The 2004 Image of Japan Study in the U.S.
(Summary)
July 2004
1. Results Overview
The 2004 Image of Japan Study continues to show overall high favorability toward Japan and positive evaluation of U.S.-Japan relations. The perception of Japan as a dependable ally remains at very high level among opinion leaders. The same perception is shared by the general public, marking the highest level in these 10 years.
What is unchanged from the 2003 study is that Japan is perceived as the most important partner in Asia among the general public and opinion leaders.
As for the new question on countries sharing common values with the U.S., Japan ranks second following the U.K. among the general public, and third after the U.K. and Germany among opinion leaders.
In terms of economic relations, a large percentage of respondents still see the need for improvement in trade and economic relations for a closer bilateral tie. When asked about the main reasons for Japan-U.S. trade imbalance, the decrease of the percentage of respondents who mention the closed nature of Japan's market is more remarkable and the higher percentage of respondents point out the macro-economic discrepancies in both countries and the U.S. industry's weak competitiveness. The percentage of opinion leaders who chose macro-economic discrepancies exceed for the first time the percentage of those who raise closed nature of Japan's market.
With regard to the sources of information about Japan, the percentage of respondents who cite the Internet and Movies has increased. |
2. Specific Findings
(Figures in brackets are of the last year and the preceding year respectively. See the attached graphs for past trends in major questions).
(1) Degree of Favorable View of Japan and Perception of Japan as a Dependable Ally or Friend (See Graphs 1 and 2)[PDF]
| - Rating of respondents who view Japan "favorably" |
General public: 47%
(48%,49%*) |
Opinion leaders: 80%
(81%,81%*) |
|
| *: highest figures |
- Rating of respondents who consider Japan as a dependable ally or friend |
General public: 68%*
(67%,67%) |
Opinion leaders: 89%
(91%,91%*) |
|
| *: highest figures |
(2) Evaluation of Overall Bilateral Relations Between Japan and the U.S.
| - The most important partner to the U.S. in the Asian region (See Graphs 3 and 4)[PDF] |
| |
1: Japan |
General public: 48%
(47%, 46%) |
Opinion leaders: 65%
(63%, 64%) |
|
| |
2: China |
General public: 26%
(20%, 22%) |
Opinion leaders: 24%
(25%, 23%) |
|
| |
3. Russia |
General public: 9%
(13%, 10%) |
Opinion leaders: 7%
(6%, 6%) |
|
|
- Evaluation of the present level of Japan-U.S.cooperation in general rating of positive responses, either "excellent" or "good" (See Graph 5)[PDF] |
General public: 60%
(56%,60%) |
Opinion leaders: 82%*
(78%,81%) |
| |
*: highest figures |
|
- Japan-U.S. relations in the future |
| |
(Will improve) |
General public: 44%
(40%, 46%) |
Opinion leaders: 30%
(34%, 36%) |
|
(See Graph 6[PDF]) |
| |
(Will not change) |
General public: 43%
(45%, 42%) |
Opinion leaders: 59%
(50%, 55%) |
|
|
| |
(Will get worse) |
General public: 8%
(12%, 8%) |
Opinion leaders: 7%
(11%, 6%) |
|
|
|
- The way which would help most to improve relations between the U.S. and Japan. |
| |
"Improve econ/trade Relations" |
General public:42%
(35%,41%) |
Opinon leaders:53%
(47%,63%) |
|
| |
"Strengthen political/security Relations" |
General public:25%
(32%,25%) |
Opinion leaders:15%
(26%,17%) |
|
| |
"Increase global cooperation" |
General public:23%
(22%,22%) |
Opinion leaders:26%
(22%,15%) |
|
| |
"Promote cultural exchanges" |
General public: 7%
( 8%, 9%) |
Opinion leaders: 5%
( 4%, 4%) |
|
|
- Degree of mutual understanding between the people of Japan and the U.S. |
| |
(Good) |
General public:30%*
(28%, 28%) |
Opinion leaders: 22%*
(19%, 17%) |
|
(See Graph 7[PDF]) |
| |
(Fair) |
General public: 50%
(53%, 53%) |
Opinion leaders: 61%
(61%, 59%) |
|
|
| |
(Poor) |
General public: 18%
(17%, 18%) |
Opinion leaders: 17%
(18%, 23%) |
|
|
| |
|
*: highest figures |
|
(3) Evaluation of the Japan-U.S. Security Arrangements
| - Maintenance of Japan-US Security Treaty (See Graph 8)[PDF] |
| (The Treaty should be maintained) |
General public: 85%
(87%*, 85%) |
Opinion leaders: 83%
(87%, 87%) |
| |
*: highest figures |
|
- The contribution of Japan-US Security Treaty to peace and stability in Japan and the Far East (See Graph 9)[PDF] |
| (Rating of positive responses,either "Great deal" or"Moderate amount") |
General public: 72%
(74%, 74%) |
Opinion leaders: 80%
(83%, 81%) |
|
- Importance of Japan-US Security Treaty for U.S. security interests (See Graph 10)[PDF] |
| (Rating of positive responses, either "very importannt" or "somewhat important") |
General public: 86%
(89%*, 88%) |
Opinion leaders: 83%
(84%, 85%) |
| |
*: highest figures |
|
4) Economic and Trade Relations
| - The main reasons for Japan-US trade imbalance (See graphs 11and 12)[PDF] |
| |
"The closed nature of Japan's market" |
General public: 37%*
(43%, 43%) |
Opinion leaders: 32%*
(44%, 45%) |
| |
*: lowest figures |
|
| |
"Macro-economic discrepancies in both countries" |
General public: 27%
(26%, 28%) |
Opinion leaders: 41%*
(35%, 35%) |
|
| |
"U.S industry's weak competitiveness" |
General public: 29%*
(23%, 21%) |
Opinion leaders: 23%*
(11%, 13%) |
| |
*: highest figures |
|
|
(5) Evaluation of Japan's International Role
| - Does Japan play an important international role commensurate with its economic strength? (See Graph 13)[PDF] |
| |
"Yes" |
General public: 60%
(56%, 59%) |
Opinion leaders: 65%
(62%, 67%*) |
| |
*: highest figures |
|
| |
"No" |
General public: 29%
(33%,29%) |
Opinion leaders: 35%
(36%, 31%) |
|
|
-In the following areas, does Japan currently play an important international role? (Rating of positive response) |
| |
"Science / Technology" |
General public:58%
(53%,56%) |
Opinon leaders:96%
(96%,94%) |
|
| |
"Global Economy" |
General public:53%
(50%,51%) |
Opinion leaders:91%
(93%,94%) |
|
| |
"Cultural exchange" |
General public:48%
(44%,44%) |
Opinion leaders:60%
(60%,58%) |
|
| |
"World Politics" |
General public:38%
(37%,37%) |
Opinion leaders:62%
(60%,62%) |
|
| |
"Global Issues" |
General public:36%
(30%,31%) |
Opinion leaders:57%
(59%,59%) |
|
| |
"Security(incl.PKO)" |
General public:31%
(25%,26%) |
Opinion leaders:39%
(24%,29%) |
|
| |
"Economic Aid" |
General public:30%
(22%,28%) |
Opinion leaders:61%
(54%,63%) |
|
|
(6) Perceptions of countries sharing common values with U.S.
| -To what extent do the following countries or regions share generally common values with the U.S.? |
<General public>
| |
|
very much |
|
( |
great extent |
, |
some extent |
) |
|
little extent |
|
none |
|
no opinion |
| U.K. |
|
83% |
|
( |
58% |
, |
25% |
) |
|
9% |
|
5% |
|
3% |
| Japan |
|
80% |
|
( |
27% |
, |
53% |
) |
|
15% |
|
3% |
|
2% |
| Germany |
|
74% |
|
( |
25% |
, |
49% |
) |
|
19% |
|
5% |
|
2% |
| Russia |
|
59% |
|
( |
11% |
, |
48% |
) |
|
30% |
|
8% |
|
3% |
| France |
|
56% |
|
( |
15% |
, |
41% |
) |
|
29% |
|
13% |
|
2% |
| Taiwan |
|
55% |
|
( |
17% |
, |
38% |
) |
|
30% |
|
9% |
|
6% |
| Mainland China |
|
44% |
|
( |
12% |
, |
32% |
) |
|
39% |
|
14% |
|
3% |
| North Korea |
|
19% |
|
( |
5% |
, |
14% |
) |
|
35% |
|
42% |
|
4% |
<Opinion leaders>
| |
|
very much |
|
( |
great extent |
, |
some extent |
) |
|
little extent |
|
none |
|
no opinion |
| U.K. |
|
98% |
|
( |
86% |
, |
12% |
) |
|
1% |
|
1% |
|
0% |
| Germany |
|
96% |
|
( |
49% |
, |
47% |
) |
|
3% |
|
1% |
|
0% |
| Japan |
|
95% |
|
( |
42% |
, |
53% |
) |
|
4% |
|
1% |
|
0% |
| Taiwan |
|
84% |
|
( |
30% |
, |
54% |
) |
|
13% |
|
2% |
|
1% |
| France |
|
78% |
|
( |
27% |
, |
51% |
) |
|
16% |
|
6% |
|
0% |
| Russia |
|
74% |
|
( |
10% |
, |
64% |
) |
|
23% |
|
2% |
|
1% |
| Mainland China |
|
46% |
|
( |
5% |
, |
41% |
) |
|
43% |
|
11% |
|
0% |
| North Korea |
|
9% |
|
( |
1% |
, |
8% |
) |
|
29% |
|
61% |
|
1% |
|
(Notes)
1. Period conducted: February - April 2004
2. Survey methodology:
| (1) |
For the "general public" group, telephone interviews were carried out with 1,504 people (men and women aged 18 or over). |
| (2) |
or the "opinion leaders" group, telephone interviews were carried out with 254 people in leading positions in the field of the federal government, large business, organized labor, the media, academia and organized religion. |
| (3) |
The reliability of the survey:
The degree of reliability is 95% for both groups. The sampling error is ±3% for the "general public" group and ±6% for the "opinion leaders" group (for results based on samples of this size, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of error is ±3 percentage points for general public and ±6 percentage points for opinion leaders). |
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