Japan already has the tools in place and the commitment – through its broader strategic approach to Africa evidenced by TICAD – to leverage its provision of aid in Africa. The challenge in the coming years will be to shape the narrative about its aid for the local population. Japan needs to look at ways to better connect its programs to its national brand and needs to utilize its diplomatic tools to engage more deeply with people in recipient countries.

 Japan and Saudi Arabia each want a better economy. To get there, they’ve just doubled down on closer bilateral relations and deeper cultural ties. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in Tokyo September 1 to sign a handful of agreements that together better align their economic interests.

Tokyo stole the show at the Olympic closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro this week as the event's next host city prepares for a cultural charm offensive ahead of the 2020 Games. In a surprise move, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dressed up as Super Mario at the ceremony

Is Pokémon Go a game changer for the Japanese economy? Is it a sign that Silicon Valley-style innovation is reinvigorating corporate Japan’s notoriously insular management? Might this be the first big success story for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Cool Japan” initiative, a key element in the structural reforms promised but so far undelivered by Abenomics?

On Thursday, May 26, the first day of the G7 Summit, Mr. and Mrs. Abe accompanied the world’s leaders and their spouses on a visit to the Shinto spiritual origin of Japan known as Ise Jingu (Ise Grand Shrine) [...] to emphasize Japan’s spiritual core at a shrine noted for its natural beauty and not national politics like that of Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo that rattles nerves throughout Northeast Asia. 

U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Hiroshima last Friday was the result of careful diplomatic staging by U.S. and Japanese government officials, who had it in mind since Obama’s last visit to the city in 2009. [...] The biggest obstacle was U.S. public opinion. [...] The shift in opinion provided a context for Obama’s Hiroshima visit, the first-ever such trip by a sitting U.S. president.

On 16 May 2016 Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern district, Yury Trutnev, met with officials from Japanese and Russian energy and metallurgical companies. The meeting followed a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss enhancing bilateral ties. [...] Public diplomacy is also another area of great potential between the two countries. 

Colleges in the U.S. are opening their doors — and their financial aid — to Syrian refugees. Over the past year, at least a dozen schools have promised to cover full or partial tuition for Syrian refugees who are accepted for enrollment. They join a coalition of more than 60 colleges that have started providing scholarships to Syrian students since the country’s civil war began in 2011.