Japanese public sentiment toward the United States plummeted after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed higher tariffs on imports from Japan, a Cabinet Office survey showed Nov. 28.
According to preliminary results of the Public Opinion Survey on Diplomacy conducted in autumn, 70.8 percent of respondents think Japan-U.S. relations are “good” or “quite good,” down 14.7 percentage points year on year.
The positives response ratio had remained between mid-80 percent and low-90 percent in recent years.
This year’s sharp decline comes amid the Trump administration’s imposition of high tariffs and other measures against Japan.
This figure is the second lowest since 1998, when the same question was first included in the survey.
In the 2008 survey, the favorable response rate was 68.9 percent.
In the latest survey, the ratio of respondents who “feel strong affinity” or “feel some affinity” toward the United States fell 7.9 points to 77.0 percent.
The nationwide survey was conducted by mail from Sept. 25 to Nov. 2. Valid responses were received from 1,666 people aged 18 and over.
The preliminary figures are based on responses received by Oct. 24.
AloJapan.com