[Provisional Translation]

Liaison Meeting on Global Communication in the Government of Japan
June 26, 2012

The Government of Japan will define priority areas that exemplify its strengths and attractions, and embody Japanese virtue in order to enhance Japan's international presence and communicate the Japan brand to the world while overcoming the challenges engendered by the Great East Japan Earthquake. These priority areas will be the focus of global communication efforts by the government, acting in unison, in collaboration with the private sector, utilizing enhanced communication methods.

Rather than sending out information in a unidirectional manner, we will engage in communication with the audience in mind, reflecting each target country's needs and interests.

1. Proactively Communicating the Japan Brand
   
   Overcoming the international reputational damage from harmful rumors caused by the nuclear accident, Japan will, as a matter of national strategy, be proactively engaged in further developing and strengthening the Japan brand worldwide while communicating the full diversity of Japan's strengths and attractions as well as Japanese virtue.
   
   
2. Establishing Priority Areas
   
   In the near term, global communication efforts will concentrate on the following priority areas, which exemplify Japan's strengths and attractions and embody Japanese virtue.
   
   (1) Japan's strengths: Japan enjoys the longest healthy life expectancy in the world as well as the lowest amount of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP among advanced economies. As the world's population continues to age and other countries' environmental problems become more serious, "life (health) innovations" and "green innovations" developed in Japan will help address those global issues and emerge as industries that drive Japan's future economic growth. The government will focus on conducting global communication in regions having large demand for these innovations in technology, service, and social systems.
   
   (2) Japan's attractions: Interest is growing around the world, in both the East and the West, in such facets of Japanese life and culture as food, fashion, music, and animation films. Actively communicating the attractions of these products and services internationally will foster latent demand overseas towards Japanese food as well as in tourism and healthcare within Japan, overcoming both the decline in the number of tourists visiting Japan resulting from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the reputational damage from harmful rumors caused by the nuclear accident, including the introduction of regulations by foreign governments on food exported from Japan.
   
   (3) Japanese virtue: The government will communicate worldwide the Japanese virtue underlying Japan's strengths and attractions. The govenment will establish Japan's international presence as a model country achieving "New Growth," in which the economy, environment, and society mutually strengthen each other, and also as a country making contributions internationally through its ODA and other means, grounded in human security.
   
   
3. Realizing Global Communication through Government Unity and Public-Private Collaboration
   
   The government will act in unison and in collaboration with the private sector in developing its global communication in priority areas. It will implement communication in a strategic way, fully coherent with the policies and measures being carried out by each government ministry and agency, in accordance with the direction laid out below.
   
   (1) In order to use the limited government resources available for global communication effectively, the government will act in unison to promote global communication by thoroughly pursuing information sharing among government ministries and agencies and related organizations, avoiding duplication of efforts, and pooling resources for those endeavors in which collaboration will enhance effectiveness.
   
   (2) Since Japan's image overseas is shaped to a large extent by the private sector through Japanese companies, products and services, and prominent Japanese individuals, public-private collaboration will be pursued in priority areas of global communication.
   
   (3) The following measures will be implemented with a view to expanding the capacity and the means of communication by the government that facilitates effective conduct of global communications.
   
   
   • Strengthening its media relations:
     
     Strengthening its media relations vis-a-vis the major media in emerging Asian countries in addition to those in major advanced economies.
     Reinforcing its knowledge about media relations and developing human resources in this field (including spokespersons and press officers with good command of foreign languages, particularly English).
     
     
   • Utilizing international conferences and other opportunities:
     
     Implementing communication that makes use of major international conferences and think tanks having international influence (including side-events at these conferences).
     
     
   • Strengthening the government's information and communication:
     
     Constructing a system for providing information promptly in appropriate foreign languages through such means as government websites and social networking services, press conferences, domestic and international media.