Nation Branding and Public Diplomacy: Examining Japan’s 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020(21) Olympic Games in the Midst of a Global Economic Downturn and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

For many superpowers sport mega events have become central to their political and financial ambitions within the global society. Over the last century Japan has established itself as a superpower both politically and economically. Even in the midst of a global economic downturn Japan has been successful in acquiring several globally significant sporting events, most notably the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and more recently the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020(21) summer Olympic Games. This paper examines how the latter two SMEs are perceived to present economic and political challenges in the midst of a global economic downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic through the context of public diplomacy and nation branding. The paper explores the perspectives of several relevant stakeholder demographics, including those working for various bodies relating to the staging and analysis of the events. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews in order to frame the potential significance of sports mega events in Japan as a platform to showcase nation branding, public diplomacy, economic development and sport tourism.

Keywords:

• Nation-branding
• public-diplomacy
• Olympics
• COVID-19
• mega-events

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 COVID-19 identified in Wuhan, China in 2019. At the time of completing the final draft of this article (October 01 2020), over 34 million cases had been reported and over 1 million deaths had been attributed to the virus; such statistics continue to increase, and many have argued that ‘accurate’ figures are likely to be much higher. The pandemic has impacted upon sporting activities across the globe, many of which have been halted, cancelled and/or postponed, with the Tokyo Olympics a notable example.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joel Rookwood

Joel Rookwood (Ph.D., The University of Liverpool, U.K.) is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Business Management at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. His research interests include sports events, international development and football fandom. He has published four books and numerous articles, including work published in Sport, Business Management, Managing Sport and Leisure, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics.

Kola Adeosun

Kola Adeosun (Masters, Solent University, UK) is a Senior Lecturer in Sport Development and Education at Solent University, United Kingdom. His research interests revolve around the intersection of sport and society, to the diversity and mobilisation of sport as a tool for positive and/or negative social change. His work has appeared in such journals as Journal of Sport for Development and Sport in Society, among others.