From aims to results: justifying and implementing Japanese cultural policies in Southeast Asia.

In 2014, the Japan Foundation and the Tokyo International Film Festival commissioned three films from Japanese, Cambodian and Filipino directors to represent the theme 'Reflections: Living Together in Asia'. This was the first edition of a government-sponsored film co-production entitled the Asian Three-Fold Mirror. Running from 2014 to 2020, this initiative aims at improving mutual understanding between national audiences. This project shows a shift towards reciprocity and active collaboration and away from a unidirectional Japanese cultural diplomacy. However, it casts Japan as a primary actor for a successful regionalization of Southeast Asia, thus undermining the advertised reciprocity of the initiative. Through a juxtaposed analysis of the policy papers that led to the funding of this project, and of the creative content and reception of the films, this paper analyses the aims of these policies, and evaluates how the project of the Asian Three-Fold Mirror relates to these goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]