Japan's use of soft power through its "Cool Japan" strategy has faced criticism connected to its imperialist history. Under its imperial rule over
South Korea, Japan cultivated an extremely negative perception of itself due to its treatment of Koreans. Thus, when Japan began implementing "Cool Japan" policies as a form of soft power in its post-WW2 era as a non-militaristic country, they were met with hesitation from many countries in the region, but most significantly, South Korea. While "Cool Japan" efforts have now improved their image in South Korea and the region as a whole, it took a while for South Korea to trust Japan's intentions, and still faces hesitancy. South Koreans viewed this initiative as another way that Japan was inserting itself too much into different realms and cultures they did not belong to. Additionally, by attempting to spread their culture as a form of soft power, it was seen by others as Japan trying to put themselves into other countries in a way similar to when they had done so during its imperial era. It appeared to be reminiscent of the
Co-Prosperity Sphere, in which Japan attempted, and ultimately failed, to implement too much of itself into others under imperial rule. However, while this historical legacy of colonization had impeded Japan's efforts to implement "Cool Japan" initiatives in the region, the past two decades have indicated that it is improving their image and relationships. For instance, by coming together to create media and distribute it to each other's countries, Japan has been able to integrate a positive image in South Korea. This was evident when the two countries co-hosted the 2002 World Cup, showing that the two countries were willing to come together for a significant cultural moment, thus creating a positive image for the public. Another issue which challenged the effectiveness of "Cool Japan" was the lack of relatability throughout Asia. This is also due to the combination of Japan's imperial history and the resulting closed approach of other countries to the Japanese media. In Japan's attempts to spread culture through television and movies, they faced difficulties because other countries were not receptive to it and did not feel a connection to the characters. This is rooted in the rejection of Japanese culture and their attempts to separate themselves as different from its neighbors. Japan was forced to shift their approach to media and improve the relatability of how they present characters. However, Japan was successful in this and as a result saw a spread of Japanese media and culture to their neighboring countries. A 2010 editorial in the argued that the government was not doing enough to advance the country's business interests in this sphere, allowing the
Korean Wave to overshadow Japan's efforts. The editorial highlighted structural inefficiencies, with the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry promoting "Cool Japan", the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for cultural exchange, and the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in charge of Japanese foods. Lecturer Roland Kelts has also suggested that a failure to fully distinguish, brand and engage the overseas audience and market may mean that "Cool Japan" is "over". In 2011,
Laura Miller critiqued Cool Japan campaign as exploiting and misrepresenting youth subcultural fashion and language. In 2013,
Nancy Snow referred to Cool Japan as a form of state-sponsored cultural retreading she calls Gross National Propaganda. Japanese singer-songwriter
Gackt criticized the government in 2015 for having set up a huge budget, yet "have no idea where that money should go. It's no exaggeration to say it has fallen into a downward spiral of wasted tax money flowing into little known companies", and that such lack of support is causing Japan to "fall behind its Asian neighbors in terms of cultural exports". In 2017, a senior executive and several other senior male employees of Cool Japan Fund Inc. were accused of sexual harassment targeting female employees of the fund. The employees formed a labor union in order to fight against sexual harassment. In the same year,
Nikkei Asian Review journalist Yuta Saito criticized fund's ambitions because their "lack of strategy, discipline gives rise to unprofitable projects", and there's possible conflict of interest by the executives. In 2018,
Japan Today reported that it was too soon to consider it "grossly incompetent or corrupt", but was at least "under-performing" for now. ==See also==