88% Of Japanese Feel Friendly Towards U.S. in Recent Government Survey

According to a government survey, the number of Japanese who are “friendly” to the US has grown to an all-time high of 88.5 percent, strengthening ties between allies in areas like security and the economy. According to a Cabinet Office survey, it has increased by 4.5 points from the previous survey a year ago, and about 85% of respondents view Japan-China relations as “bad” or “not very good.”

Since 1975, similar diplomatic surveys have been held. The question of friendliness to the United States was first revealed in a 1978 survey.

The latest survey also shows that 91.3% see the current US-Japan relationship as “somewhat good” or “good,” and up to 98.2% say bilateral relations are “somewhat important” or “important.”, This is also the highest ever.

Fumio Kishida, then foreign minister, dines with then U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy in Tokyo in November 2016. (Image: Kyodo)

According to a Foreign Ministry official, the results “show a good situation” for the Japan-US relationship. “The Japanese government has been expanding its alliance with the United States, as well as engaging with the US administration on several issues including as national security, the economy, and people-to-people interaction,” according to the official.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida greets U.S. President Joe Biden at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2. (Image: Kyodo)

The Cabinet Office advised that the most recent statistics, which covered the period from September 30 to November 7, cannot be directly compared with results before a 2020 poll because the survey technique moved from in-person interviews to mail-in surveys in 2020 coronavirus epidemic. Meanwhile, according to the 2021 survey, 79.0 percent of Japanese people “do not feel friendly” toward China, up from 77.3 percent a year ago and nearly four times the number who said they “feel amicable.” The latter category accounted for 20.6 percent of the total, a decrease from 22.0 percent.

Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio speaks during a press conference at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on November 10, 2021. (Photo by Stanislav Kogiku / POOL / AFP)

85.2% of respondents said relations between Tokyo and Beijing were “not good” or “not very good” compared to 81.8%, while 14.5% said ties were “somewhat good” or “good” compared to 17.1%.

Source: JapanToday

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