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

June 9, 2011
Japanese

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned a Mexican research company to conduct an opinion poll on the image of Japan in Mexico from 3 to 11 March, 2011. (The sampling error is plus or minus 2.5% at the 95% level of confidence.)

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.

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

(END)