Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

　　　　　I have criticized the Japanese Foreign Ministry's apology diplomacy for more than 20 years so that I would hardly be surprised to hear about whatever the ministry does. But I got angered and surprised to know what the ministry plans to do at the cost of as much as 50 billion yen in the next fiscal year to counter anti-Japan propaganda by China and South Korea and increase Japan's presence. Surprisingly, the ministry reportedly intends to construct so-called Japan Houses in major cities in the world to promote Japanese cuisine, manga comics, games and music. It is said to have been in talks to purchase a site in London for the first Japan House.

Japan promotion campaigns off the point
　　　　　Japanese cuisine, manga, games and music have already been widespread in the world on a commercial basis, winning high reputations. They have diffused even in China and South Korea that are busy with anti-Japan propaganda. The Foreign Ministry does no longer have to use taxpayers' money for promoting these Japanese cultures.
　　　　　In his campaigns for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential race and the House of Representatives election two years ago, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to rebut anti-Japan defamation in Japan and overseas. But his specific relevant actions have been limited the enhancement of overseas communications about territorial issues and the verification of the Kono statement on comfort women.
　　　　　Deputy Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko, in charge of public relations at the prime minister's office, initiated a project to translate 100 Japanese books into English at the cost of some 80 million yen. But these books are primarily related to literature, natural science and technology.
　　　　　Separately, the ruling LDP created an international information research committee in March to consider how to counter Chinese and South Korean anti-Japan propaganda including the erection of comfort women statutes, the demand for changing the name of the Sea of Japan, criticisms against the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine, and the establishment of a memorial for Ahn Jung-Geun who assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi. The committee's interim report released in June proposed a limited range of measures including the enhancement of the Japan Institute of International Affairs under control by the Foreign Ministry, Japan's hosting of a new version of the Davos forum of world political and business leaders, and English-captioned programs broadcast abroad by NHK, officially called Japan Broadcasting Corp. These measures, though contributing to expanding spending by the Foreign Ministry, will be little useful for overcoming anti-Japan propaganda.

Japan is required to make fact-based rebuttals
　　　　　What Japan should do now is to unite government and private sectors to make fact-based, demonstrative and logical rebuttals to groundless anti-Japan claims that are widespread in the world, including "200,000 sex slaves" regarding the comfort women issue and "300,000 victims" in the Nanjin Massacre. Particularly, Japan is urgently required to make large-scale rebuttals in English and promptly take organized measures to counter Japanese activists who are cooperating with South Korean and Chinese people to spread lies about Japan at various meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
　　　　　A Yomiuri Shimbun report on July 28 said Prime Minister Abe had a strong hope to promote the Japan House initiative. Is this true? I suspect that the Foreign Ministry has come up with the initiative by taking advantage of Abe's call for rebuttals. In parliamentary budget deliberations, lawmakers should severely question if the Japan House initiative could counter anti-Japan propaganda

Tsutomu Nishioka is Planning Committee Member, Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, and Professor at Tokyo Christian University.