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".

The Fukushima power plant crisis has clearly damaged Japan as a country brand. Many observers point to the need for a "national control tower" to coordinate and bundle Japan's branding activities. Japan and its people need to decide on a clear and simple national vision and stick to it.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined the meeting at the State Department to promote sports as a means of building ties between countries, underlining US solidarity with Japan after its devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

Nearly two starting lineups-worth of young Japanese baseball and softball players assembled at the U.S. State Department Tuesday to kick off a three-week sports exchange. They met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton...

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr., 16 Japanese youth baseball and softball players, and four coaches participating in the U.S. Department of State’s first international sports exchange with Japan. The Secretary highlighted the role of sports to empower young people worldwide...

Popular Japanese culture has often baffled the western world. But now local authorities are taking lessons from Japan on how to use popular culture, regional history and local produce to promote regions across the country. The Japan Local Government Centre, which boasts an office in central London, is working to share the lessons of Japanese local authority projects with their counterparts in the UK.