Chinese Views of Japan Deteriorate in 2024

A 2024 joint survey of people in Japan and China found that 87.7% of Chinese respondents had a bad impression of Japan. This was up 24.8 percentage points year on year and the second highest since the survey was first held in 2005.

The percentage of Japanese having a bad impression of China was down 3.2 points to 89.0%. Chinese views of Japan had improved for two successive years in 2022 and 2023, years in which many people from China visited after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. However, the kind of spike in negative impressions recorded in 2024 has not been seen since the 28.3-point rise to 92.8% in 2013 following Japan’s nationalization of the Senkaku Islands the previous year.

There was a 29.7-point increase to 35.5% in Chinese people identifying the release of treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean as an obstacle to bilateral ties. This was the most common problem mentioned. Meanwhile, the most common obstacle identified by Japanese respondents was territorial disputes (50.6%).

The joint survey, conducted from October through November 2024 by The Genron NPO and China International Publishing Group, received valid responses from 2,500 people in the two countries.

The number of Chinese respondents who thought bilateral relations were either “not important,” or “on balance, not important,” rose by 40.5 points to 59.6%, reaching the highest point since the survey began. There was a noticeable difference in opinion among Japanese respondents, with just 5.0% giving these answers.

The Genron NPO commented that the deterioration in Chinese sentiment toward Japan extended as far as ties and exchange that had previously been supported by citizens in both countries, and that this was unprecedented. It suggested that “heated, inward-looking rhetoric in online spaces that has continued throughout the year” may have contributed to worsening impressions.

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)