日本在全球经济、政治和军事领域的重要性看似下滑得越厉害,它就越关心如何展示自己的软实力。政府推出了“酷日本”(Cool Japan)计划。经济产业省表示,该计划资助那些“充分利用了日本文化和生活方式独特性的诱人产品或服务”。其中包括装饰和纸、角色扮演风格的服装品牌,以及使用可再生能源的盆栽。日本似乎不知道自己的哪些方面值得珍视,反而需要外界来告知他们。这种情况已经不是第一次出现了。19世纪下半叶, As Japan appears to have decimated its importance in the global economic, political and military fields, the more it cares about showing its soft power. The government launched Cool Japan. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it plans to fund “enticing products or services that take full advantage of the uniqueness of Japanese culture and lifestyles.” Among them are decorative and paper-based, role-playing apparel brands and potted plants that use renewable energy. Japan does not seem to know which aspects of its own are worthy of treasures and instead needs the outside world to tell them. This is not the first time this has happened. In the second half of the 19th century,