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Strong Support for Strengthening U.S. Ties, Despite Kishida’s Waning Popularity

 

Tracking Global Events | 24 January 2023

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida met with President Biden in Washington on January 13th, to conclude a weeklong trip bolstering ties with European and North American partners in preparation for Japan’s hosting of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in May. Kishida and Biden announced that “the U.S. and Japan have aligned our collective force posture and defense capabilities to meet new and emerging threats, including in the cyber and space domains.” This decision comes amid a backdrop of heightened tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. To better understand Japanese sentiment on it’s country’s foreign relations, Premise deployed a survey on the topic.

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Insights

  • While PM Kishida’s experience as the longest serving Foreign Minister since WWII has helped him internationally, his domestic support has declined. When asked if they “approve of the job PM Kishida has done” 50% of respondents disagree or strongly disagree.
  • Despite a lack of domestic popularity, when asked how they viewed the joint statement “The U.S. and Japan have aligned our collective force posture and defense capabilities to meet new and emerging threats, including in the cyber and space domains,” 49% responded positively or very positively, while only 12% responded negatively or very negatively
  • Sentiment towards increased defense spending was less positive, with 39% viewing this positively or very positively, and 28% viewing it negatively or very negatively.

Methodology

Premise collected sentiment data about Prime Minister Kishida’s summit with President Biden at the White House, receiving over 600 responses across 46 prefectures between January 18th and 24th. This survey utilized a convenience sample, a type of nonprobability sampling that is hyper efficient in dynamic events, involving the sample being drawn from the population that is ready to assist.

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