Cultural diplomacy of Japan towards the PRC in the 1970s and 1980s: the case Inoue Yasushi and Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association activities

Japan-China cultural ties in the 1970s and 1980s received a powerful impetus for development against the background of strengthening bilateral relations in the 1970s and the beginning of a turn in Chinese foreign policy towards increasing ties with market economies. Traditionally, cultural transfer from China to Japan has occupied in the center of contacts between two states, but in the 20th century, political relations and cultural dialogue have undergone a series of dramatic changes. After the end of the Second World War, despite ideological contradictions, cultural contacts between China and Japan expanded steadily. The purpose of this article is to study the development of cultural dialogue between Japan and China during 15 years following the normalization of Japanese-Chinese relations in 1972, by exploring three channels of diplomacy: the official cultural activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, cultural diplomacy of public organizations and the creative and cultural activities of the chairman of the Japanese Pen Club Inoue Yasushi, who acted as a representative the part of the intellectual elite of Japan that was set up in favor of dialogue with the PRC. The article highlights three stages of the formation of Japanese-Chinese cultural contacts in the 1950s – 1980s, gives their characteristics and reveals the main content of contacts at the civil level, highlights important cultural projects, for example, a special project to study and highlight the history of the Great Silk Road in China. The channel of civil cultural diplomacy and the personal role of Inoue Yasushi played a significant role in building a constructive Japanese-Chinese dialogue against the background of a shortage of official ties between the two countries in the 1950s – 1980s.

Japanese-Chinese cultural relations, Inoue Yasushi, Silk Road, cultural diplomacy, civil diplomacy, international projects, youth exchanges, Western Region, Japanese pen Club, international relations