More than three-quarters of Japanese feel close to Taiwan, and most consider it the Asian region they are most familiar with, a survey commissioned by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan showed yesterday.
Tokyo-based Central Research Services conducted the annual survey for the office for a third time to learn how Japanese perceive Taiwan.
Asked to choose a region in Asia that they felt most familiar with — Taiwan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Russia, Philippines, Vietnam or India — 46.2 percent of respondents picked Taiwan.
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Of the respondents, 76.6 percent said they felt “close” or “somewhat close” to Taiwan.
Asked why they felt close to Taiwan, most respondents said it was because Taiwanese are friendly and nice.
Other reasons they gave included Japan and Taiwan having a long history of engagement, strong economic connections and shared cultural elements, as well as a large Japanese-speaking population in Taiwan and mutual assistance during earthquakes or the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of those who did not feel close to Taiwan attributed it to a lack of knowledge or concern about Taiwan-related affairs.
Sixty-five percent said that Taiwan is “very trustworthy” or “trustworthy,” citing reasons such as Taiwan being friendly to Japan and the two sides’ shared values.
Of the respondents, 72.8, percent said that the relationship between Taiwan and Japan is “good” or “somewhat good,” while only 1.2 percent said it was “bad” or “somewhat bad.”
Of those polled, 59.1 percent said the relationship would continue to develop and 26.6 percent said it would remain the same.
Asked what they thought “the most concerning issue” between Japan and Taiwan was, 44.4 percent said “the impact of the cross-strait situation on Japan.”
To maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, 57 percent of respondents chose diplomacy and dialogue, while 37 percent said cooperation between Taiwan, Japan and the US.
Of the respondents, 63.5 percent said that they were paying “some” or “close” attention to Taiwan’s presidential election next month.
The survey was conducted online from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, with 1,000 responses collected from Japanese citizens aged 20 to 89.
It had a 95 percent confidence level and a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
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