[Hello Kitty is] so much more than just a cartoon character, she's the globally recognized ambassador for Japanese soft power in East Asia and beyond, according to anthropologist Dr. Christine Yano from the University of Hawaii.

What we are actually seeing is Diplomacy 2.0 on the Korean peninsula: a nuanced, three-dimensional foreign policy strategy designed to alter Chinese strategic thinking, engage U.S. interests, and ultimately build Northeast Asian cooperation where there was little in the past.

Okinawa, Japan - The governor of this island, Takeshi Onaga, has annoyed both Washington and Tokyo by taking the case of his people against a US military base directly to the UN Human Rights Council.

The image and caption were posted by a right-wing Japanese artist last month. Now, more than 10,000 people have signed a Change.org petition in Japanese urging Facebook to take it down. The petition, posted by an account calling itself the "Don't Allow Racism Group", [...] demands that "Facebook must recognize an illustration insulting Syrian refugees as racism."

Japan is a strong target for refugee criticism because of its modest engagement in social media and global communications. Typically, it doesn’t proactively make its case to the world, largely allowing the international press and the Twitterverse to frame its issues for it.