Japan's top foreign aid official looks back on six decades of official development assistance and airs his vision for "cooperation with a face" and the kind of ODA that will be remembered for years to come.

The festival has struck a multi-year deal with the Japan Foundation’s recently created Asia Center to help it bring in Asian films and film-makers to Tokyo and also to expand Japanese cultural influence in Asia.

The more Japan’s global relevance in economic, political and military terms seems to decline, the more it cares about projecting soft power. 

 The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Saturday lodged a protest with Japan’s embassy in Beijing over the visit by three Cabinet ministers to Yasukuni Shrine, Japanese diplomats said.

Japan would donate emergency vehicles and medical equipment worth $400,159.00 for Liberia and $397,749.00 for Sierra Leone to help combat the Ebola viral disease.

The showcasing of Japanese culture at the Courtleigh Auditorium in Kingston Saturday night had a greater impact in demonstrating the ties between the two nations, which are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations, than speeches and product displays.

In truth, the fears about CIA infiltration and those about Japanese cartoon characters are part of the same anxiety: a feeling that China's lack of soft power presents a weak underbelly to the outside world.