Record No. of Japanese feel friendly toward U.S. because of Obama+

TOKYO, Dec. 12 Kyodo -
A record-high 78.9 percent of Japanese people have friendly feelings toward the
United States, a government poll showed Saturday, signaling a positive
perception of U.S. President Barack Obama who took office earlier this year.
The figure, up 5.6 percentage points from a year earlier, comes from a survey
conducted in mid- and late October -- before discord between Japan and the
United States apparently deepened over the issue of where to relocate a U.S.
military airfield in Okinawa.
A government official declined to comment on whether the figure would have
changed if the survey was conducted now, saying, ''The people's high interest
in President Obama'' was reflected.
The number of Japanese who believe the country's ties with the United States
remain good also rose 12.9 points to 81.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents who feel friendly toward South Korea
rose 6 points to 63.1 percent and the percentage of those who feel that Japan
and South Korea are on good terms increased 17 points to 66.5 percent. The
percentages both marked record highs.
The official said that the figures on South Korea may have been affected by
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's trip to Seoul early October, which was
the first Asian country he visited since taking office in September.
''The prime minister spelled out the need to strengthen future-oriented
Japan-South Korea ties during his visit to South Korea...and (continuing
active) human exchanges between the two countries at the popular level may also
have had an influence,'' the official said.
Perception about Japan's relations with China also improved possibly because of
high-level dialogues that took place shortly after Hatoyama, whose Democratic
Party of Japan realized a historic change of power, launched a coalition
government in September.
As for Japan's role in the United Nations, 29.4 percent of respondents said
that Japan should participate more in U.N. peacekeeping missions as personnel
contributions to international society, up 4.3 points.
But the percentage of people who think that Japan should actively offer
economic cooperation toward developing countries dropped for the first time in
five years to 26.8 percent, reflecting the harsh economic situation, according
to the official.
The Cabinet Office conducted its opinion poll on foreign relations, covering
3,000 people aged 20 or above nationwide, between Oct. 15 and Oct. 25. A total
of 1,850 people, or 61.7 percent, provided valid responses.
The survey has been conducted every year since 1975, except for 1976. The year
when the questions mentioned above were added to the survey varies.
In a multiple-choice question over issues of interest concerning North Korea,
the abduction of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s remained the top
with 86.7 percent citing the issue, although it slightly dropped from a year
before.
The percentage of people who expressed interest over North Korea's nuclear and
missile problems respectively increased to 76.8 percent and 67.3 percent.
Earlier in the year, North Korea raised tension in the region by launching a
rocket widely seen as a disguised test of a long-range missile and conducted a
second nuclear test.
==Kyodo