The Genron NPO has announced the results of its 19th public opinion poll jointly conducted in Japan and China.

The purpose of the survey was to ask citizens of Japan and China their thoughts on the subject of peace, as this year marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China.

New questions were added to the survey to address the destabilizing global nuclear weapon regime, the future of the war in Ukraine and the challenges to achieving peace, restoring the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and other issues. This is the first survey asking Chinese respondents their opinions on current issues related to nuclear weapons in Asia and around the world.

About Japan-China Joint Public Opinion Survey 2023

The Genron NPO and China International Communications Group conducted joint opinion polls targeting the citizens of Japan and China late August to mid-September in 2023. This survey has been administered annually since 2005, when Japan-China relations were at its worst. This year marks the 19th year that this poll has been conducted. The objective of the survey is to continuously monitor the state of mutual understanding and perceptions of the Japanese and Chinese public towards one another as well as the changes that ensue over time.

The opinion poll in Japan was administered through the placement method (in which the survey was hand-delivered to homes and then collected) between September 2 and September 12, targeting men and women in the age of 18 or more. A total of 1,000 valid responses were obtained. Respondents were 48.2% male and 51.2% female. The age range consisted of 2.6% under the age of 20, 11.7% between the ages of 20 and 29, 13.3% between the ages of 30 and 39, 17.5% between the ages of 40 and 49, 15.9% between the ages of 50 and 59 and 39.0% over the age of 60. The educational background of respondents were 5.1 % junior high school diploma and under, 46.2% high school diploma, 21.5% junior/technical college diploma, 23.9% bachelor's degree, and 1.5% master's degree or higher.

The opinion poll in China was administered through individual interviews between August 18 and September 1, targeting men and women in the age of 18 or more in 10 cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenyang, Wuhan, Nanjing, Xi'an, Qingdao and Zhengzhou. A total of 1,506 valid responses were obtained. Respondents were 48.8% male and 51.2% female. The age range consisted of 0.5 % under the age of 20, 18.5% between the ages of 20 and 27.0% between the ages of 30 and 39, 22.4% between the ages of 40 and 49, 11.7% between the ages of 50 and 59, and 19.9% above the age of 60. The educational background of respondents were 14.6% junior high school diploma and under, 35.9% high school/technical high school and technical college diploma, 41.9% bachelor's degree, 2.0% double degree, and 5.5% master's degree or higher.

*Percentages may not add up to 100% in some cases as the numbers here are rounded off to one decimal point and non-responses are not included.