Kexin Shi

MPhil candidate in Japanese Studies 2022-2024

My dissertation will be interdisciplinary research in soft power building, war memory, and fandom studies. Two research questions are expected to be answered: 1) How are the form of presentation of the war narrative, its content and the identity of the presenter packaged in such a way as to be accepted or rejected by young people in hostile countries, and thus contributes to a political outcome that the Japanese government desires?; 2) What does it mean to be a Chinese fan of a Japanese national idol (i.e., How will these Chinese fans reconcile their positions and attitudes and understand the war-related comments made by their idol?). Through my research, I hope to uncover and understand the processes by which Japanese idols’ depictions and discussions of war memory influence their Chinese fans. In a broader perspective, I hope this study may explain how bureaucrats, media and economic elites embed war narrative discourses into the affinity and apolitical image of idols to change Japan’s heinous image for foreign pop culture loyal consumers (i.e., fans). This combination of war memory, cultural diplomacy and transnational fan practices has received less attention in the relevant academic field to date, so this study also hopes to bring these separate themes together and provide evidence for subsequent researcher.

Supervisor: Dr Chigusa Yamaura

College: The Queen’s College

Previous Degree Program: I graduated from Tsinghua University in 2021 with a major in International Politics (Global Governance) and a minor in Music Engineering. My undergraduate thesis studied the change of public opinion between Japan and China and its influencing factors from 2011 to 2021.