Editing Soft power (section)

=== Japan ===
{{Main|Cool Japan|Japanese pop culture}}
"'''Cool Japan'''" is a concept coined in 2002 as an expression of [[Japanese popular culture|Japan's popular culture]]. The concept has been adopted by the Japanese government as well as trade bodies seeking to exploit the commercial capital of the country's culture industry.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Squaring the cool |url=https://www.economist.com/banyan/2014/06/17/squaring-the-cool |access-date=2024-07-10 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref>Cool Japan Illustrated, http://www.cool-jp.com/index.php</ref> It has been described as a form of soft power, "the ability to indirectly influence behavior or interests through cultural or ideological means."<ref>{{cite journal |first=Christine R. |last=Yano |title=Wink on Pink: Interpreting Japanese Cute as It Grabs the Global Headlines |year=2009 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=681–688 |doi=10.1017/S0021911809990015 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In a 2002 article in the journal ''Foreign Policy'' titled "Japan's Gross National Cool", Douglas McGray wrote of Japan "reinventing superpower" as its cultural influence expanded internationally despite the economic and political problems of the "lost decade." Surveying youth culture and the role of [[J-pop]], [[manga]], [[anime]], [[Video games in Japan|video game]], [[Japanese clothing|fashion]], [[Cinema of Japan|film]], [[Automotive industry in Japan|automobiles]], consumer electronics, [[Japanese architecture|architecture]], and [[Japanese cuisine|cuisine]], McGray highlighted Japan's considerable soft power, posing the question of what message the country might project. He also argued that Japan's recession may even have boosted its national cool, due to the partial discrediting of erstwhile rigid social hierarchies and big-business career paths.<ref name="McGray">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.douglasmcgray.com/cool-japan.html |title=Japan's Gross National Cool |last=McGray |first=Douglas |magazine=[[Foreign Policy]] |date=1 May 2002 |access-date=11 September 2012 |archive-date=16 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216061649/http://www.douglasmcgray.com/cool-japan.html |url-status=dead}}<br />{{cite magazine |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2002/05/01/japans_gross_national_cool |title=Japan's Gross National Cool |url-access=subscription |last=McGray |first=Douglas |magazine=[[Foreign Policy]] |date=1 May 2002 |access-date=18 March 2011 |archive-date=6 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906153012/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2002/05/01/japans_gross_national_cool |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2015, during remarks welcoming Japanese Prime Minister [[Shinzo Abe]] to the White House, President [[Barack Obama]] thanked Japan for its cultural contributions to the [[United States]] by saying:
{{blockquote|This visit is a celebration of the ties of friendship and family that bind our peoples. I first felt it when I was 6 years old when my mother took me to Japan. I felt it growing up in Hawaii, like communities across our country, home to so many proud Japanese Americans... Today is also a chance for Americans, especially our young people, to say thank you for all the things we love from Japan. Like [[karate]] and [[karaoke]]. Manga and anime. And, of course, [[emojis]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/04/28/president-obama-thanks-japanese-leader-for-karaoke-emojis/?outputType=amp|title=President Obama thanks Japanese leader for karaoke, emoji|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=28 April 2015}}</ref>}}
In 2017, Japan had the fifth largest diplomatic network in the world.<ref name=":0" /> Anime, manga and Japanese films are considered to be soft power. In April 2023, the [[Japan Business Federation]] laid out a proposal aiming to spur the economic growth of [[Economy of Japan|Japan]] by further promoting the contents industry abroad, primarily anime, manga and video games, for measures to invite industry experts from abroad to come to Japan to work, and to link with the [[Tourism in Japan|tourism sector]] to help foreign fans of manga and anime visit sites across the country associated with particular manga stories. The federation seeks on quadrupling the sales of Japanese content in overseas markets within the upcoming 10 years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Joana |date=2023-04-10 |title=Japan's leading business lobby group says anime, manga key to economic growth|url=https://www.scmp.com/video/asia/3216598/japans-leading-business-lobby-group-says-anime-manga-key-economic-growth|website=[[South China Morning Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/japan-manga-to-spearhead-nations-economic-growth/a-65393781|title=Japan: Manga to spearhead nation's economic growth|website=[[Deutsche Welle|DW]]|date= 23 April 2023}}</ref> In 2023, [[U.S. News & World Report]] ranked Japan's cultural influence as the highest in Asia and 5th worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/influence-rankings|title=Influence Rankings|publisher=USnews |date=2021 |access-date=2021-05-24}}</ref> Today, the [[culture of Japan]] stands as one of the most popular cultures around the world, mainly because of the global reach of its popular culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nagata |first=Kazuaki |date=7 September 2010 |title=Anime makes Japan a cultural superpower |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/09/07/reference/anime-makes-japan-superpower/ |via=Japan Times Online}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=31 January 2015|title=How Japan became a pop culture superpower {{!}} The Spectator|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-japan-became-a-pop-culture-superpower/|journal=The Spectator|access-date=12 December 2021|archive-date=17 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717054956/https://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/01/how-japan-became-a-pop-culture-superpower/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Iwabuchi |first=Koichi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dFHTDV6Mq10C&q=american+influence+japanese+media&pg=PA95 |title=Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism |date=2002-10-18 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0822384083|language=en |access-date=2021-12-12 |archive-date=2022-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011235032/https://books.google.com/books?id=dFHTDV6Mq10C&q=american+influence+japanese+media&pg=PA95 |url-status=live |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tamaki |first1=Taku |title=Japan has turned its culture into a powerful political tool |url=http://theconversation.com/japan-has-turned-its-culture-into-a-powerful-political-tool-72821 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |date=26 April 2017 |language=en |access-date=2021-12-12 |archive-date=2021-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118214114/https://theconversation.com/japan-has-turned-its-culture-into-a-powerful-political-tool-72821 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title='Pure Invention': How Japan's pop culture became the 'lingua franca' of the internet |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/07/18/books/pure-invention-jpop-culture/ |work=[[The Japan Times]] |date=2020-07-18 |access-date=2021-12-12 |archive-date=2021-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214054619/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2020/07/18/books/pure-invention-jpop-culture/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=How Japan's global image morphed from military empire to eccentric pop-culture superpower|url=https://qz.com/1806376/japans-image-has-changed-from-fierce-to-lovable-over-the-decades/ |publisher=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]] |date=2020-05-27 |access-date=2021-12-12 |archive-date=2021-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021121139/https://qz.com/1806376/japans-image-has-changed-from-fierce-to-lovable-over-the-decades/amp/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Currently, the worldwide spread of Japanese popular culture can most often be seen in the [[Western world]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beebom.com/the-rise-of-anime-manga-japanese-pop-culture-in-west/|title=The Rise of Anime, Manga, and Japanese Pop Culture in the West|website=Beebom|author=Ajith Kumar|date=28 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whats-behind-the-growing-popularity-of-japanese-comics-and-animations-in-u-s|title=What's behind the growing popularity of Japanese comics and animations in U.S.|website=[[PBS News]]|date= 14 May 2024}}</ref> [[Latin America]],<ref>[https://arkonestudios.com/the-latin-american-appetite-for-asian-content/ The Latin American Appetite for Asian Content]. ''Ark One Studios''.</ref><ref>[https://luzmedia.co/asian-heritage-in-latin-america Exploring Asian Heritage in Latin America]. ''Luz Media''.</ref> [[Arab World]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/life-style/2024/03/19/How-Saudi-Arabia-has-become-a-global-hub-for-manga-and-anime|title=How Saudi Arabia has become a global hub for manga and anime|website=[[Al Arabiya]]|date=24 March 2024}}</ref> [[East Asia|East]], [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wu |first=Yuqing |date=2021-08-05 |title=Can Pop Culture Allay Resentment? Japan's Influence in China Today |url=https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/4117 |journal=Media and Communication |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=112–122 |doi=10.17645/mac.v9i3.4117 |issn=2183-2439 |doi-access=free |access-date=February 21, 2024 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226201450/https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/4117 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-12/japanese-anime-soft-power-pokemon-astro-boy-military-manga/104042324|title=From military empire to pop culture phenomenon: Inside Japan's animation revolution|website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=11 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/08/japanese-cultural-influence-grows-in-india/|title=Japanese Cultural Influence Grows in India|website=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]]|date=29 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fulcrum.sg/aseanfocus/the-courteous-charmer-a-hard-look-at-japans-soft-power-in-southeast-asia/|title=The Courteous Charmer: A Hard Look at Japan's Soft Power in Southeast Asia|date=18 October 2023|website=fulcrum.sg}}</ref>