Photo/Illutration Yasushi Kudo, head of Genron NPO (Atsushi Okudera)

Chinese people’s perceptions of Japan have sharply declined, possibly due to a rising reliance on social media for information, a joint Japan-China opinion poll released on Dec. 2 showed.

An overwhelming 87.7 percent of Chinese respondents expressed a negative impression of Japan, a substantial increase from 62.9 percent in the previous year’s poll.

Meanwhile, an even greater 90 percent of Japanese have consistently held an unfavorable view of China in the surveys over the past decade.

The annual survey began in 2005. This year’s was conducted in October and November by Japan’s Genron NPO and the China International Communications Group. It collected responses from 1,000 people in Japan and 1,500 in China.

The survey found that the Chinese perception of Japan this year is at its second-lowest point since 2013, the year following the Japanese government’s purchase of the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture.

Among the Chinese respondents, 77.6 percent said their impression of Japan had worsened or somewhat worsened over the past year in particular.

The results also shed light on the increasingly significant role of online sources, including social media, in shaping these views.

With multiple answers allowed, 53.9 percent of Chinese respondents cited social media as a key source of information. In addition, 75.2 percent mentioned China’s news media, and among them, 55.5 percent gained information via the internet on their mobile devices.

Posts critical of Japan tend to spread easily on China’s online platforms, possibly contributing to the worsening impression of the country in the latest survey.

The issue most frequently cited, by 35.5 percent of Chinese respondents, as an obstacle to the development of the two countries’ relations was the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Even before the release, the Chinese government called it “nuclear-contaminated water,” claiming it was unsafe.

While many Chinese tourists visiting Japan now enjoy sushi and sashimi, a Chinese government official said, “In China, many people remain hesitant and avoid eating either due to safety concerns.”

This hesitation is likely influenced by information disseminated by Chinese authorities and media.

The proportion of Chinese people who believe that “Japan-China relations are not important” has surged from just under 20 percent last year to 60 percent this year.

These developments need to be carefully assessed in consideration of future survey results.

TRAVEL IMPROVES VIEWS

Two decades of surveys have shown one clear finding: 80 to 90 percent of respondents in both countries have never traveled to the other country or made personal connections there, fueling negative perceptions.

In this year’s survey, 55.6 percent of Chinese respondents who had visited Japan held a favorable view, while 97.2 percent of those who had never been to Japan viewed it unfavorably.

Since around 2014, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan has increased. In the 2019 survey, the ratio of those with a favorable view of Japan had recovered to 45.9 percent.

Many Japanese expatriates living in China also tend to have a positive view of locals, rather than the Chinese government.

However, the number of Japanese travelers to China has also decreased over the past decade, and the deterioration in relations between the two countries appears to be the result of stagnating dialogue and exchanges.

(This article was written by Yusaku Yamane and Atsushi Okudera, a senior staff writer.)

Related News