Chapter 3 Toward Actualizing a Culturally-Oriented Nation
Section 5: Promotion of International Cultural Exchange
1. Significance of International Cultural Exchange
Since the Meiji era, Japan has actively imported Western culture, promoted modernization, industrialization and Westernization, and achieved a highly industrial society. However, compared with the efforts made to introduce knowledge and technologies of Western countries, it is undeniable that Japan has made fewer efforts to deepen foreign countries' understanding of Japan.
Expanding the understanding of foreign countries with regard to Japanese culture is not only important in strengthening friendly relations with foreign countries, but also crucially important to ensure that Japanese culture continues to develop with various stimuli from the international community, adding new inventions. In addition, through gaining a deeper understanding of foreign countries and expressing ourselves to international society at large, international cultural exchange is expected to sustain international interdependence, on which Japan's present prosperity and future developments depends on to a large extent, in a stable manner, thereby playing a defined role in national security through mutual understanding. Efforts to deepen foreign countries' understanding of Japanese tradition and modern Japanese culture will secure Japan's place in the international community.
