JF Waste?

[Mark Roberts]

Thanks, Aaron, for clarifying the status of the Japan Foundation.

So, NFC is part of an IAI under Bunkacho while the JF is under  
Gaimusho. The JF is thus seemingly understood as an expression of  
Japanese foreign policy. The Gaimusho "Diplomatic Bluebook" describes  
it being originally conceived as "a basis for conducting cultural  
diplomacy", under the rubric of "Promotion of international Mutual  
Understanding and Cultural Exchange". In the jargon of the MOFA,  
"cultural diplomacy" seems to now be called "public diplomacy", i.e.,  
using culture to make direct appeals to citizens and public opinion in  
other countries.

Looking at the MOFA web site, it appears that the JF has an annual  
budget of about 113 billion yen. This has been flat for the past three  
years.

Three other tidbits of information about Gaimusho and culture:

First, it seems that there has been a significant policy change this  
year regarding communications with the Japanese public. Formerly, only  
members of press clubs were allowed to attend Foreign Minister Okada's  
briefings, but now all stripes of journalists, both domestic and  
foreign, as well as "writers from magazines and cyberspace" can get in  
and participate in the discussion. This policy change has been  
protested by the press clubs that represent big media, but the MOFA  
has stood by it.

Second, under the banner of "public diplomacy", the MOFA now has an  
initiative called "Pop-Culture Diplomacy" <http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/culture/exchange/pop/index.html 
 >. This year, the emphasis has been placed on manga and fashion,  
including the appointment of three $B!H%+%o%$%$(B Ambassadors" that  
represent lolita/Harajuku/schoolgirl uniform fashions (so, maybe  
there's hope for pinku eiga?).

Third, the most recent press conference (3 December), includes an  
interesting remark by the deputy press secretary Kawamura. On Friday,  
the MOFA held its "Third International Manga Award", another part of  
their pop-culture diplomacy initiative. On the occasion of the award  
announcement, a member of the press asked whether the Hatoyama  
administration intends to continue this award. The roundabout answer  
was "yes". Then, the follow exchange took place:

Q: So the Foreign Ministry's idea that Japanese pop culture, including  
manga, remains an important diplomatic tool, remains the same even  
after the change of Government?

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, culture in general is a kind of very sophisticated  
area, where we need to carefully monitor how international attention  
grows and on which areas. We need to explore how the Japanese  
diplomacy should creatively respond to this. The bottom line here is  
that the leading role should be played by the non-governmental sectors  
or artistic people themselves, and the Government should play a  
supplementary, supporting role so that world interest in Japanese  
culture grows in a sound manner. From that perspective we will develop  
and consider the ways how the Japanese Government should be involved  
in this area.

The government, or at least the MOFA, is trying to sound neutral on  
the issue, but from this "bottom line" kind of talk, I would not  
expect them to take any sort of leading role in the elaboration of a  
more state-supported cultural policy. The initiative will probably  
have to come from outside. While the MOFA discourse does reflect a  
growing awareness of the significance of popular culture, the manga  
awards and kawaii ambassadors seem more like ways to leverage existing  
efforts in the public sector, rather than the government itself  
investing in more institution building.

M
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