The concept of softpower has been significantly increasing in the hierarchy of scholarly and in the public debates of foreign affairs. The terms have been firmly visible in all the newspaper and magazines in articles on foreign affairs. The idea of softpower suggests that a foreign policy based on the combined use of both hard and soft power can yield superior results over one that relies exclusively on one or the other kinds of power. Soft power can be measured both in conventional and unconventional terms, drawing on research in foreign policy, political communication, and trust and social capital. Conventional measures include international exchange in migrants, visitors, education, and culture.
What is soft power diplomacy?
In politics soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Is diplomacy soft or hard power? Although the term hard power generally refers to diplomacy, it can also be used to describe forms of negotiation which involve pressure or threats as leverage.
What are the types of diplomacy?
Examples of ‘soft power’ are the number of foreign students enrolled in the U.S., the extent of academic exchanges, the worldwide consumption of American media products – America as the beacon of modernity with its values of openness, mobility, individualism, pluralism, voluntarism, and freedom. Thus we identified the following types of diplomacy: cultural, parliamentary, economic, public, and military.
Let us observe the impact of Japanese softpower in foreign policy, political and cultural activities of Japan which has the world’s third-largest economy, having achieved remarkable growth in the second half of the 20th Century after the devastation of the Second World War. The country got back on its feet and became a major economic power in the eighties and seventies. This reign however abruptly ended in the early nineties when the equity and real estate market collapsed. Shifts in the international system, the most prominent being the end of the cold war, has forced Japan to rethink it’s position in the international system. The 1947 constitution was drafted after Japans defeat in world war two to prevent the country from resurging its former militarism. Despite this constitutional dilemma Japan managed to “stretch” its constitution and deployed some non-war faring troops in the present Iraq war. Japan has realized that it needs to play a more active role in the international system not to lose the power it has attained.
Why Japan is an important country?
Japan is a major aid donor, and a source of global capital and credit. The thing that makes the japan unique is Japan’s architecture, art, traditions, crafts. Also, its worldwide known pop culture (including manga, anime, and video games). It’s something that definitely only Japan can offer. No other country contains the same characteristics. Cool Japan is an initiative to further strengthen the ties between Japan and other countries (in such areas as economics, culture, and diplomacy).
The creative and cultural industries are seen to be new drivers of economic growth as well as attracting overseas audiences. In 2010, Japan’s New Growth Strategy included emphasis on exporting ‘Cool Japan’. Under this broad slogan, the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry announced in 2010 its new Creative Industries Promotion Office’. The ‘Cool Japan’ project is a Japanese government plan to promote Japanese animation, fashion and food overseas. In 2012, the newly re-elected Abe Shinzo administration appointed Inada Tomomi as the first minister in charge of the ‘Cool Japan’ strategy. The campaign logo was created by designer Kashiwa Sato, who has done work for the Uniqlo clothing brand that has expanded dramatically overseas. Cool Japan stresses public-private partnership where private sectors are the prime actors. The Cool Japan Fund includes the Japanese government as a shareholder, together with other major industry actors such as airline company ANA Group and giant retailer Takashimaya. As of April 2016, there was investment capital of 52.3 billion Yen accumulated to invest in enterprises seeking to expand overseas.
JET PROGRAMME
Japan is currently doing a great deal to enhance its own international standing. One of the major soft power initiatives that Japan has invested billions in the JET (Japanese Exchange and Teaching) Programme to give international graduates experience of teaching in Japan. Recent research suggests that the Programme has been a hugely effective means of increasing Japan’s soft power. As a result of Japan’s significant investment in the programme, it has created a cadre of thousands of people who have essentially become fans of Japan. The importance of the people-to-people contact that programmes such as JET (The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET).
Japan is also investing a huge amount of resource into the establishment of soft power institutions such as its Japan Houses . These are new cultural centres showcasing the best of Japanese culture. Encouragingly, it has chosen London as the host of one of its three Houses – the others being in LA and Sao Paolo. Japan House, London will further strengthen the cultural links between the two countries. It’s a great initiative for communicating things about Japan that people might not know. That said, it is the people-to-people programmes such as JET that will create most long-term impact for joint cooperation, growth, and security.
WHAT’s JAPAN HOUSE
JAPAN HOUSE operates three such hubs, in London, Los Angeles, and Sao Paolo.
Each hub features an exhibition space, a multi-purpose space with theater facilities, a retail space, food and drink, books, online connectivity, and a cafe space. The project merges together these functions, and the activities they enable, to introduce a variety of themes, in detail and with substance: the future of tradition, the passion of popular culture, the power of advanced technology, and the diverse appeal of Japanese food.
Activities are designed to appeal a wide audience , including those with no previous interest in Japan.
JAPANESE SELF DEFENCE FORCES
Another aspect of Japanese soft power is the role of Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. Japan had adopted a pacifist constitution post-World War II thus renouncing any military or security role. The SDF were established in 1954, and it got authorised by the Japanese government to participate in UN missions.
During the 1990-91 Gulf War, when Japan was accused of not doing enough despite its significant monetary contributions, the Diet enacted the International Peace Cooperation Law which enabled the government to dispatch the SDF albeit under strict conditions. Since then, Japan has gradually emerged out of its shell, sending SDF personnel to peacekeeping operations in Cambodia, the Golan Heights, Timor-Leste and South Sudan. In December 2013, the government of Japan announced its first National Security Strategy (NSS) where the central theme was to make a “proactive contribution to peace” based on international cooperation. The Japanese Ministry of Defense has also been providing capacity building assistance to Asian countries since 2011. An active role in such operations further promotes a likeable and obliging image of Japan.
Japanese ODA: Economic and social infrastructure in many developing countries, such as electricity, gas, transportation, and communications services are less developed than other developed countries. Of late, in addition to a growing population, living in poverty in some regions of the world, global problems have arisen, with HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, air and water pollution, and conflicts and terrorism. To face these issues, the United Nations have set a target named “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “ as common goals, where the individual countries have launched a range of measures’ loans support developing countries by providing low- interest, long-term and concessional funds to finance their development efforts. ODA loans, which require repayment, promote efficient use of the borrowed funds and appropriate supervision of the Project they finance, thereby underpinning `developing countries’ ownership in the development process. Besides, as ODA loans are financial assistance with a repayment obligation, they place a relatively small fiscal burden on the Japanese government and represent a sustainable instrument for official development assistance
Japanese Culture: Japan’s traditional cultural assets are well-known, ranging from flower arrangement (ikebana) to the chado tea ceremony, judo and calligraphy. What are the principles of ikebana?
The 7 Principles of Ikebana Flower Arrangement
- Ikebana is a time to observe nature.
- Ikebana is influenced by Buddhist ideals of minimalism.
- Shape and Line. There’s an emphasis on shape in ikebana.
- Form.
- Humanity.
- Aesthetics.
- Structure.
- 96 Vegetarian Japanese Foods.
However, with growing global interest in more contemporary forms of Japanese popular culture such as manga and video games, the Japanese state has also moved to leverage Japanese pop culture as a new source of cultural soft power. During his term as Foreign Minister, the previously mentioned Aso Taro (2006) declared that ‘any kind of cultural diplomacy that fails to take advantage of pop culture is not really worthy of being called “cultural diplomacy”…and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is really going all out to “market” this, so to speak.’
The threshold of Japanese culture, including both outmoded and general lifestyle, has been progressively wide-spreading in the world around. Consequently, Japan’s soft power derives from the attraction of her wealthy and free society, and the appeal of her traditional as well as contemporary culture of the world. We can cite one example of a traditional culture that grips a great magnetism not only to Japanese people but also to people around the globe is Haiku, a short and unusual form of Japanese poetry. It has a history of over 400 years, since the end of the 19th century, Haiku has been introduced to the rest of the world. Nowadays, Haiku has been developed almost in 50 countries around the globe whereas about 2 million people are writing Haiku poems in 30 different languages. Excessive temptation can also be found in Japanese fashionable or pop culture in various forms such as popular films, television programs, manga, music or video games. The Japanese government also acknowledged that learning is a required field within the diplomacy of Japan, and its role has become more and more critical in recent years. Moreover, with the assistance of technological advancements including the internet, the international community has been familiar with and become fond of Japan’s cultural products such as J-pop, Japan’s television dramas, video games, anime, and manga. For example, if asked about Japanese cuisine, most will produce the same answer ‘sushi’. A long queue of international students waiting for being served at the sushi kiosk at Victoria University of Wellington reveals the attraction of Japanese cuisine. Apart from exporting cultural products, Japan has organized various cultural activities to promote its culture and values. For example, with the establishment and development of the Japan Foundation all over the world, Japan aims to provide Japanese language training, art performance and Japan study to people around the globe. Utpal Vyas noted that the Japan Foundation, as a cultural agency of the Japanese government, was expected to enable the process of allowing Japan’s ideas and values to be accepted and integrated by foreign publics through a range of cultural activities. If this process is successful, the foundation can be considered to be an agent of Japan’s soft power.
Therefore, it is contemporary culture and lifestyle to obtain ‘soft power ‘undeniable that religion has served as an essential element which helps enhance Japan’s soft power as well as its national power.
This research work is entirely web-based, and there was no scope to conduct field surveys based on any questionnaire as well as data interpretation with software or mathematical tools. This researcher has taken all the qualitative data from the popular journal articles, books, magazines and newspapers published in Japan, and other countries of the world.
Bringing it back home. Nigeria for many reasons and by natural positioning is well positioned to influence the world with its softower. A fairly large and vibrant population in a world where the US and Canada, Chinese and India and many of the European countries are being threatened by ageing population. It has been said that 1 in every 5 black men are Nigerians.
Nollywood – Nigeria’s Nollywood which has gained prominence across Africa and beyond is arguably one of the easiest way to positively influence the negative stereotypes, project its values and socio-economy influences beyond the African continent, when deliberately leveraged. The government and critical stakeholders need to understand this importance and make it count.
Nigerian Music – You may not like them, but can’t stop playing their music. Nigerian music is presently taking the world by storms, topping global charts, with growing number of Grammy awards, top level performance with worldwide followership. While there are negative prejudice against the nation, its music is fast influencing these wrong perceptions. A nation that can produce great acts like Wizkid, Burna Boy, Fela & Femi Kuti, Davido, Tiwa Salvage, Tems, Asa, Nathaniel Bassey etc has got great opportunity for believable positive narratives.
The Nigerian Armed Force, just like the Japanese civil defence had played prominent roles in peacekeeping across the region as part of Ecomog and various UN peacekeeping force. This is a show of strength and stability, a strategic big brother advantage which needs to be deliberately leveraged.
How about the new ‘techeconomy’, where Nigerians are blazing the trail, attracting foreign direct investment with leading brands like Flutterwave, Patricia, Paystack and many others
In the religion sphere, thousands of people around the world are attracted to Nigeria annually. It is said that Nigeria housed the largest church auditorium in the world and about the largest church gathering every year.
Lastly, the ‘Naijaspirit’- Strong will and determination to succeed. This rare trait of an average Nigerian, particularly the youths, across various sectors, Academic, health Engineering ICT has attracts global attention. Regardless of racism and stereotype, Nigerians are known to be ruthlessly ambitious, driving against all odds to achieve success. In the United States for example, Nigeria is said to be the most successful ethnic group.
As many other nations have done, Nigeria need to deliberately use its softpower to not just change the negative stereotypes, but to push herself to prominence and influence among the committee of nations.
Written by Dr. SHANMUGA PRIYA
