Popular culture can be employed to help forge friendly ties

It came as no surprise that Your Name, the latest film by Japanese anime director Makoto Shinkai, which started its theatrical run in China on Friday, has been such a hit with Chinese audiences.

The time-traveling love story was a smash hit in Japan, grossing some 19.7 billion yen ($174 million) at the box office since it opened in August.

The film has made Shinkai a phenomenon following the 2013 retirement of Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki, the genius behind many anime films including My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo. Miyazaki has hinted about a return to feature filming and people have said teasingly that the success of Your Name might motivate him to return to filmmaking.