MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2023) The number of Japanese citizens who "do not feel friendly" toward Russia reached an all-time high of 94.7%, according to the annual diplomatic affairs survey conducted by the Japanese government cited by local media outlets on Friday.
Last year, the Kyodo News agency reported, 86.4% of Japanese held such views. The current figure is the highest since 1978, the year the question about Russia was added to the poll for the first time. Only 5% of Japanese, the lowest in survey's history, gave an opposite answer. For comparison, 13.1% of respondents said they "feel friendly" toward Russia last year.
Additionally, the Japanese people were asked whether they perceive Japan-Russia relations as "good" or "not good." The survey indicated that only 3.1% of respondents are happy with the state of relations between the countries, while 92.3% said the ties were "not good," according to Kyodo News, while, last year, the situation was quite more positive, with around 20% of Japanese giving the optimistic answer and 79% the negative one.
"The outcome reflected people's recognition that the relationship between Japan and Russia has been in a severe condition following the aggression against Ukraine and its impact on our nation," a government official told reporters during a briefing, Kyodo News reported.
Besides, according to the poll, Japanese "like" China slightly more than Russia: 81.8% of respondents "do not feel friendly" toward their Communist neighbor and 17.8% "feel friendly."
As for South Korea, almost 46% of Japanese have friendly attitude toward this nation, while 53.7% stated the opposite.
Over 1,700 people aged 18 and over across Japan participated in the survey, the news agency added.
