On September 8th, 2026, the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS) invited Roland Kelts—author of Japanamerica; scholar, journalist, and editor—to the webinar series Soft Power Hard Questions, hosted by Waka Ikeda. The evening began with Kelts delivering insights, guided by Ikeda’s hard question, The Myth of Cool Japan: Is Japan a Prisoner of Its Own Success Story? A question-and-answer session between Kelts and the audience followed the conversation, focusing on various aspects of the industry’s status quo and future.
Kelts firstly touched upon the asymmetry between Japan’s amount of investment in the Cool Japan Strategy and the profit. He pointed out the Japanese creators’ tendency to prioritize quality over profit-making. This craftsmanship caused deliberate limiting of production size and avoiding single large investors, as in the Hollywood system, sacrificing the scale of production in exchange for liberty in creation. Ikeda also identified the “production committee” system in which multiple corporate stakeholders pool investment and share revenue, leaving creators with a diminished cut as a structural factor that further limits their ability to capture profit.
He discussed China’s growing military and economic influence, the continued importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance, and the need for closer coordination between Japan and its international partners. He also addressed challenges facing Japan’s defense industry, including supply chains, production capacity, and the recruitment of Self-Defense Force personnel amid the country’s declining population. The conversation further explored how artificial intelligence, robotics, and other emerging technologies may shape the future of defense.
Following Ikeda's critical question about Japanese creators’ path in international competition, Kelts illuminated the fact that Japan is a parochial society that often makes artists produce works targeting domestic audiences. Nevertheless, he has also articulated the Japanese producers' recognition of the shrinking domestic market size and endeavor to pursue popularity in the international market. Meanwhile, Kelts uses the success of Kimetsu no Yaiba as a paragon to remind the audience of the importance of not completely neglecting Japanese traditional culture and aesthetics in international competition. As a country, Japan has a long history with abundant stories that outweigh the size of its territory. The discussion also involved the growing presence of AI in the industry. He reveals the nature of the optimistic view towards technology expressed by the famous Japanese manga artist Tezuka Osamu mentioned by Ikeda. Technology always remains an option if it contributes to social cohesion and peace. Regarding the new Cool Japan Strategy announced in August, 2026, , Kelts’s key criticism targets the mistake of over-investing in foreign TV stations, stores, and advertisements. Instead of directly competing with large global platforms by building domestic ones, Japan should focus on funding domestic artists, especially those in rural regions by providing artist residencies and scholarships.
Finally, in the Q&A session, Kelts dived deeper into the method of appropriately operating the Cool Japan Strategy, suggesting the government should develop partnerships with schools and fund the creative young generations. Facing the risk of overly reusing the pre-existing IP and growing competitiveness from Korea and China, Kelts puts faith in Japan’s ability to maintain skills and creativity rooted in its long history of storytelling, and ultimately sees international collaborations within the region as a path toward a renaissance. He urged creators to stay open to the technology — seeing it less as a threat than as something that can help surface their own abilities and talents. His message, in essence: make AI your ally.
YCAPS would sincerely thank Roland Kelts for his valuable time and insights, and everyone who participated in Soft Power, Hard Questions. It is our greatest honor to have your presence and contributions to the discussion.