The Japan Foundation in China: An Agent of Japan's Soft Power?

Much has been said in discussions of international relations about the necessity of moving away from 'hard power' tactics such as the use of military power, and towards 'soft power' strategies such as the promotion of values and ideas. Nevertheless, there has been little academic literature which actually analyses what soft power is, and how it can be utilised. This article attempts to do this through a review and analysis of the activities in China of the Japan Foundation, a cultural agency supervised by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Japan is a country experienced in the use of softer forms of power due to externally imposed constitutional restrictions on its use of military force in international affairs, and therefore a pertinent subject for this discussion. The article first outlines a theory of soft power, then reviews the history and purposes of the Japan Foundation and its activities in China, and finally concludes with an analysis of the Foundation's difficulties as a state agent and whether it can be considered to be an agent of Japan's soft power.