Since the end of World War II, the Japanese government has portrayed Japan as a peace-loving country, committed to democracy and actively contributing to world development. However, this image has been challenged by the rise of China and the mounting security tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has consistently implemented strategic communication initiatives to enhance the understanding of Japanese policy and improve Japan’s reputation abroad by conveying its “authentic image”.
Communicating “authentic Japan” is the main objective of the Japan Houses, three overseas centres established by MOFA in São Paulo, Los Angeles, and London as part of its latest strategic communication projects. Equipped with exhibition spaces, libraries, seminar rooms, shops, and restaurants, each Japan House represents the medium through which Japanese government-affiliated experts and locally hired experts cooperate to organise exhibitions and events that reflect their interpretations of Japan’s “authentic image”.
Drawing from strategic communication, media, and museum studies, this interdisciplinary presentation will offer an exploration of what constitutes “authentic Japan” through the comparative analysis of Japan House London’s most recent exhibitions: “WAVE: Currents in Japanese Graphic Arts”, a touring exhibition selected by the Japanese government-affiliated experts’ team, and “Ainu Stories: Contemporary Lives by the Saru River”, curated by the local British team. This analysis will show “authentic Japan” as a heterogeneous strategic narrative, resulting from the continuous negotiations that occur when state and non-state actors with different goals cooperate to promote a country’s image built around broad concepts such as authenticity.

Authors:
Raffaella Marini, Ritsumeikan University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Raffaella Marini is a Ph.D. candidate in International Relations at Ritsumeikan University Graduate School of International Relations (Kyoto). Her doctoral work analyzes the strategic narratives constructed and promoted through Japan House London.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/raffaella-marini-219aa31a7

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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