Tokyo, 18 May, /AJMEDIA/
Some 81 percent of people in Japan feel “more uneasy than hopeful” about U.S. President Donald Trump, who began his nonconsecutive second term in January, partly due to concerns over the impact of tariffs he has imposed, a Kyodo News survey has found.
Asked why they felt uneasy, 42 percent cited the threat that tariffs pose to free trade, while 41 percent pointed to his unpredictable actions, according to the public opinion poll on global affairs conducted between March and April.
In early April, Trump announced a 90-day pause on implementing his so-called reciprocal tariffs for most countries, including Japan. He kept additional levies on China in a developing trade war before the two countries struck a deal in May to largely reduce them.
Conversely, of the 17 percent of people who expressed “more hope than unease,” 57 percent said Trump “displays leadership,” and 33 percent praised his “attempts to oppose an increasingly hegemonic China.”
According to the survey, some 53 percent said China was responsible for the worsening conflict between the two countries, while 44 percent said the United States caused the tensions.
The survey also asked whether Japan should emphasize ties with the United States or China, with 47 percent choosing the United States and 48 percent saying Japan’s ties with the two countries should be kept at the same level. Just 1 percent opted for prioritizing China.
The proportion of those saying relations with the United States, a key ally of Japan, should be valued over ties with China has been decreasing in recent years. In the 2021 poll, the figure stood at 54 percent and fell to 53 percent in 2022.
“That the number of people who chose the United States was on par with those who opted not to select either country gives us a sense of changing societal perspectives,” said Kazuto Suzuki, a professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Public Policy.
The poll, conducted by mail from March 4, covered 3,000 people aged 18 and over in 250 areas across Japan. In total, 1,867 valid responses were received by the April 14 deadline.
