Public Diplomacy

The United States of America

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned the Harris Poll (a US company) to conduct an opinion poll on the image of Japan in the U.S. from December 2022 to February 2023. The poll consists of the “General Population” survey and the “Opinion Leaders” survey. In the former, 1,001 adults chosen at random were surveyed online. In the latter, 200 leaders in the federal government, large businesses, news media, organized labor unions, religious organizations, and academia were surveyed by telephone.

• (1)The Japan-U.S. relation
  • (a)On the Japan-U.S. relation, 72% (FY 2021: 70%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 95% (FY 2021: 94%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that it is “friendly.”
  • (b)On the reliability of Japan as a partner of the U.S., 72% (FY 2021: 70%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 93% (FY 2021: 93%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that it is “reliable.”
  • (c)As the answer to the question about the most important partner of the U.S., Japan ranks 1st (FY2021: 1st) among the countries or regions in Asia, in both of the “General Population” survey and the “Opinion Leaders” survey.
• (2) Security
  • (a)On the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, 70% (FY 2021: 69%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 90% (FY2021: 89%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that the U.S. should “maintain” it.
  • (b)On the treaty, 92% (FY 2021: 95%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that it is “important for the security of the U.S.”
  • (c)On the treaty, 88% (FY 2021: 93%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that it “contributes to peace and stability in East Asia.”
  • (d)On the U.S. Forces in Japan, 89% (FY 2021: 91%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that it is “important for the security of the U.S.”
  • (e)On the Japan’s self-defense capability, 32% (FY 2021: 24%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 49% (FY 2021: 35%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that Japan should “increase” it. Another 37% (FY 2021: 39%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 42% (FY 2021: 55%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that Japan should “maintain the current level.”
• (3) Economy
  • (a)The majority of the respondents in the “General Population” survey answered that Japan has a “good” influence on the U.S. economy (Trade: 66%, Investment: 60%, Job Creation: 54%) (FY 2021: Trade: 64%, Investment: 56%, Job Creation: 51%).
  • (b)In the “Opinion Leaders” survey, Japan ranked within the top five countries that was contributing the most to the U.S. economy (Trade: 4th, Investment: 4th, Job Creation: 4th) (FY 2021: Trade: 4th, Investment: 3rd, Job Creation: 4th).
• (4) “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”
  On the efforts of Japan and the U.S. toward realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)”, 74% (FY 2021: 78%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that Japan and the U.S. should “advance” them.

Five European Countries (UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Hungary)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned Ipsos to conduct an online opinion poll in five countries in Europe (France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and the United Kingdom) with 500 respondents aged from 18 to 69 in each country in November 2022. (Note: The last opinion poll conducted in the same five countries in 2020.)

• (1) Relations with Japan
  68% (previous survey: 70%) of the respondents answered “very friendly” or “somewhat friendly” on how they viewed their country’s relations with Japan. 69% (previous survey: 67%) of the respondents answered “very reliable” or “somewhat reliable” on how they rated Japan as a reliable friend.
• (2) Japan as a Peace-Loving Nation
  75% (previous survey: 77%) of the respondents answered that they valued Japan as a peace-loving nation.
• (3) Role and Contribution of Japan
  67% (previous survey: 65%) of the respondents answered “very important” or “somewhat important” on what extent Japan plays an important role in stabilization and growth of world economy.
  
  74% (previous survey: 77%) of the respondents answered “very valuable” or “somewhat valuable” on how they rate Japan’s proactive contribution for maintaining global peace and establishment of international order.
• (4) Partner outside the region to strengthen cooperation
  51% of the respondents chose Japan as a country outside Europe with which Europe should strengthen its partnership under the impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which ranked Japan second after the United States (53%).

Three African Countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, and South Africa)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned Ipsos to conduct an opinion poll with 1,500 respondents aged from 18 to 59 through online in October 2022. (Note: The last opinion poll conducted in three African Countries was in 2019.)

• (1) Relations with Japan
  86% (previous survey: 88%) of the respondents in the three countries answered “friendly” or “somewhat friendly” on how they viewed their country’s relations with Japan.
• (2) Reliable Relationship
  87% (previous survey: 86%) of the respondents in the three countries answered “very reliable” or “somewhat reliable” on how they rate Japan as a reliable friend.
• (3) Japan as a Peace-Loving Nation
  92% (previous survey: 88%) of the respondents in the three countries answered that Japan has consistently followed the path of a peace-loving nation.
• (4) Japan’s role in stabilization and growth of world economy
  87% (previous survey: 87%) of the respondents in the three countries answered “a very important role” or “somewhat important role” on what extent Japan plays an important role in stabilization and growth of the world economy.
• (5) Japan’s contribution to the peace and stability of the region
  92% (previous survey: 93%) of the respondents in the three countries answered “very valuable” or “valuable” on how they rate Japan’s proactive contribution to the peace and stability of the region and the international community for maintaining global peace and establishment of international order.
• (6) Japan’s Assistance for Africa
  64% (previous survey: 54%) of the respondents in the three countries answered “I know it well” or “I have seen or heard about it” on how well they know Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), and we can see that the awareness has increased since the last opinion poll.