Soft power superpowers : cultural and national assets of Japan and the United States

The term "soft power" describes a country's ability to get what it wants by attracting rather than coercing others - by engaging hearts and minds through cultural and political values and foreign policies that other countries see as legitimate and conducive to their own interests.This book analyzes the soft power assets of the United States and Japan, and how they contributed to one of the most successful, if unlikely, bilateral relationships of the twentieth century. Sponsored by the U.S. Social Science Research Council and the Japan Foundation's Center for Global Partnership, the book brings together anthropologists, political scientists, historians, economists, diplomats, and others to explore the multiple axes of soft power that operate in the U.S.-Japanese relationship, and between the United States and Japan and other regions of the world.The contributors move beyond an "either-or" concept of hard versus soft power to a more dynamic interpretation, and demonstrate the important role of non-state actors in wielding soft power. They show how public diplomacy on both sides of the Pacific - bolstered by less formal influences such as popular cultural icons, product brands, martial arts, baseball, and educational exchanges - has led to a vibrant U.S.-Japanese relationship since World War II despite formidable challenges. Emphasizing the essentially interactive nature of persuasion, the book highlights an approach to soft power that has many implications for the world today. Soft Power Superpowers......Page 2 Contents......Page 6 Figures......Page 8 Foreword......Page 10 Culture and Attraction......Page 11 Economic Resources: Inducement and Attraction......Page 12 Normative Implications......Page 13 Realism, Strategy, and Soft Power......Page 14 Notes......Page 15 Acknowledgments......Page 16 The Significance of Soft Power......Page 18 Situating Soft Power: The Intellectual Context......Page 19 Soft Power and U.S.-Japanese Relations......Page 25 The Organization of the Book......Page 27 Conclusion......Page 30 Notes......Page 31 References......Page 32 I. Perception......Page 34 1. Anti-Americanism in Japan......Page 36 Comparative and Transnational Perspectives......Page 37 Historical Perspectives......Page 39 Theoretical Implications......Page 45 Policy Implications......Page 46 References......Page 49 Origins of the JET Program: The Soft Power Antidote......Page 51 Disconnect Between Message and Policy: Turf Wars and CompetingPriorities at the National and Local Levels......Page 53 The JET Program: Soft Power in Action?......Page 54 Foreign Pressure and the Evolution of JET Program Policies......Page 56 Winning the Hearts and Minds of Foreign Youth?......Page 57 The Alumni Ripple Effect......Page 60 Conclusion: Perception, Context, and Soft Power......Page 63 Notes......Page 64 References......Page 65 II. Higher Education......Page 68 3. Higher Education as a Projection of America’s Soft Power......Page 70 Historical Perspective......Page 71 The Conditions for American Academic Influence......Page 72 The U.S. Motivation in International Education......Page 74 The Impact of Foreign Study......Page 75 The Present and the Future......Page 76 The New Transnationalism......Page 80 Conclusion......Page 83 References......Page 85 4. Facing Crisis: Soft Power and Japanese Education in a Global Context......Page 87 History of Japanese Education and Soft Power......Page 89 The Current Decline in the Attractiveness of Japanese Education......Page 93 Future Vision: How Can the Soft Power of JapaneseEducation Be Developed?......Page 98 Conclusion......Page 105 References......Page 106 5. Nurturing Soft Power: The Impact of Japanese-U.S. University Exchanges......Page 108 Universities as Viable Sources of Soft Power......Page 109 Survey of Selected Universities and Exchange Students: Approachand Outcomes......Page 113 Moving Forward......Page 119 Notes......Page 123 References......Page 124 III. Popular Culture......Page 130 6. The Attractions of the J-Wave for American Youth......Page 132 Soft Power and Cultural (De)odorization......Page 135 New Global Imagination: A Different Model from Americanization......Page 139 References......Page 143 7. Shared Memories: Japanese Pop Culture in China......Page 144 The Anime and the Sword......Page 146 How-to Videos of Middle-class Lifestyles......Page 148 Urban Dreams......Page 150 Memory Wars......Page 151 Comic Book Diplomacy......Page 154 Notes......Page 158 References......Page 159 An Era in Need of Soft Power......Page 161 World Popularity of Japanese Pop Culture......Page 165 Preliminary Evaluation of Japan’s Cultural Power......Page 170 Cultural Power and Profits in Industrial Sectors......Page 176 Path to a “Country Built on Culture”......Page 180 Keeping Cultural Soft Power Soft and Sustainable......Page 182 Notes......Page 183 References......Page 184 9. Baseball in U.S.-Japanese Relations: A Vehicle of Soft Power in Historical Perspective......Page 187 Baseball as a Resource of Soft Power: Incipient Years......Page 189 Flowering of U.S.-Japanese Baseball Exchange: EarlyTwentieth Century......Page 191 Crosscurrents of Hard Power and Soft Power: 1930s......Page 193 Baseball During the U.S. Occupation: Soft Power Travels Both Ways......Page 196 Baseball in the Postwar World: A Shared Avenue of Soft Power......Page 199 References......Page 203 10. American Pop Culture as Soft Power: Movies and Broadcasting......Page 205 Hollywood: Ambassador to the World......Page 207 Television Without Frontiers......Page 215 Conclusion......Page 218 References......Page 219 IV. Public Diplomacy......Page 222 Pokémon and Foreign Policy......Page 224 Transmission and Reception in the Operation of Soft Power......Page 225 Projection and Presentation: Cultural Constraints Found inComparing Japan and the United States......Page 227 Interaction Between Transmission and Reception: Cooperation forConvergence or Confrontation for Surrender......Page 230 Cool Japan and Japanism: What Position Does Cool Japan Hold inJapan’s New Public Diplomacy?......Page 232 Soft Power and Public Diplomacy Policies......Page 234 Conclusion......Page 236 References......Page 237 12. Official Soft Power in Practice: U.S. Public Diplomacy in Japan......Page 240 U.S. Public Diplomacy Goals for Japan......Page 241 Obstacles and Challenges......Page 247 Impact and Assessment......Page 251 Conclusions and Lessons......Page 252 Notes......Page 253 References......Page 255 Japan’s Public Diplomacy......Page 257 Soft Power at Work......Page 264 Public Diplomacy by the Japanese Government......Page 266 Effectiveness of Japan’s Soft Power in the United States......Page 269 Conclusion......Page 272 Notes......Page 273 References......Page 274 V. Civil Society......Page 276 Freedom of Information and the American Goal ofDemocracy Promotion......Page 278 The Right to Know as an American Value......Page 279 The Global Freedom of Information Movement......Page 283 The Future of the Global FOI Movement......Page 290 Notes......Page 291 References......Page 293 Soft Power and Non-state Actors......Page 295 International NGOs, Civil Society, and Soft Power......Page 297 Japanese NGOs and Soft Power......Page 302 Conclusion......Page 307 References......Page 309 About the Editors and Contributors......Page 312 Index......Page 318 "Soft power" describes a country's ability to get what it wants by attracting rather than coercing others, by engaging hearts and minds through cultural and political values and foreign policies that other countries see as legitimate and conducive to their own interests. The idea was introduced by Joseph Nye, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. The book analyzes soft power assets of United States and Japan, and how they contributed to one of the most successful bilateral relationships of twentieth century. Sponsored by U.S. Social Science Research Council and the Japan Foundation's Center for Global Partnership, it brings together contributors to explore multiple axes of soft power that operate in U.S.-Japanese relationship, and between United States and Japan and other regions. Contributors move to a more dynamic interpretation, and demonstrate important role of non-state actors in wielding soft power. They show how public diplomacy on both sides of the Pacific, bolstered by less formal influences such as popular cultural icons, product brands, martial arts, baseball, and educational exchanges, has led to vibrant U.S.-Japanese relationship since World War II despite formidable challenges. Emphasizing the nature of persuasion, the book shows an approach to soft power that has implications for today--Publisher's description