Increased Anxiety in Japan Due to Ukraine Crisis... "Over 60% Support Strengthening Defense Capabilities"

Citizens wearing masks are walking on the streets in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Sumi Hwang] Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, more than six out of ten people in Japan believe that their country’s defense capabilities should be strengthened.

On the 8th, Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported that a joint public opinion survey conducted with the University of Tokyo’s Masaki Taniguchi Laboratory, targeting 1,892 voters nationwide from March to April, revealed these results.

According to the report, 64% of respondents supported strengthening defense capabilities, far exceeding the 10% who opposed it. Twenty-six percent of respondents said they could not choose either side.

This is the first time since Asahi Shimbun and the University of Tokyo Laboratory began conducting joint public opinion surveys in 2003 that support for strengthening defense capabilities has exceeded 60%. The support rate increased from 48% in 2003, when the Iraq War began, to 57% at the end of 2012, when relations between Japan and South Korea and between Japan and China became strained.

The media analyzed that this result appears to be influenced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier, according to a public opinion survey released by the media on the 3rd (conducted from March 15 to April 25), 80% of respondents said they felt more anxious about the possibility of war occurring between Japan and neighboring countries due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In contrast, 19% said there was no particular change.

In addition, in Japan, public opinion in favor of constitutional revision is rising based on situations such as the territorial dispute with Russia over the Kuril Islands (called the Northern Territories in Japan), China’s strengthened maritime expansion, and North Korea’s continued ballistic missile test launches.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.