Photo/Illutration A type 12 surface-to-ship missile is shown to the media at the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Ishigaki Camp in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 2. (Takashi Watanabe)

Support for Japan further enhancing its defense capabilities remains high among the public, with a recent joint survey finding more than 60 percent of voters responding in the affirmative.

The same survey conducted in 2022, the year when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, also found that more than 60 percent of voters supported bolstering the nation's defense capabilities.

The latest support rate is likely a result of more voters feeling threatened by a possible flare-up of tensions between Taiwan and China, as well as the prolonged invasion of Ukraine.

The annual survey, which started in 2003, also showed that the largest ratio of respondents since the 2014 poll supported the idea of maintaining nuclear power plants.

The survey was conducted between February and April by The Asahi Shimbun and a team led by Masaki Taniguchi, a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo.

“The invasion of Ukraine, concerns about China and a series of missile launches by North Korea have continued to be reflected in people’s views on diplomatic and security policies," Taniguchi said. "We can also assume that last year’s energy shortages and ongoing energy price hikes have affected people’s view on energy policies.”

Survey questionnaires were sent on Feb. 28 to 3,000 randomly selected eligible voters across Japan. Sixty-six percent, or 1,967 of them, replied by April 11.

Respondents were asked to choose from five responses on whether Japan should increase its defense capabilities. 

Sixty-two percent of respondents chose “support” or “rather support” the idea of heightened Japanese defense measures. 

That was much higher than the 12 percent who chose “oppose” or “rather oppose” Japan boosting its defenses.

Those who support strengthened defense capabilities topped 60 percent for the first time in the previous survey that was conducted in 2022.

The latest result showed that support for bolstering defense capabilities has remained high among voters even more than a year after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, voters were split on Japan possessing the capability to strike enemy bases in the event of a possible attack on Japan. 

Thirty-nine percent supported the statement “Japan should not hesitate to attack enemy bases when an attack from another country is anticipated.”

But almost the same percentage, 38 percent, chose “cannot say” whether they support or oppose the statement, while 23 percent opposed it.

The survey also asked about views on nuclear power plants.

Respondents were asked to choose from five responses on whether their views are closer to either “nuclear power stations should be decommissioned immediately,” or they “should be maintained as an energy source.”

Fewer respondents, or 25 percent, supported the immediate decommissioning of nuclear plants than the 46 percent who backed maintaining them.

That means support for the quick scrapping of nuclear plants plummeted to the lowest level since the 2014 survey, which asked questions about them for the first time.

It also means that the largest ratio of respondents since the 2014 poll backed the idea of maintaining nuclear plants.

The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to “increase the burden” that the public must bear to achieve its policies to enhance defense capabilities and tackle the declining birthrate.

In the latest survey, 37 percent opposed the statement “it is inevitable that the public will bear more burden” to enable such policies.

That was followed by the 34 percent who chose “cannot say” whether they support or oppose the statement, and the 29 percent who supported it.

The result indicates the complex sentiment among voters who cannot easily accept the idea of the public bearing more burden for the implementation of such policies.

Related News