Abstract: This article examines the «Cool Japan» strategy as one of Japan's soft power tools in the process of building the country's national image. The article focuses on the mechanisms by which the «Cool Japan» strategy is implemented as part of public diplomacy to enhance the country's cultural and political influence. The article also explores how the strategy contributes to the establishment of a distinctive national image that influences the perception of Japan in different regions of the world and promotes its integration into the global cultural and economic field.
To achieve the research objectives, the article applies an interdisciplinary approach, including elements of international relations theory and sociocultural theory. The main research methods used are: content analysis, case studies, historical and comparative analysis.
The novelty of this paper lies in the comprehensive analysis of «Cool Japan» as a soft power strategy aimed at redefining and reshaping Japan's national image. The article offers a distinctive perspective on soft power in the context of Japanese foreign policy and assesses the effectiveness of «Cool Japan» implementation at the regional and global levels.
«Cool Japan» served as the catalyst for Japan's successful rebranding, allowing the country to redefine and update its perception in the eyes of the global community. Anime and manga, as central elements of Japanese pop culture, have become global phenomena actively consumed in various countries around the world. These cultural products not only contribute to increasing interest in Japan, but have also become important components in building a positive image of the country by appealing to different demographic groups.
Given historical factors and political differences, East Asian countries such as China and the Republic of Korea are actively consuming Japanese cultural products. This fact shows that Japanese soft power is successfully breaking barriers and gaining acceptance in the region.

Abstract: Over the past few years, the East Asian states, notably the Republic of Korea, have been effectively implementing soft power strategies. The concept's founder J. Nye himself draws the attention of the scientific circles to the fact that “the potential of the countries (note – the East Asian region) is rising year by year. The research of soft power of the Republic of Korea is of utmost interest, as the Republic of Korea managed to revamp its economy and political institutions in a very short period of time, establishing its position in the international arena and becoming one of the “significant” cultural exporters of today. The purpose of this paper is to outline the specifics of soft power development as one of the foreign policy and public diplomacy mechanisms of the Republic of Korea. For a more accurate understanding of the use of soft power as an instrument of foreign policy of the state under study, historical and socio-cultural methods were involved. The research also included the following approaches to the study of soft power: structural and functional, discourse analysis, and the institutional approach.
The scientific novelty lies in the elaboration of the author's definition of “soft power”. “The Korean Wave” provided an additional opportunity for the government of the Republic of Korea to take advantage of soft power as a foreign policy strategy to promote Korean cultural values in a globalizing world. The Republic of Korea's emergence as a cultural power on the world stage has been facilitated by the phenomenon known as the Korean Wave or Hallyu. This phenomenon is characterized by the extensive spread of Korean popular culture, including music, TV series and films. Hallyu brought with it cultural and social implications, especially for Asia, as the Republic of Korea changed its role from a recipient to a donor of popular culture in the region. The Republic of Korea is a prime example of the effective use of culture as its soft power, showing that global presence through creative products can significantly influence a nation's economy and international position.