Specifics of Japan’s Soft Power Strategy: Pop-culture, Cultural Exchange and Nation-branding

This paper focuses on the peculiarities of Japan’s soft power. The study widely covers the dimensions and priorities of the current soft power strategy of Japan. Despite extensive research on the soft power of Japan, most of the studies focused on the ‘pop-culture diplomacy’ as the main priority of Japan’s government. The contributions of the educational exchange and people-to-people exchange as the elements of Japan’s soft power strategy remain mostly uncovered. The paper aims to bridge this research gap and provide an account of different policy tools and methods implemented by the Japanese government through the theoretical framework of the post-structuralist school. Mainly, the conceptual tools are used elaborated by Foucault in the study of power relations and ‘assemblage’ power by Deleuze and Guattari. The broad analysis of Japan’s soft power strategy and its specifics can provide an account of the interaction of different policies and methods working on the image of a country. Applying theoretical tools of the post-structuralist school allows us to see a full picture of the soft power strategy with different elements covering various dimensions and interacting with each other. The results of the study could help reveal deficiencies of the current strategy and adjust it to the changing environment.