization of Japanese culture, another important goal of the project was to strengthen Japan's global cultural power and the country's authority (especially in East Asia). In addition, Cool Japan was expected to revive national pride, which had weakened after the economic stagnation of the last decade, as well as after the earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku in March 2011. The Japanese Tourism Agency, which is part of the Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, initiated a tourism campaign called "Japan, Endless Discoveries" and appointed Arashi, the most popular musical group in Japan and East Asia, as the ambassador of this project ^{[9, pp.34-38]}.

The main components of Japan's soft power in the framework of the "Cool Japan" strategy

Manga, anime, video games, cuisine, and J-pop are the components of Cool Japan that are very popular abroad. Manga (漫画, マンガ) are Japanese comics; outside Japan, they are used both to refer to Japanese comics and to the drawing style used in them. Although manga has a certain style, it has diversified both in styles and in the stories included in it. In the 1920s and 1930s, manga was used as a mechanism to resist the repressive policies of authoritarian rule and therefore increased its popularity. In addition to the illustrations describing the war period, she began to be drawn in new categories.: sports, school, romance, social issues, and even political topics ^{[2, p. 26]}.

Anime is related to manga, as it is directly a film adaptation or adaptation of Japanese comics. The earliest forms of animation originated in the early 20th century, during the production of silent films, and in its modern version, anime was formed after the end of World War II. During this period of history, anime tried to gain its position, but it was quite problematic, as the animation industry was dominated by Disney. In 1956, the recognized studio Toei Animation was founded, which claimed the status of the Disney of the East, and the renowned directors Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, pupils of Toei Animation, laid the foundation for another famous animation studio– Ghibli. Anime is a unique tool for Japan, through which it can demonstrate its "soft power" as part of the Cool Japan initiative. It allows you to imagine Japanese culture, whether it's the food that the characters eat, the setting in the movie/series, or the actions that the characters perform. Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, became the first anime film to win an Oscar in the Best Animated Film category in 2003 ^{[2, p. 26]}.

The spread of coronavirus infection has greatly affected the anime and manga production process: some projects have been suspended or postponed. Therefore, emphasis was placed on popularizing the streaming of anime series. Platforms such as Netflix, Crunchyroll, Wakanim show "Attack on Titan", "Naruto", "Death Note", "Haikyu!!", "One Piece" and other anime series, which in turn helped to attract even more attention to the anime genre even during the pandemic ^{[10, C.77]}. Japanese animation has an advantage in the prospect of using its own influence as a method of influencing Japanese culture due to the zero threshold for entry into Japanese culture: the vast majority of anime introduces the viewer to their own concept and idea from the very first minutes, often echoing mythology, politics, everyday life and traditions. Animation is perceived by the eyes much easier than reading professional literature, which attracts and engages more people, introducing them to Japanese culture.

Of course, the popularity of anime on the world market is beyond doubt. Following the continuous growth in recent years, the profits of the Japanese animation industry abroad in 2023 reached a value of about 1.72 trillion yen for the first time. The combined value of the domestic anime market and the overseas anime market in 2023 was about 3.35 trillion yen, which was a new record for the anime industry ^[11].

Japan also made its successful debut in the video game industry in 1978 with the development of the game "Space Invaders", created by Tomohiro Nishikado and developed by Taito, thereby taking over the reins in this market, as investments in the development of technological products and hardware were encouraged in the Asian country at that time. With the advent of "Space Invaders", the so-called shooter genre emerged, which became a breakthrough in the evolution of Japanese video games. This was followed by the appearance of other successful releases, such as "Pac-Man", created in 1980 by Toru Iwatani ^{[12, pp.20-23]}. The specifics of video game marketing lay in their simplicity, since they had almost no text, and the little that was used was done in English.

In Japan, the video game industry is considered one of the most important, not only because of the great economic benefits that come from selling from abroad, but also because it has a significant impact on consumers, as this activity is among the 20 most common leisure activities: millions of people invest and engage in it not only for recreation, but also in the professional field. KONAMI– a leading Japanese video game and entertainment machine development company, is actively investing in the video game niche of esports, as it is interested in competitive sports. In order to encourage and promote the growing popularity of esports, the company initiated the construction of a large center, the Konami Creative Center in Ginza (a district in Tokyo) ^[13].

In some ways, the 2020 (2021) International Olympic Games fit into Cool Japan as a significant tool for demonstrating the new highly developed Japan of the 21st century. Inside Japan, it was stated that the purpose of the Olympics was to help rebuild the country after the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, as well as to find ways to overcome the growing demographic crisis. For many experts, Tokyo 2020 was an initiative to internationalize a closed Japanese society by attracting foreign experiences, products, or norms that were supposed to be accessible to Japanese citizens. The Olympic Games of 2020 (2021) have helped Japanese people become more open to foreigners and their diverse cultures. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2012-2020) actively promoted the idea of holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo based on geopolitical aspects, since immediately before Tokyo, Korea hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and China hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing ^[14].

The 2020 (2021) Olympic Games became the largest event that allowed Japan to use its "soft power" resources to introduce the international community to Japanese culture and its citizens, guarantee their competitiveness in business, and emphasize that its renewed society is "open" and more accepting of cultures and cultural influences from different countries. the world. The Olympic Games act as a form of human self-expression, human interaction, and the Tokyo Games in 2020 (2021) have become a unifying factor in the difficult conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. For the Japanese government, the organization and holding of the games also contributed to the strengthening of diplomatic relations, since sport is one of the most important areas of cultural diplomacy ^{[15, p. 1769]}.

The influence of the historical past on the perception of Japan's soft power

Despite the success achieved in implementing Cool Japan's strategies, improving Japan's image on a regional scale has proved to be a difficult task. Japan's imperialist past has created a sharply negative perception among neighboring countries. One of the main aspects of criticism of neighboring countries against Japan is insincere official expressions of remorse or apologies for actions committed in the aggressive militaristic past ^{[16, P. 48]}. These include controversial events such as statements by Japanese politicians downplaying the significance of what happened to "comfort women" (a euphemism for women from occupied territories who were forced to sexually serve Japanese troops during World War II), mass demonstrations in Asia in response to government officials commemorating those killed during the war in Yasukuni Shrine (most of whom were guilty of war crimes) or protests in Asia against revisionist books distributed in Japanese schools, where the events of World War II are minimized ^{[17, p.86]}.

Neighboring countries such as Korea or China pose the greatest challenge for Japan in this regard, as historical memory has had a strong influence on the formation of their national identity. Based on the historical context, the two countries have grounds for skepticism about Japan or a negative perception of Japanese culture. Until 1998, Korea had a ban on the import of Japanese culture. In addition, after World War II, Korea sought to assert its own identity, and part of this national identity building was the eradication of all Japanese heritage ^[18].

Over the past decade, there has been a general trend towards an increase in positive sentiment towards Japan. Despite the positive trends, there is still a controversial issue regarding the depiction of imperial Japan by an individual author or artist, which, if included, may not always be well received in China or Korea. Chinese media often notice nationalistic overtones in popular anime and manga, which can lead to a general boycott of an anime in China or even in Japan.

Based on this, there is still hostility from certain segments of the population towards everything Japanese in the cultural and social spheres. There is a high degree of interdependence between them: economically, they are the largest rivals, but also the two most important markets in the region. To achieve their economic goals, the government needed to make significant efforts to create an image of the country that would allow them to implement larger-scale strategies. As mentioned above, despite these anti-Japanese sentiments among certain segments of society, Japanese pop culture has nevertheless achieved great popularity in these countries, especially among the younger generation. Young people are acquiring new ideas about Japan, as well as a special fascination with the modern aspects of the country, gradually coming to associate Japan as a place with a concentration of a dynamic and thriving cultural industry, and not just as an industrial superpower or former colonizer. The massive spread of popular culture not only provides a variety of consumer choices, but also influences how young consumers imagine and perceive Japan.

Popular culture is able to define the image of a country beyond its borders, giving new shades and facets to its image as a "producing country" that consumers can perceive as their own. As a result, the spread of Japanese popular culture demonstrates the power of the country's culture to overcome national borders, including in countries where there is hostility among the population.

Conclusions and conclusion

Thus, the initial success of anime and manga became the key to shaping more effective Japanese soft power strategies. The potential of mass culture to monetize economic and political benefits has been widely discussed by various government circles and departments. Given that Japan had no international influence in the absence of tough instruments and a stagnant economy, the government realized the importance of reviewing its approach to foreign policy implementation. Former Foreign Minister Taro Abe formulated this position most precisely: "What image does a person have when he hears the word "Japan"? Is it warm? Cool? The more such positive images are formed in a person's mind, the easier it is for Japan to defend its interests in the long term" ^{[5, p. 351]}. Recognizing that their unique spheres of influence – anime and manga – can bring benefits, the Japanese government has devoted numerous resources to their popularization and promotion.

The new strategy, in fact, has become a policy to create an attractive image of the country, striving to present Japan not only as a leading highly developed and technological country, but also as a cultural and creative power. In turn, three incentives have been identified as the driving forces behind the implementation of the Cool Japan METS strategy: the search for economic benefits and the formation of a positive image in the eyes of the world community, as well as regional competition for the most effective realization of the potential of soft power.

The rebranding has demonstrated its effectiveness: Japan holds high positions in the world rankings of soft power. By the end of 2024, Japan became the 4th in the global ranking of soft power by Brand Finance Global Soft Power ^[19]. This study presents indicators in separate categories, for example: "reputation", "influence", "business and trade", "education and science", "brands", "sustainable future", "sports", etc. Of the Asian countries, Japan leads in most criteria, and in the overall ranking in terms of the number of "medals" it is second only to the USA and Switzerland. The Elcano Global Presence Index, a ranking of global presence, includes three dimensions: economic, military, and "soft" presence, which, in turn, consist of variables of various kinds (from energy to development cooperation, deployed troops, or tourism). Therefore, it is useful not only because it allows us to identify the presence of countries in the world order, but also by the nature of their presence. In the Elkano ranking, Japan is also in 4th place (2022) ^[20].

A significant indicator of the success of the Japanese soft power strategy has been the spread of its pop culture in countries that have historically held a negative opinion of Japan. China and Korea are major consumers of anime, manga, and Japanese brands. According to the Anime Industry annual report of the Japanese Animation Association for 2022, Taiwan, China and Korea were among the three countries that signed the maximum number of contracts for the provision of licenses for the broadcast of anime and manga, as well as for the distribution of products ^[21].

Moreover, at the 2024 International Animation Film Festival in Annecy (France), the creators of animation projects noted the increasing popularity of anime around the world. According to the head of the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, there are currently about 800 million active consumers of this genre worldwide. At the same time, he stressed that the anime industry has been developing rapidly for several years now: according to preliminary forecasts, in 2025 the anime turnover will amount to 37 billion dollars, compared with 14 billion dollars a decade ago" ^[22].

In addition to the implementation of the Cool Japan program, Japan's pacifist and largely apologetic soft power diplomacy has contributed to political stability, economic progress, and the overall peace-building process in the East Asian region. By encouraging cultural exchange, making efforts for historical reconciliation, and implementing educational programs, Japan has been able to transform perceptions and images, and improve its reputation at the regional and international levels. The growing economic prosperity was also facilitated by cooperation in a wide variety of fields, as well as the volume of Japanese investments and assistance to developing countries in the region, such as Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia. In the future, it can be expected that Japanese "soft power" will invariably play a role in maintaining a favorable environment, economic progress and political stability in the space, contributing to the overall well-being and prosperity of the countries of East and Southeast Asia.