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Paper short abstract

This study will examine the case of the Network Nikkei Initiative (NETNI Chile), to explore the actions and practices of Nikkei actors, and their relationships with the Japanese government. It is argued that young Nikkei are integral participants in Japan’s public diplomacy in Chile.

Paper long abstract

This study will examine the case of the Network Nikkei Initiative (NETNI Chile), created in 2018 by young Nikkei Chileans to identify new generations of Nikkei in Chile, with the support of the Japanese government, to both address the low participation of Chilean Nikkei youth in social and community activities, and to develop a network.

Through this case, this presentation aims to reflect on the initiatives and agency of Japanese-Chilean (Nikkei) associations and networks in Chile. It seeks to explore the actions and practices of Chilean Nikkei actors, as well as their relationships with Japanese government agencies such as JICA and the respective embassy. Central questions guiding this study include: Can their practices and initiatives be understood as diplomatic actions? And how can their relationship withthe Japanese government be interpreted?

For that, this presentation will examine data collected through document and secondary research, as well as fieldwork conducted in Chile between 2023 and 2026. Drawing on relational and diaspora diplomacy, this presentation argues that through initiatives like NETNI, young Nikkei are demonstrating strong agency, positioning themselves as valid diplomatic actors and integral participants in Japan’s public diplomacy in Chile, by establishing a collaborative diplomatic relationship with the Japanese government, despite the difference in their purposes.

The ultimate goal of this presentation is to explore the scope of the conceptual framework of diaspora diplomacy and to propose a new way of understanding the practices and actions of Nikkei actors within Japan’s diplomacy.