Press Releases

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 2021 to February 2022. The poll consists of the “General Population” survey and the “Opinion Leaders” survey. In the former, 1,005 adults chosen at random ware 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, 70% (FY 2020: 73%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 94% (FY 2020: 98%) 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., 70% (FY 2020: 70%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 93% (FY 2020: 96%) 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 (FY2020: 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, 69% (FY 2020: 70%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 89% (FY2020: 88%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that the U.S. should “maintain” it.
  • (b) On the treaty, 95% (FY 2020: 94%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that it is “important for the security of the U.S.”
  • (c) On the treaty, 93% (FY 2020: 85%) 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, 91% (FY 2020: 82%) 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, 39% (FY 2020: 37%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey and 55% (FY2020: 60%) of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that Japan should “maintain the current level.”
• (3) Economy
  • (a) On the influence that Japan has on the US economy, majority (Trade: 64%, Investment: 56%, Job Creation: 51%) (FY2020: Trade: 63%, Investment: 59%, Job Creation: 48%) of the respondents in the “General Population” survey answered that it is “good”.
  • (b) As the answer to the question about the country that contributes to the US economy the most, Japan ranks as the top 5 (Trade: 4th, Investment: 3rd, Job Creation: 4th) (FY2020: Trade: 4th, Investment: 2nd, Job Creation: 2nd), in the “Opinion Leaders” survey.
• (4) “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”
  On the efforts of Japan and the U.S. toward realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)”, 78% of the respondents in the “Opinion Leaders” survey answered that Japan and the U.S. should “advance” them.

Australia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned Ipsos to conduct an opinion poll with 400 respondents aged 18 and over through online in January 2022. (Note: The last opinion poll conducted in Australia was in 2019.)

• (1) 78% (previous survey: 79%) of the respondents answered “very friendly” or “somewhat friendly” on how they viewed their country’s relations with Japan. 74% (previous survey: 71%) of the respondents answered “very reliable” or “somewhat reliable” on how they rate Japan as a reliable friend.
• (2) 76% (previous survey: 77%) of the respondents answered “a lot” or “to some extent” on how much they valued Japan as a peace-loving nation for the past 75 years since the end of the World War II.
• (3) 69% (previous survey: 62%) of the respondents 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.
• (4) 76% (previous survey: 78%) of the respondents 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.
• (5) 43% (previous survey: 40%) of the respondents chose Japan as an important partner in the future for the respondent’s country among G20 countries.

India

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned Ipsos to conduct an opinion poll with 2,200 respondents aged from 18 to 69 through online in January 2022. (Note: The last opinion poll conducted in India was in 2019.)

• (1) 91% (previous survey: 95%) of the respondents answered “very friendly” or “somewhat friendly” on how they viewed their country’s relations with Japan. 90% (previous survey: 95%) of the respondents answered “very reliable” or “somewhat reliable” on how they rate Japan as a reliable friend.
• (2) 90% (previous survey: 95%) of the respondents answered that Japan has consistently followed the path of a peace-loving nation for the past 75 years since the end of World War II.
• (3) 86% (previous survey: 89%) of the respondents answered “a very important role” or “somewhat important role” on to what extent Japan plays an important role in stabilization and growth of the world economy.
• (4) 92% (previous survey: 95%) of the respondents 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.
• (5) 43% (previous survey: 52%) of the respondents chose Japan among G20 countries as an important partner in the future for the respondent’s country, which ranked Japan second behind the United States.

ASEAN

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned Ipsos to conduct an opinion poll with 2,700 respondents aged from 18 to 59 through online and face-to-face interview in January 2022. (Note: The last opinion poll conducted in ASEAN countries was in 2019.)

• (1) 93% (previous survey: 93%) of the respondents answered “very friendly” or “somewhat friendly” on how they viewed their country’s relations with Japan. 92% (previous survey: 93%) of the respondents answered “very reliable” or “somewhat reliable” on how they rate Japan as a reliable friend.
• (2) 88% (previous survey: 90%) of the respondents answered “a lot” or “to some extent” on how much they valued Japan as a peace-loving nation for the past 75 years since the end of the World War II.
• (3) 90% (previous survey: 87%) of the respondents 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.
• (4) 91% (previous survey: 92%) of the respondents 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.
• (5) 43% (previous survey: 51%) of the respondents chose Japan as an important partner in the future for the respondent’s country/association, which put Japan the Second among the G20 countries following China.

Central Asian countries (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned Ipsos to conduct an opinion poll in four countries in Central Asia (the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Tajikistan) with 300 respondents aged from 18 to 69 in each country through telephone interview and street survey in January 2022. (The last opinion poll was conducted in 2018 – 2019 in the same four countries as in this year.)

• (1) 78% (previous survey: 64%) of the respondents answered “very friendly” or “somewhat friendly” on how they viewed their country’s relations with Japan. 75% (previous survey: 61%) of the respondents answered “very reliable” or “somewhat reliable” on how they rate Japan as a reliable friend.
• (2) 78% (previous survey: 68%) of the respondents answered that Japan has consistently followed the path of a peace-loving nation for the past 75 years since the end of the World War II.
• (3) 79% (previous survey: 66%) of the respondents 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.
• (4) 82% (previous survey: 70%) of the respondents 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.
• (5) In answer to the question of choosing the important partner country/organization in the future (multiple answers allowed), Japan ranked fourth after Russia, China and Turkey, which hold historical and geographical ties with four Central Asian countries (the United States ranked fifth, Republic of Korea ranked sixth).

Middle Eastern Countries　(Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan commissioned Ipsos to conduct an opinion poll on the image of Japan in Seven Middle Eastern countries (Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey) on January 2022 with 1,000 respondents in Egypt and 500 respondents in each of other six countries aged from 18 to 69 through telephone and online interview. (Note: The last opinion poll in Middle Eastern countries was conducted in 2019.)

• (1) 76% of the respondents answered “very friendly” or “somewhat friendly” on how they viewed their country’s relations with Japan. 74% of the respondents answered “very reliable” or “somewhat reliable” on how they rate Japan as a reliable friend.
• (2) 80% of the respondents answered that Japan has consistently followed the path of a peace-loving nation for the past 75 years since the end of the World War II.
• (3) 81% of the respondents 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.
• (4) 81% of the respondents 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.
• (5) 85% of the respondents answered“very beneficial” or “somewhat beneficial” on whether Japan’s economic and technical cooperation is beneficial for the development of the Middle East region.