Cool Japan Fund launched today
The Japanese government is launching a “Cool Japan Fund” today to boost its products abroad. The fund aims to use about $1bn (£616m) of mostly public funds to showcase products such as food and drink, fashion, animated and live-action movies. The fund’s chief executive, Nobuyuki Ota, is a former fashion executive who brought Issey Miyake designs to the world. Asked if the fund should use tax payer money, he said: “A state-backed fund can do what private investors cannot.”