With cultural diplomacy, the idea is to bring people together on an international scale in a more socio-cultural context, rather than on a diplomatic basis.

A pair of giant pandas could be on their way to a zoo in the tsunami-affected area of Japan. The idea originated from correspondence between Premier Wen Jiabao and a Japanese girl he met during his visit to Miyagi prefecture in late May following the magnitude-9 quake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.

"Cool Japan" hasn't succeeded in spreading Japanese pop music very far. AKB48 seems poised to change that. AKB48 isn't blazing a new path forward for Japanese culture; it's an extension of what has been selling but applied to music.

For us, public diplomacy is very much an instrument of soft power. We seek to inform and engage people in our countries, but also far beyond. We are fully aware of some of the stereotypes about NATO that still drive public perceptions in some countries.

Japan has enlisted celebrities to reassure timid travelers that it’s safe to visit after the March 11 disasters triggered the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. But...with few visitors biting, the national tourism agency is looking to try a different tact that perhaps outshines the biggest of star power: Come to Japan…for free.

Cosplay – in which participants dress up as fictional, typically sci-fi or manga characters – is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. It’s a potential source of soft power that Japanese policymakers should be keeping a better eye on.

Countries in East Asia are increasingly looking to pop culture, as an instrument of "soft power". And the "soft power" competition is alive and well in East Asia, with not just financial returns at stake, but also as a positive influence in the attitudes of target or importing countries.

Today, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy released a Media Monitor Report on "Expo Shanghai 2010 - Flaunting Nations' Beauty through the Practice of Nation Branding".