Usually, if someone or something is trying too hard to be cool, it isn¡¯t. The same could be said of the Cool Japan Fund, a public-private investment vehicle founded in 2013 to turn the country¡¯s cultural appeal into economic growth and geopolitical influence.
Backed largely by state capital, the fund was meant to export anime, cuisine, fashion and other hallmarks of modern Japan. In other words, it was a coordinated, highly publicized push to monetize soft power. More than a decade later, however, some of the strongest enthusiasm for Japanese culture can be found in places the fund has barely touched.
Take Budapest, where I live and work. My Hungarian language teacher recently told me with mild surprise that it had been many years since she had taught a Japanese student. She was not unkind; she was simply noting a fact. In the meantime, she has taught a steady stream of Chinese and Korean students. Hungarian is not an easy language and those who come to study it tend to be from countries quietly investing in this part of Europe.
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