Opinion Poll: Austrian Image of Japan (Outline of Results)

June 9, 2011
Japanese

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned an Austrian research company to conduct an opinion poll on the image of Japan in Austria from February 2-26, 2011 (The sampling error is plus or minus 3.1%).

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".

(* This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

(END)

Back to Index