Japan Wins Diplomatic Favor with 'Omotenashi' Hospitality
Shows Meticulous Staging Skills Used in Diplomatic Battles
With President Yoon Suk-yeol's visit to Japan just one day away, attention is focused on the Japanese-style hospitality culture known as 'Omotenashi' (Japanese-style courteous hospitality).
On the 16th, President Yoon is scheduled to have dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at 'Rengatei' (煉瓦亭), a Japanese-style Western cuisine restaurant with a 128-year history.
Rengatei is known as the birthplace of pork cutlet, a Japanese-style tonkatsu, and omurice. The selection of Rengatei as the venue for the Korea-Japan summit dinner was made considering President Yoon's preference for omurice.
President Yoon Suk-yeol is shaking hands and taking a commemorative photo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a Korea-Japan summit held last November at a hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
The Japanese government has built close relationships with other countries through 'Omotenashi' diplomacy and has achieved diplomatic successes based on this. The unique, meticulous hospitality carries the meaning of consideration for the other country, but it is also analyzed as a strategy to win favor and expand Japan's diplomatic interests by utilizing hospitality.
Last May, Yuko Kishida, the wife of Prime Minister Kishida, served green tea to U.S. President Joe Biden dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono. The tea utensils used in the tea ceremony were reportedly personally brought from Yuko Kishida's home in Hiroshima. At that time, the Sankei Shimbun evaluated it as "Yuko Kishida's full-fledged diplomatic debut as First Lady."
Prime Minister Kishida achieved significant diplomatic results through this summit. After the U.S.-Japan summit, Kishida stated in a joint statement, "We have decided to fundamentally strengthen Japan's defense capabilities and significantly increase the defense budget to support this," and "I received strong support from President Biden." At that time, Kishida was strongly pushing for an increase in the defense budget to enhance defense capabilities.
Subsequently, Japan allocated a defense budget of 6.8 trillion yen (approximately 65 trillion won) for the 2023 fiscal year (April 2023 to March 2024). This is the largest ever, a 26% increase from the previous year.
President Biden also expressed support for Japan's long-standing goal of securing a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Since the tenure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2004, Japan has expressed its intention to join the UN Security Council, but as a defeated country and war criminal nation from World War II, it has faced opposition to becoming a permanent member.
On May 9, 2018, former President Moon Jae-in is smiling at a surprise gift from former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Photo by Yonhap News
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who served the longest term in Japanese constitutional history for 8 years and 8 months, also drew attention for his hospitality diplomacy. In May 2018, at a Korea-Japan summit lunch held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo, Abe surprised former President Moon Jae-in with a strawberry cake celebrating the first anniversary of his inauguration. The cake bore the message in Korean, "Congratulations on the 1st anniversary of President Moon Jae-in's inauguration."
In November 2017, Abe gifted a hat to former U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit to Japan. The hat was embroidered with the English phrase "Donald & Shinzo, Make Alliance Even Greater," showcasing the strong U.S.-Japan alliance.
Meanwhile, while the Japanese government shows meticulous Omotenashi to impress other countries, it also uses such detailed staging as a tool in diplomatic battles. Former Blue House Protocol Secretary Tak Hyun-min pointed out that the Japanese government skillfully uses staging that plants specific symbols without the other party noticing.
Tak appeared on the YouTube program "Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Difficult News Factory" on the 24th of last month and said, "Japan is very skilled in symbolic battles," adding, "A song Japan once proposed to use turned out to be in the style of Kimigayo. There is something they want to feed us."
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