VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKO #6878/01 3410113
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070113Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8922
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA PRIORITY
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 1211

UNCLAS TOKYO 006878 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/PD, EAP/J, EAP/P, INR/R/AA MARSHALL 
SECDEF FOR OASD/PA 
HQ USPACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR 
COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA FOR DIRECTOR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS 
SEOUL FOR CPAO/IO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP OPRC KPAO KPLS JA
SUBJECT: Polls Indicate Support for U.S.-Japan Alliance 
At All-Time High 
 
 
¶1. (U) The results of the annual Yomiuri Shimbun-Gallup 
Poll released on December 2, 2006 indicated that support 
for the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty is at an all-time high 
among Japanese, with 66 percent of respondents indicating 
that the security treaty is useful to Japan, up 4 percent 
from a year ago.  Some commentators have attributed the 
strong support for the treaty to rising anxiety in Japan 
caused by the North Korean missile and nuclear bomb tests 
this year and to the strong personal ties between 
President Bush and former Prime Minister Koizumi. 
However, polls sponsored by the State Department Office 
of Research (INR/R/AA) and Embassy Tokyo indicate that 
the upward trend in support for the alliance began before 
North KoreaQs missile and nuclear bomb tests of the last 
six months and that the strength of support for the 
alliance does not rely on strong personal ties between 
leaders. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Yomiuri-Gallup Poll (a telephone survey 
conducted in both Japan and the United States) is a much- 
watched snapshot of attitudes in both Japan and the U.S. 
that was conducted this year in mid-November.  Results 
regarding support for the security treaty were published 
in the Yomiuri Shimbun on December 2, 2006.  They confirm 
an upward trend in public support for the treaty that was 
apparent before the provocative North Korean missile 
tests in July and nuclear bomb test in October, although 
reaction to these events is doubtless a factor in the 
rise.  Polling conducted by the State Department's Office 
of Research (INR/R/AA) in conjunction with Embassy Tokyo 
in late May and early June 2006 indicated that eight-in- 
ten Japanese favored maintaining the security alliance 
with the U.S.  Meanwhile, large majorities thought it was 
important for the U.S. to maintain its military presence 
in East Asia (73 percent vs. 21 percent) and bases in 
Japan (67 percent vs. 27 percent) in order to maintain 
regional peace and stability.  Seven-in-ten (72 percent 
vs. 23 percent) said U.S. forces in Japan are important 
for JapanQs defense.  Smaller majorities (ranging from 51 
percent to 57 percent) said the same in 1995-96, when 
this question was last asked. 
 
¶3. (U) In a similar vein, the Yomiuri-Gallup poll asked 
what should be done about the troop strength of U.S. 
forces in Japan and 46 percent said it should be 
maintained at its current level, up 8 points from last 
year's survey.  This figure marked another all-time high. 
Meanwhile, 35 percent said troop levels should be 
reduced, down 8 points from last year. The same question 
has been asked seven times in the past, but the 
proportion of opinions calling for the troop strength of 
US forces in Japan to be sustained at its current level 
topped that of opinions calling for reductions only in 
the survey conducted in 2001 following the terrorist 
attacks in the United States. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Views on security issues occur against a broader 
backdrop of overall positive views of the U.S., so this 
upward trend in favorable views is good news for the 
whole relationship.  The May-June sample taken by the 
Office of Research and the embassy also showed that three- 
fourths had a favorable opinion of the U.S., unchanged 
since the fall of 2005; 77 percent thought that relations 
were in good shape Q off slightly from a November 2005 
peak (86 percent). 
 
¶5. (SBU) The broad strength of the U.S.-Japan 
relationship also appeared in an embassy-sponsored 
Internet poll conducted in early June 2006.  This survey 
found that 58 percent of respondents saw the personal 
relationship between President Bush and Prime Minister 
Koizumi as important to bilateral ties, while seven-in- 
ten believed that Japan's alliance with the U.S. would 
remain "about the same as now," while only one-in-ten saw 
a new prime minister making the alliance stronger. 
 
¶6. (U) Although recent polling is positive, last yearQs 
Yomiuri-Gallup poll indicated that there are weak points 
in public perceptions of the U.S.-Japan relationship. 
Since 2002, for example, the Yomiuri-Gallup poll has 
indicated that less than 50 percent of Japanese Qtrust 
the U.S.  Yomiuri analysts interpret this to be tied to 
negative views of the war in Iraq, contention over the 
 
realignment of U.S. bases in Japan, and the after effects 
of the U.S. rejection of the Kyoto treaty. Since the 2005 
poll showed that 53 percent of Japanese do not trust the 
U.S., it will be interesting to see the 2006 poll result 
on this question when the rest of the Yomiuri-Gallup poll 
is published later this month. 
SCHIEFFER