HIS 272H,
CULTURAL INTERACTIONS: JAPAN

JOSEPH NYE
SOFT POWER: THE MEANS TO SUCCESS IN WORLD POLITICS

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
BOOK ESSAY TWO [see GUIDELINES]

Joseph Nye coined the notion of “soft power” in an attempt to draw our attention as Americans to ways in which the United States might be better able to induce others to follow our example through attraction rather than military coercion or economic inducement.

Ironically Japan appears to be in a better position to profit from her accumulation of “soft power” assets (in the form of anime animated film, manga illustrated novels, Yu-Gi-Oh card games and television series, Nintendo video gaming systems, Sony television sets and NEC computers) than even the United States.

In his discussiosn of SOFT POWER (the power to get others to want what one wants them to want via attraction, influence and persuasion, so that they will do something they might not otherwise undertake) Nye asserts that the ability to get someone to do what they might not otherwise want to do is enhanced when coupled with a perceived sense of moral integrity with respect to the stated aspirations and ideals the pursuading party is attempting to implement. Likewise he recognizes that such uses of "soft power" must be balanced against the use of coercive “hard power” to obtain national objectives. Soft power, furthermore, can be significantly diminished when hypocritically imposed or imperiously overlooked.

Nye also points out that, since SOFT POWER is in many ways a reflection of cultural values, quality of life issues, education / communication / information resources, cultural exports and willing involvement / investment in international organizations, it is not a "weapon" confined to the United States: “As other countries set attractive examples, educate foreign students, export attractive cultural products, or use international institutions to attract others to their agenda, they are also investing in soft power.” (Joseph Nye, “Soft Power in the Information Age”, IPI World Congress 2000, Boston, May 2, 2000)

Then, with specific reference to Japan, there is the concurrent influence of postmodernism to contend with. As we have seen and heard in class, the notion of the POSTMODERN defined, at least initially, a decidedly “western” construct which stood a full range of assumptions on their heads, denying the existence of meaningful tradition or relevant history.

Claiming “no unitary truth resides anywhere", the postmoderist contends there is only local knowledge, contingent and provisional: “Postmodernism celebrates this time, this place; and it celebrates adaptability, contingency, diversity, flexibility, sophistication and relationships – with the self and with the community fostering the precedence of surface over depth, of simulation over the real, of play over seriousness … nothing is true in or of itself; truth is only an artifact of social negotiation.”

The role one arbitrarily assumes in such a world recognizes the incongruity of daily life rather than the existence of innate realities defined by tradition, cultural expectation and history. The core determinants themselves, it seems, are circumstantial and temporary.

The responsibility of each individual becomes to transform “information” into “knowledge” by placing the data derived from the various sources consulted into a meaningful contextual whole depending on the defined needs of the moment. The context provided by a value system, a given set of assumptions and beliefs, however, is supplied by the auditor, the viewer, the listener; it is not inherent in the materials themselves.

In such circumstances, what place exists for "soft power"? Is its influences expanded or contracted as a result? Can a culture (like Japan's), one very much dependent on the exercise of "soft power", still manage to exert an international impact in a globalized world freed from issues of national cultural identity?

QUESTIONS, THEMES AND TOPICS TO CONSIDER

In your analysis of Joseph Nye’s Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (or in your preparation for our in-class discussion of the book), examine the “cultural interactions” involved in the exercise of what Nye defines as "soft power" by Japan around the world through one or more of the following “lenses”:

• To what degree is Japan's "soft power" an “Occidentalist” creation? That is, how much does the soft power exercised by Japan internationally accurately reflect internal Japanese cultural traditions and expectations or elements of contemporary Japanese popular culture rather than the thinking or cultural experiences of the "others" adopting it for themselves? Give examples of gaps between imaginings and realities to support your interpretation.
  
  
• How complicit is Japan in creating its own “Occidentalist mythology” as an idealization of the various elements of contemporary Japanese popular culture being consumed abroad? Does the Japanese government itself resist or embrace these outsider attempts to cast Japan in this role of pop culture leadership? Why / why not?
  
  
• In the past, elements of foreign cultures brought into Japanese life have usually been adapted by the Japanese themselves to meet internal Japanese needs and asperations. Today the Japanese find themselves instead in the position of providing models and goods much in demand elsewhere in the world. How much control do contemporary Japanese have over the consumption of these elements of Japanese popular culture abroad? What are the resulting consequences for Japan's quest to maintain her inherent gemeinschaft cultural orientation?
  
  
• Is the consumption of elements of contemporary Japanese popular culture in countries around the world truely a mark of Japanese "soft power" at work in the world or not? How does the breakdown of cultural barriers inherent in notions of the "postmodern" impact Japan's ability to implement "soft power" goals and objectives? What does Japan have that the rest of the world wants and needs?
  
  
• Who has more inherent "soft power", Japan or the United States? Defend your response with an analysis of concrete examples demonstrating the strength of one over the other in the capacity for and utilization of "soft power" resources. How would Nye respond to this question? What would be the basis for his decision?

OTHER TOPICS AND APPROACHES MAY BE CONSIDERED BUT SHOULD FIRST BE DISCUSSED WITH AND APPROVED BY THE INSTRUCTOR