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Paper short abstract

This paper examines a subnational way to activate the diplomatic potential of foreign returnees—often referred to as “Japan-Alumni”—against the backdrop of a rural development model originating in Oita Prefecture and subsequently introduced to China.

Paper long abstract

The so-called “Japan-Alumni” encompass a diverse group ranging from former international students to past exchange program participants. As the fruit of Japan’s international exchange efforts, they have become key practitioners in Japan’s diplomatic activities. Given that these foreign returnees possess deep knowledge of Japan and are on the path of long-term career development, the “Japan-Alumni” hold great potential to become key figures in enabling bilateral relations between their hometowns and Japan. However, to date, scholarly research on how to unlock the potential of these returnees through institutional design and practical operationalization remains insufficient.

Analyzing successful cases of non-traditional diplomacy can shed valuable light on the operational mechanisms for unlocking the potential of “Japan-Alumni” in international affairs. Oita Prefecture, despite its low profile and rurality in Japan, had successfully integrated its locally originated “One Village One Product” (OVOP) movement into Chinese top-level policy through “local diplomacy” championed by former Oita Governor Hiramatsu Morihiko. Even during the cooling of bilateral relations under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s administration in the 2000s, the OVOP concept consistently and profoundly influenced China’s rural development model. This paper seeks to answer: How did a Japanese subnational government successfully leverage people-to-people exchange programs and Chinese returnees, to the extent of influencing the Chinese side’s top-level policies?

Through an in-depth analysis of official materials from both Oita Prefecture and China, supplemented by expert interviews, this paper outlines different phases in the spread of the OVOP concept from Oita to China. It identifies the institutional arrangements at the prefectural level that facilitate long- and short-term people-to-people exchanges and categorizes the different types of returnees in China and their functional roles within this operationalization. This multi-site study aims to explore the boundary of influence that a Japanese subnational government may exert in international affairs and to discuss its operationalization utilizing human mobility, whether migratory or non-migratory, in rural contexts for the development of the origin society.