Difference Between Hard Power And Soft Power

For a state, power is one of the important element for government to manage. Power is “the ability to achieve one’s purposes or goals.” Power can be used in various ways not only in politics field but also in general domain. However, after the post-war era, power such as the use of army is being used fewer. In fact, state still has a power to control people over certain territory but for the ability to control across the border, coercion is not the best method. Nowadays, state tend to move on an alternative way of controlling other state by using the power of attraction though cultural element so-called soft power which will delve into detail in the following paragraph. This essay will focus Japan as a case. Japan is a country where it is full …show more content…
He mentioned that there are two types of power which are hard power and soft power. Hard power is the ability to influence the behavior of other to get the outcomes one wants by using a coercive approach such as military, force or economic power. (soft power, 2) Soft power, on the other hand, is the ability to “get others to want the outcome what you want by co-opts people rather than coerces them”. (soft power, 5) In other words, soft power is a capacity to achieve one’s certain objective through the power of attraction by making one’s culture become attractive instead of force or coercion. According to Joseph Nye, soft power is also described as the second face of power because not only hard power play a crucial role in getting outcome one wants but soft power is also an alternative way to achieve the same result. (soft power, 5) The soft power concept of a country is rested on three vehicles: its culture, its political values, and its foreign policies. (soft power, 11). In a country’s cultural aspects, the most important vehicle for soft power, there are many manifestations. It involves with high and low culture such as literature, art, and pop culture. Additionally, Nye claims that pop culture or media culture is often the resources that reinforcing the soft power of a country. (soft power 12). In the following paragraphs, this paper will focus on how Japanese government use pop culture in relation …show more content…
Government of Japan use Japanese pop culture in domestic and abroad events. Manga is considered as one of the most important element for Japanese pop culture. Thus, there are many events related to manga promoted by Japanese government. For instance, there was an annual competition for cosplay fans from around the world in Japan in 2005. (soft power cool japan 78) Moreover, later in 2007, there was an “awarded annual international prizes for the best manga artists worldwide”. (soft power cool japan 78). Also, the Council the Council on the Movement of People across Borders of Japan suggested that there should be the awarding of a “Japan Manga Grand Prize” in order to target foreign artists. (Lam 351) Anime is also a significant sources in Japanese pop culture in drawing outside world’s attention. In 1975, Japanese government launched an anime conventions to allow anime fan to participate in many activities such as cosplay and game competition. The anime convention goes further outside Japan as an evidence shown in anime convention in the United States of America in 1977. (896, andrew c. mckevitt). Having not only Japanese participant but also foreigner joining these events implies the success use of Japanese pop culture element by Japanese government in attracting