The Cultural Diplomacy of Contemporary Japan and the Politics of Performance: Focusing on the Commemorative Performance for the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Japanese–Vietnamese Diplomatic Relationship

Nowadays, the characteristics of public diplomacy is diversifying, as many countries around the world actively reflect the emotional power of culture and art in establishing their foreign policies. Amongst those cases, exerts unique meanings and effects on the stage of diplomacy due to its immediate and synesthetic nature. In this article, I will review various commemorative events planned by Japan and Vietnam in 2023 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between those nations. For the analysis, I will examine the specific contents of performances, focusing on two fields: Japanese traditional performing arts and Western classical arts. At the same time, I will examine the political meaning of those performances, focusing on the dynamics of the contemporary neo–liberal and hegemonic international order. The object of this article is to identify the contemporary aspects of cultural diplomacy through a performance commemorating the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam, and to present the performance as a 'ground for new history writing' to correct the 'negative past' after World War II.