1. Introduction
1.1. Definition of cultural diplomacy, its importance in the modern politics
The term ‘cultural diplomacy’ or as it is also called ‘diplomacy between cultures’ came into use quite recently, however, the evidence of its exercising into practice has been known for centuries. Since the establishing of ancient states such people as traders, artists, philosophers, teachers and explorers can be considered as a prototype of modern ambassadors and cultural diplomats. With the emergence of trade within different regions and nations the frequent exchange of information and cultural gifts between the traders and governments emerged. Those exchanges are now identified as ancient manifestations of cultural diplomacy as every person that contact with different culture ease the culture exchange in fields of politics, economics, science, arts, etc. Therefore, cultural diplomacy is an exchange of cultural aspects, information, ideas and traditions, between the representatives of different cultures aimed at promoting nation’s political influence on the world’s arena.
In a twenty first centuries globalized world cultural diplomacy is very crucial in fostering peace and stability throughout the world. If that type of diplomacy is learned and applied correctly it gives a unique opportunity to influence global ideologies and public opinion. The application of principles of diplomacy between cultures, such as recognition of cultural diversity, equality and justice, protection of human rights and international dialogue, promotes global peace and stability all over the world.
2. Japan’s cultural diplomacy: history and development
The main aim of cultural diplomacy is improving the image of a particular country, therefore, Japanese i...
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... the way of conducting Japan’s cultural diplomacy. There are some discussions in the Japanese political circles whether Japan should concentrate on current strategy that represents Japan as a highly-traditional, intellectual and peaceful culture or develop more aggressive cultural diplomacy.
However, despite the argues some parts of the new ‘soft power’ policy have already been implemented. The most visible results from the application of that concept are observed in Asian countries. As Japan was one of the United States’ allies in the Iraqi War its face as a peaceful non-military state in the Middle East was fading, therefore, Japan decided to pursue ‘civilian power’ cultural diplomacy as a stabilizing tool that will renew the image of the Japan in the region. To implement that kind of the policy several actions of Japanese government took place, among them:
The Discourse acts as a forum for the exploration of the political pathways that Japan could follow following the Meiji Restoration in 1868. At a time when Japan had just begun to consolidate herself, Chomin’s Discourse was aimed at discussing Japan’s long-term trajectory through three imaginary mouthpieces, ‘The Gentleman of Western Learning’, his opposition ‘The Champion of the East’, whose debate is being observed and arbitrated by a ‘Master Nankai’.
The five aspects which we will examine that create Japan’s culture are: political, economic, military, social, and religious. We will take a look at some of the general facts and information about Japan and its history, more specifically, the events that led the country to its involvement in World War II. After reading this, it is my hope that many will have a better understanding of a foreign country they may not know much about.
On the international scene, diplomacy is employed between nations as a means of negotiating on issues regarding trade, environment, culture, peacemaking among others for the mutual benefit the parties/nations involved. Personal diplomacy is premised on the idea of engaging face-to-face or having one on one discussions with partners in a non-threatening environment with an aim to persuade someone and seek common ground on issues.
When moving to a market with a consumer culture so different from the home market, a company must be careful to analyse its target audience in detail, to avoid and costly cultural faux pas. To get a good feel for the Japanese culture, a good place to start would be the experts in the cultural studies field. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, created during his in depth GLOBE study of the cultures of the world, gives a good comparison between the priority differences between Japanese and English culture. A detailed analysis of the cultural differences will be given in the ‘Marketing Issues’ section of the report.
Nye, Jr., Joseph S. “Hard and Soft Power in American Foreign Policy.” In Paradox of American Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 4-17. Print.
Japan has historically taken ideas from the United States on its business, merchandise, or other corporate sectors to improve within its political borders. These practices have become massive cultural and economic movements in Japan. Interestingly, Japan takes ideas and molds them into Japanese culture and style; therefore, these products are “Japanized.” To further elaborate on this statement, Japan has succeeded in its businesses and corporations such as the automobile industries around the world (for example, the NUMMI plant production transcended those of American automobile productions due to an enhanced Japanese corporate culture). Albeit many Japanese industries have roots in the United States, they have expanded globally. The music
Any negotiation challenges the parties involved in a variety of ways, but parties with conflicting interests face important additional difficulties when attempting to negotiate an agreement across culture lines. Not only will the difficulties arising from the known similarities and differences of opinion be more pronounced, but also unsuspected factors could easily enter the picture and condition perceptions of the situation. In cross-cultural negotiations, a reasonable second acknowledgment should be that the hidden factors that are always at work are more likely to interfere with reaching an agreement. It is especially important that this acknowledgment be understood to apply not only to the dynamics of interactions across the table, but those of individuals on the same side of the table. [At times, it may be tempting to attribute the outcomes of negotiations to a single variable (such as the culture or the relative power of a country).] The term culture has taken on many different meanings but basically it reflects the shared values. Culture affects negotiations in different ways. In this paper, we are going to discuss the American and Jap...
Culture is the whole system of ideas, action and result of the work of human beings in the frame work of the life of the community. Culture includes everything that is reserved, and his sense of hu...
In The First Resort of King, Richard Arndt argues cultural diplomacy has been a norm “for humans intent upon civilization” since the Bronze Age, when diplomacy has evolved in parallel with language to facilitate cooperation between large groups defined by customs, therefore, in its earliest form, diplomacy meant relations not between nation-state, but between cultures (1). However, over the course of history, the concept of cultural diplomacy changed. Today, cultural diplomacy is typically viewed as a foreign policy tool, utilized by governments in order to advance specific kinds of interests. This is true according to Yang and Liu, who define public diplomacy as a diplomatic activity organised and conducted by a state government and directed
Diplomacy has a variety of definitions which depending on the user perspectives on the term “diplomacy”. In the context of international relations, diplomacy is the negotiator’s ability in conducting negotiations between the representatives of nation states in a peaceful manner. The essential of negotiation is to resolve a conflict without offending others. According to Iragorri (2003), an effective negotiation is being able to achieve mutual agreement by peaceful means. The process of a negotiation in diplomacy goes through five important stages that is preparation, discussion, proposing, bargaining and settling process (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Culture is consciousness, principally, a fair understanding of one's own civilization. This is just conceivable when we have some thought of its connection to different cultures shows resemblances and contrasts. A limit for making unobtrusive refinements must be developed energetically. Current thoughts regarding the Orient are still unreasonably rough, that is, either sentimental, or bigoted; this i...
Learning is the most essential part of communication it shows that you can process multiple ideas at once and not judge but seek to understand where another person’s ideas are coming from as well. People have their own reasons and narratives that shape what they believe to be their goods and why they protect these goods. Each person’s goods are representative of their culture. Culture is a collection of ones history learned styles, patterns, and perceptions that continu...
Our world is constantly changing and it requires a society that is well versed in understanding the problems deriving from culture differences and tolerance of one another’s beliefs and perceptions. We are dealing with systemic problems in education, economic, government, religion and culture differences.
Japan is a fascinating multifaceted culture, on one hand it is filled with many traditions dating back thousands of years and yet is a society with continually changing fads,
The word 'culture' is often described in terms of concrete ideas or social artifacts. Gary R. Weaver describes some common conceptions such as "good taste," "art or music," or "something that people in exotic foreign lands had."1 However, culture in the context of international assignments relates to how people perceive the world and the influence this perception has on their actions. It is culture on the interpersonal level. Different cultures can perceive the same thing differently, which leads to miscommunication and misunderstanding when one crosses into another culture not their own.