If the box office is anything to go by, Godzilla – the most famous Japanese monster of old (kaiju) – is enjoying a rebirth. Just yesterday, Guillermo del Toro’s kaiju-inspired Pacific Rim invaded Chinese cinemas and raked in record opening ticket sales of $9 million. Meanwhile, news of Godzilla redux, set for release next May, is sparking heated chatter online, following an appearance of the film’s director Gareth Edwards at Comic-Con in San Diego last month.

In recent years a considerable amount of policy energy has been focused on ensuring the vitality and relevance of the U.S.-Japan security alliance. Now, with Japan’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks (TTP), attention has refocused on the economic aspect. Somewhat less consideration has been paid to the fundamental foundation of the relationship: people-to-people exchange. Total human flow from Japan to the U.S. has declined significantly over the last 15 years, and while the numbers of U.S. arrivals to Japan have grown, they remain low.

The speakers and panelists at the event, held June 22 at the National Assembly Building in the South Korean capital, featured former Olympic athletes, noted scholars and other dignitaries, and it was attended by delegations from Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo — the latter led by convivial Masato Mizuno, the CEO of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Bid Committee. The speakers were asked to cite examples of how sports improves relations between two countries, and so when my turn came I told them the story of pitcher Hideo Nomo — which goes as follows, for those not familiar with the tale.

Being something of an op-ed writer myself, I consider the nomination of Caroline Kennedy for ambassador to Japan to be a breakthrough. While America's diplomatic envoys have been chosen on the basis of a variety of criteria before -- key posts during the Obama years have, for example, been awarded for reasons ranging from the bundling of donations to the actual giving of their own personal cash -- the Kennedy nomination is perhaps the first time in history that an individual has been nominated for a top ambassadorial post primarily for having written an opinion column.

The critters, warriors and doe-eyed women of Japanese animation and manga comics have long found fans around the world. But now the Japanese government wants to mobilise them for a far sterner task: boosting the economy. Enter the "Cool Japan" fund, a $500 million investment of public money aimed at helping Japanese firms promote their cultural wares abroad - an echo of South Korea's investment in soft power that has lifted its K-pop music industry and rapper Psy to global fame.

At a Thursday meeting in Hanoi with Masayuki Yamauchi, chair of a government panel on cultural exchange promotion with other Asian countries, Dung also asked for cooperation from Japan for the preservation of historical heritage and cultural assets in Vietnam, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

A GROUP of students who travelled to Japan on an educational cultural exchange program returned to Fiji earlier this week. The group of 19 post-graduate students were part of USP's JENESYS 2.0 project which sent them to Japan between June 9 and June 21 this year.

Twelve distinguished figures, including eight foreigners, received awards Friday from the Cultural Affairs Agency for their efforts in cultural exchange and promotion of Japanese culture abroad. At a ceremony in Tokyo, Agency Commissioner Seiichi Kondo presented seven of the recipients with the “commissioner’s awards,” which commend the work of individuals involved in long-term promotion of Japanese culture overseas.