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 The PR campaign, which has a budget of over half a billion
dollars, comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to adopt a less
apologetic stance on Japan's actions before and during World War Two
and ease the fetters imposed on defense policy by Japan's post-war,
pacifist constitution.
History is hardly the sole focus of the PR program. Many of the
funds will be used for soft-power initiatives to cultivate
"pro-Japan" foreigners, such as supporting Japan studies at
universities and setting up "Japan House" centers to promote the
"Japan Brand".
But the government is also targeting wartime accounts by overseas
textbook publishers and others that it sees as incorrect and
damaging to Japan's image.
One such effort has already sparked a backlash.
Nineteen historians from U.S. universities have written a letter of
protest against a recent request by the Japanese government to
publisher McGraw Hill Education to revise its account of "comfort
women", the term used in Japan for those forced to work in Japanese
military brothels.
The request was rejected.
"We stand with the many historians in Japan and elsewhere who have
worked to bring to light the facts about this and other atrocities
of World War II. We practice and produce history to learn from the
past," says the letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters and
which will be carried in the March edition of the American
Historical Association's newsletter.
"We therefore oppose the efforts of states or special interests to
pressure publishers or historians to alter the results of their
research for political purposes," it added.
Abe himself has signaled support for the more aggressive PR push.
"Being modest does not receive recognition in the international
community, and we must argue points when necessary," he recently
told a parliamentary panel.
The effort comes at a touchy time as Asia marks the 70th anniversary
of World War Two's end with bitter memories not yet laid to rest,
especially in China and North and South Korea.
After a decade of shrinking spending on public diplomacy, Japan's
foreign ministry won a total 70 billion yen ($590 million) for
strategic communications in an extra budget for 2014/15 and the
initial budget for the next year from April - up from just 20
billion yen in the initial 2014/15 budget.
PRIORITY ON HISTORY
Many politicians and officials worry Japan has been outmaneuvered by
the aggressive public diplomacy of regional rivals China and South
Korea.
"Many countries are investing hugely in this field and we feel we
were not investing enough," said a Japanese foreign ministry
official.
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Conservatives have welcomed the bigger budget but want priority
placed on correcting perceived errors about history.
"When we see lots of misunderstanding or prejudice against Japan's
history, we'd like to at least set the record straight," said
Yoshiko Sakurai, a journalist and head of the Japan Institute for
National Fundamentals, a conservative think tank.
"We have already lost (the information war). Now we have to
recover," she told Reuters in an interview.
Aware of the danger of a backlash, diplomats seem to have mitigated
pressure to make the "Japan House" centers - to be set up first in
London, Los Angeles and Sao Paulo in late 2016 - beachheads to
market an official view of history. Instead, the facilities could
provide what one bureaucrat called a "platform for balanced
discussion" on controversial topics, for example, by sponsoring
seminars.
Conservative politicians however want bolder steps.
"We are half-satisfied. By mobilizing all means, we must strengthen
Japan’s information strategy ... so that in a real sense, we can
have (others) properly understand what is good about Japan," said
ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yoshiaki Harada, who heads
a party committee on improving Japan's communication strategy.
Experts said government efforts to seek changes in historical
accounts would be counter-productive, since it would keep the issue
of Japan's wartime past in public focus.
"Dragging people into a long discussion about history ... seems like
they are going to brand Japan with that atrocity in terms of its
image," said Dartmouth College professor Jennifer Lind. "It’s a
losing battle."
($1 = 118.4800 yen)
(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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