In the twenty-first century, globalization and new technologies are transforming public diplomacy. The new concept of public diplomacy arises as a form of open diplomacy in which its objective is to influence public opinion of foreign societies with more specific on non-official groups, organizations and individuals. Together with the new public diplomacy, the concept of soft power - the ability to get what you want by attracting and persuading rather than coercion – is also gaining more attention from the public diplomacy’s scholars and- practitioners. This dissertation argues that by treating soft power as the ability to attract, public diplomacy is a political instrument that makes use of the power. It examines public diplomacy’s methods and practices, especially, in the case of Japan in recent years in which its public diplomacy has incorporated the notion of Japanese popular culture. It analyzes functions and interactions of Japanese main public diplomacy actors - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan Foundation - as well as explores the resources of Japanese soft power. Based on the results, it is revealed that the Japanese policy makers use the pop culture strategy in their public diplomacy as one of the strategies that allows Japan to use the resources of soft power, in particular its cultural resources, in accordance with the new concept of public diplomacy. In addition, the change of the Japanese Executive is also a significant determinant of the rise of its new public diplomacy initiatives.