was a Japanese

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

expert. Sakurai was a strong proponent for the promotion of Japanese popular culture internationally as a means of cultural exchange and

cultural diplomacy Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose ...

. His projects promoted Japanese anime, fashion and music to a global audience. In 2009, Sakurai co-founded the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

's " Kawaii Ambassador" program. He also authored several books on the country's

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

s and pop culture, including "Sekai Kawaii Kakumei" ("''World Cuteness Revolution''") and Anime Bunka Gaiko (''Anime Cultural Diplomacy''). On December 4, 2015, Sakurai was killed when he fell onto the tracks at the

Nishi-Nippori Station is a railway station in Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan, operated jointly by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the two Tokyo subway operators Tokyo Metro and Toei. Lines Nishi-Nippori Station is served by the following lines. *Yamanote Line * Kei ...

of the Keihin-Tōhoku Line in Arakawa, Tokyo, around 12:30 a.m. Sakurai, who was 49-years old, may have been intoxicated at the time of the accident. He had lived in the nearby Higashi-Nippon neighborhood of Tokyo.

References

1965 births 2015 deaths Japanese non-fiction writers People in the anime industry Cultural exchange People from Shinjuku Railway accident deaths in Japan {{Anime-bio-stub