On the evening of July, 2025 in Pakistan, cinemas across Karachi and Lahore witnessed a phenomenal event. Thousands of Pakistani fans, including cosplayers were lined up for the release of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle. Within hours, the tickets were sold out in 157 different countries where the film premiered at the same time. This animated movie which was produced on a modest budget of $20 million, went on to outperform Hollywood giants “Superman” and “Fantastic Four”, grossing more than $718 million worldwide. It became the seventh highest-grossing film in the world by year’s end, and shattered a North American record for two decades set by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
But that is not the only thing which makes it remarkable. It is the quiet truth they reveal that Japan has built an invisible shield. Through anime, Japan not only acquires cultural influence, economic leverage and geopolitical goodwill, but in the process also makes it more effective than conventional military or economic assistance. This is the architecture of contemporary Japanese diplomacy.
From Cool Japan 1.0 to 2.0
Soft power, according to political scientist Joseph Nye, is the power to attract and persuade without force. Japan has mastered this art. In 2006, then Foreign Minister Taro Aso introduced the concept of anime diplomacy, arguing that Japan’s pop culture exports could win hearts overseas. His government started the International MANGA Award in the following year. In 2008, Doraemon was promoted to be the first Anime Ambassador of the nation.
These initial ventures were the beginning of something much greater. Japan unveiled the “New Cool Japan Strategy” in 2024, which is a complete reform of the soft power strategy. The target is ambitious: Japan wants to generate more than ¥50 trillion ($320 billion) in economic value from the content industries by 2033. Since then, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has allocated an extra ¥550 billion for support of creators, saying that “Japanese content is frequently discussed in diplomatic settings” and that “the strength of Japan’s content enhances our diplomatic power”.
Numbers That Tell the Story
The strategy is already paying off. According to the Anime Industry Report 2025, the international markets now make up 56.5 percent of the value of the anime industry. The foreign market was about $3.18 billion larger than the domestic market in Japan. This represents a dramatic acceleration: the revenue gap has widened nearly fivefold from the previous year.
Streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Crunchyroll have truly made anime borderless. Now, girls and boys in Karachi have similar cultural experiences as those in São Paulo or Nairobi. This is not a coincidence. It’s a consequence of targeted investments on distribution, dubbing and worldwide reach. When millions of people internalize Japanese values, values of beauty, obligation, hierarchy, endurance and craftsmanship, via entertainment instead of through lectures, traditional diplomatic disputes are erased.
The Uncomfortable Paradox
Yet the shield carries a shadow. Scholars like Daniel White, in his recent work Administering Affect, argue that Japan’s pop culture diplomacy can veer into what he calls “obligatory nationalism”, a more subtle form of ideology dissemination disguised as harmless entertainment. One example they cite is the introduction of the “Anime Peace Studies” course offered at Keio University, backed by Netflix, which uses anime as a means to communicate and discuss peace globally yet may be perpetuating national branding.
The counterargument is equally valid. Even government-led campaigns face the risk of not capitalizing on the organic nature of cultural diplomacy, which relies on fans. The shield works precisely because it does not feel like propaganda. The challenge for Japan is how to nurture creative industries without stifling the very essence of what makes anime compelling in the first place.
The Invisible Guardian
Consider Pakistan again. It does not officially have a strategic alliance with Japan. But on August 14, 2025, Pakistan’s Independence Day, the Pakistani audience watched the Demon Slayer movie even before viewers in Europe, before viewers in the United States, and even before viewers in India. Cinemas sold out because fans demanded it, not because diplomats arranged it. That is the power of the invisible shield.
In an era where streaming is growing worldwide and the anime market is projected to reach $77 billion by 2033, that shield will only strengthen. In the twenty first century, Japan has figured out what all the other countries seek to understand: the most enduring influence is not won through force, but through stories. And no one tells stories quite like Japan does.
Noor ul Izzah
Noor ul Izzah is an undergraduate student of International Relations with a deep interest in soft power, cultural diplomacy, and East Asian political economy.
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