Consul General Kawakami Gives Lecture on Soft Power
On November 16, Consul General of Japan in Toronto Koichi Kawakami visited Renison College at the University of Waterloo to give a lecture on Soft Power, which he described as one of the three pillars of Japanese foreign policy along with Official Development Assistance and foreign direct investment.
The term Soft Power is believed to have been first coined by Joseph Nye Jr., a Professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in contrast with "hard power" such as military or economic strength. "Soft Power," explained Consul General Kawakami, "is the ability to get what you want by persuading others to adopt your goals," adding that its scope is much wider that the traditional concept of cultural exchange and could include cuisine, various forms of art, traditions, lifestyles, labour ethics and more.
The Consul General in his lecture cited the formation of the Alliance française in 1883 as possibly the first conscious use of Soft Power. Coincidentally, he pointed out, at around the same time in the latter half of the 19th Century, there was Japonisme, a craze for Japanese art among the French, which immensely influenced impressionists and post-impressionists.
He went on to give various examples of Japanese, as well as French and Chinese, Soft Power. He also related anecdotes from his experiences of Soft Power at work, and explained its difficulties as well, such as its unpredictability -- seemingly appealing cultural items could not be well received by a foreign recipient, and vice versa.
He closed by saying, "I am discovering Canada, which is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country. You can use my methods to analyze Canadian society," adding, "And please think about Canada's Soft Power."
Consul General Koichi Kawakami (centre) with Dr. John Crossley, Principal of Renison College (right),
and Dr. Kimie Hara, Research Professor in East Asian Studies (left).