Sharing Japanese culture and viewpoints is essential for fostering deeper relations with the international community. It is also crucial to promote mutual understanding amid the ongoing shift in the global media landscape. As an independent nonprofit media organization, the Nippon Communications Foundation is dedicated to sharing unbiased, diverse information on Japan with a global readership in multiple languages.
In January 2024, we hosted a panel discussion as part of our tenth anniversary event on the theme “Communicating Japan to the World.” The panel discussion featured Takeshita Ryūichirō, Chief Global Editor at PIVOT Ltd.; Peter Landers, Tokyo Bureau Chief at the Wall Street Journal; Ōiwa Hisa, Research Fellow at PHP Institute, Inc.; and Ananya Donapati, Marketing Lead at Woodstock.club. The panelists, who were joined by Nippon.com senior English editor Peter Durfee, offered expert insight into issues and highlighted the value of sharing ideas from Japan. The discussion included leading topics from Japan and approaches for reaching a global audience.
The event got underway with panelists drawing attention to how opinion leaders in Japan struggle to share their ideas with the world and calling for greater participation in the global online conversation. There was also a lively discussion of the necessity for Japanese to engage in the broader global conversation rather than unilaterally communicating ideas. Stress was placed on the importance of bolstering narrative power to effectively share messages from Japan with the world.
Touching on the growing presence of AI, panelists pointed out that translating is more than simply changing words into a different language and emphasized that translators must consider the audience when conveying ideas while ensuring that the original message remains intact. There was a general consensus that even with advances in AI, limitations of the technology means that demand for human translators will remain.
We encourage you to check out the full discussion or the 15-minute digest version of the event.
Panel Discussion “Communicating Japan to the World” | nippon.com
Panel Discussion [15-Minute Digest] “Communicating Japan to the World” | nippon.com