The Japanese Foreign Ministry publishes annual opinion polls on how particular foreign nations view Japan. It is always interesting to compare the results, though there are no real surprises. The four opinion polls released yesterday were about the image of Japan in Austria, Mexico, South Africa and the USA (alphabetically listed, spanning four continents) .
The participants in all four nations generally view Japan as a reliable and trustworthy partner ("dependable ally" in the US survey), although the general public deems China to be their most important partner in Asia. "Science & technology" were most commonly associated with Japan, followed by "Culture & arts" (stereotypically manifested in Japanese food, martial arts,
sumo, calligraphy, bonsai & ikebana). The Japanese are perceived as "hard-working", "diligent", "traditional" and "creative". Eighty to 95 percent of all respondents have never been to Japan (Austria, South Africa: "too costly"), but would like to visit if given the opportunity (44.8 percent of Mexican participants would "dearly like to visit").
Most of the respondents in all nations seem to favour the idea of Japan becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council. True to European form, 82% of Austrian respondents disagreed with Japan's whaling activities. 34% of all US poll takers would like to see the introduction of Japan's high-speed railway system.
See the polls in detail below.
Austria
General views
- In this survey, 56% responded that they had "moderate interest" or more in Japan and 43% responded that they had "a little bit of interest" or "no interest".
- In response to the question of whether Japan is a reliable friend of Austria, 70% said "yes" while 9% said "no". Additionally, with regard to friendly relations between Japan and Austria, 77% of the respondents answered "definitely important" or "important", while 14% answered "not really important" or "not important at all".
- As to the question of whether Japan is active enough in world affairs, given its economic size, 61% of the respondents answered affirmatively, while 13% answered negatively.
- Regarding the whaling issue, 82% of the respondents disagreed with the whaling activities of Japan, while 7% agreed or somewhat agreed.
Other Points
- Regarding areas of interest in Japan, "culture/arts" (50%), "science/technology" (43%), "Japanese food" (37%) and "history" (36%) were among the most selected answers. In the area of "culture/arts", 38% responded that they were interested in "bonsai", 28% in "sumo/martial arts (karate, judo, kendo, etc)", and 26% in "ikebana (flower arrangement)".
- As for the experience of visiting Japan, 80% responded that they had "never visited Japan", and 58% gave "costliness of travel" as the reason for not visiting.
- With regard to positive attributes of the Japanese people, "hard-working" (86%), "maintain their traditions/culture" (71%), and "creative" (40%) ranked highest.
- In response to the question of which country in East Asia is the most important partner for Austria, 23% said "Japan", while 56% said "China".
- Regarding the fields in which Japan and Austria should develop their future relationship, "science/technology" was the top response, and the next highest answers were "trade/investment", "tourism" and "cultural and people-to-people exchange".
- Regarding the fields in which Japan should play a leading role, the most common answers were "development of science and technology" (69%), "protecting the global environment" (69%), "cultural exchange" (65%), and "aid to developing countries" (57%).
- Regarding whether Japan should become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, 50% responded "yes" and 19% responded "no".
Mexico
General Views
- With regard to the relationship with Japan, 56.5% rated Japan-Mexico relations as "very good" or "good", while only 2.8% answered "bad" or "very bad". Top areas for the relations to be strengthened were trade / investment (44.5%), diplomatic relations / security (25.9%) and science / technology (13.2%).
- As the most reliable country, Japan (9.9%) ranked third after the US (35.7%) and Canada (10.2%). In response to the question of with what country they feel an affinity the most, Japan (25.9%) followed the US (62.7%), Spain (41.0%) and Canada (39.6%)
- In response to the question of which Asian country is the most important partner of Mexico, Japan (34.3%) ranked highest followed by China (27.7%) and the Republic of Korea (6.6%). In addition, as a country/region with which Mexico should increase trade and investment, Japan (35.0%) was the highest rated followed by China (27.8%) and the Republic of Korea (7.6%).
- Regarding the areas of interests related to Japan, "science / technology" (52.4%), "culture / arts" (48.5%) and "history" (28.1%) are among the most selected answers. In the area of culture and arts, 44.1% responded that they were interested in "Japanese food", 41.4% in "fine art (paintings, craftwork)", 35.3% in "sumo / martial arts (karate, judo, kendo, etc.) and 33.1% in "bonsai".
- As for the image of Japanese people, positive images such as "creative" (76.7%) and "have leadership" (45.1%) ranked highest, while "difficult to understand" (26.9%) ranked third.
- Regarding areas where Japan should lead, "promote the development of science and technology" (25.0%), "develop the world economy" (23.8%), "maintain the world peace" (18.0%) and "support developing countries" (13.0%) are among the most selected answers.
Other Points
- As for visits to Japan, only 4.6% responded that they had "visited Japan"; however, it was the highest among Asian countries. In response to the question of interest in visiting Japan in the future, 44.8% answered that they "would dearly like to visit" and 19.7% "would like to visit, if given the opportunity", which showed the high potential demand for travelling to Japan.
- With regard to the interests in studying Japanese, 1.3 % answered that they "were already studying Japanese", 23.1% "would definitely like to study" and 17.6% 1would like to study, if given the opportunity", revealing a high level of interest in studying Japanese. Also, the most common motivations for studying Japanese are because "I like Japanese culture" (40.8%), "it is useful for business" (31.2%) and "I would like to visit Japan" (13.8%).
- "The 400th Anniversary of Japan-Mexico Relations" in 2009 and 2010 was known by 14.0% of respondents. Also, the historical fact that a galleon wrecked and Mexican crew were rescued by Japanese approximately 400 years ago was known by 9.7% respondents.
South Africa
General Views
- In response to the question of whether Japan is a trustworthy country, 71.4% said "Yes" while 5.2% "No". Additionally, with regard to friendly relations between Japan and South Africa, 90.3% of the respondents answered "definitely important" or "important", while 6.0% answered "Not really important" or "Not important at all".
- Regarding areas of interest in Japan, "science/technology" (60.3%) and "culture/arts/foods/language" (44.4%), ranked highest. In the area of culture and arts, 39.8% responded that they were interested in "sumo/martial arts (karate, judo, kendo, etc.)", 36.1% in "Japanese food", and 32.2% in "traditional theatre, calligraphy".
- With regard to positive attributes of the Japanese people, "diligent/hard working" (62.0%), "creative" (44.3%), and "cherish traditional culture" (29.1%) ranked highest.
- Regarding areas where Japan should take the lead, "help develop the global economy" (55.4%), "promote the development of science and technology" (52.0%), and "help protect the global environment" (32.9%) ranked highest. Additionally, as to the question of whether Japan should become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, 65.5% said "Yes", while 5.1% said "No".
- In response to the question of which countries in East Asia are important partners for South Africa, 32.5% said "Japan", while 44.5% said "China".
Other Points
- As for Japanese investment in South Africa, 93.2% answered positively. With regard to impressive aspects of Japanese companies, 86.9% deemed them to be "technologically advanced". Additionally, in response to the question of what products they associated with Japan, "personal computer" (67.2%) and "vehicles" (67.1%) ranked highest. With regard to impressive aspects of Japanese products, 60.3% said "good and stylish design", 56.2% said "high quality", and 37.8% said "multi-functional".
- As for visits to Japan, only 2% responded that they had "visited Japan", and 81.6% cited the costliness of travel as the reason for not visiting. In response to the question of interests if they were to visit Japan in future, 58.9% responded that they would be interested in "Japanese cuisine", 55.7% in "shopping", and 44.6% in "appreciating traditional culture".
USA
- The percentage who perceived Japan to be a dependable ally was 84% among the general public and was 90% among opinion leaders, high figures similar to last year's poll. 77% of the general public and 87% of opinion leaders viewed cooperation between Japan and the U.S. as "excellent" or "good". In addition, the percentage of those who agreed that the Japanese and American people had a good understanding of each other was 42% among the general public, and 35% among opinion leaders.
- As for which country is the most important partner of the U.S. in Asia, the percentage of the general public that chose China as the most important partner was 39% and for those that chose Japan it was 31%. Among opinion leaders, China was the first place with 46% and Japan came in the second place with 28%.
- With regard to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, the percentage of those who answered that the Treaty "should be maintained" was 92% among the general public and 91% among opinion leaders. These figures have stayed at a high level since this survey was first commissioned. The percentage who answered that the Treaty contributes to stability and peace in Japan and East Asia either "to a great extent" or "to a moderate amount" was 86% among the general public and 90% among opinion leaders. The percentage of those who answered that the Treaty was "very important" or "somewhat important" for the U.S. in terms of its own security was 89% among the general public and 90% among opinion leaders. Thus, the Japan-U.S. security system was highly appreciated on the whole.
- With regard to the perception of Japan's attributes (surveyed only among the general public), Japan was viewed as "a country with great traditions and culture" (97%); "a country with a strong economy and high technology" (91%); "a country which launches new cultures such as animation, fashion, and cuisine" (88%) and "a country with beautiful nature" (85%). With respect to areas that the public are interested in regarding Japanese culture, "cuisine" (84%); "Calligraphy (Shodo)" (63%); "Bonsai" (62%); and "Sumo or Japanese martial arts like Karate, Judo, and Kendo" (61%) were among the most selected answers.
- As for the adoption of Japan's high-speed railway system in the U.S., 34% of opinion leaders were of the view that Japanese technology should be adopted. With regard to what policy Japan should focus on in order to deepen economic ties between Japan and the U.S., 89% of opinion leaders responded that Japan should "promote technical cooperation, such as in clean energy or on developing a high-speed railway system", 83% answered that Japan should "sign and ratify a free trade agreement with the US", and 81% answered that Japan should "participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership".
MOFA: Opinion Poll: Austrian Image of Japan (Outline of Results)
MOFA: Opinion Poll: Mexican Image of Japan (Outline of Results)
MOFA: Opinion Poll: South African Image of Japan (Outline of Results)
MOFA: Opinion Poll: 2011 U.S. Image of Japan