Favorable View toward
Japan Maintained
The 2004 Opinion Survey on the Image of Japan
in the United States On July 15, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan released
the results of the 2004 Opinion Survey on the
Image of Japan in the United States, which was
conducted by the Gallup Organization on behalf
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan from
February to April in 2004.
The 2004 Image of Japan Study continues to show overall
high favorability toward Japan and positive
evaluation of Japan-U.S. relations. The
perception of Japan as dependable ally remains
at very high level among U.S. opinion leaders
(89% regard Japan as a dependable ally or
friend). The same perception is shared by the
U.S. general public, marking the highest level
in these 10 years (68% regard Japan as a
dependable ally or friend).
What is also unchanged from the 2003 study is that
Japan is perceived as the most important partner
in Asia among the general public (48%) and
opinion leaders (65%).
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
(80%) and the third after the U.K. and Germany
among opinion leaders (95%).
With respect to economic relations, the percentage of
respondents who attribute Japan-U.S. trade
imbalance to closed nature of Japan's market
remarkably decreased (from 43% to 37% among the
general public, from 44% to 32% among opinion
leaders). The percentage of opinion leaders who
chose macro-economic discrepancies in both
countries exceed for the first time the
percentage of those who raise closed nature of
Japan's market.
As to the question of the importance of Japan-U.S.
security arrangements for U.S. security
interests, the rating of respondents who support
the maintenance of Japan-U.S. Security Treaty
among the general public and opinion leaders
registered 85% and 83% respectively. This figure
clearly reconfirms the strong support for Japan-U.S
security arrangements among U.S. citizens.
A summary of the survey's outcome will be available at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan website:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/n-america/us/survey/summary2004.html
|
