American Attitudes Toward Japan

AMERICAN attitudes toward Japan may be understood by considering opinion on two distinct but related topics. These are, first, opinion about Japan itself; and second, opinion on the policy which the American Government should follow in its relations with Japan. In discussing each of these topics, attention should be given not only to the prevailing attitudes at a given time, but also to the attitudes of particular elements of the public; for it must be recognized that different groups have displayed varying degrees of interest in Japan and have developed conflicting views on American policy.? A basic factor in the development of attitudes toward Japan has been an inherent barrier separating the American people from the Japanese. Dissimilarities of blood and culture have provided fertile ground in which seeds of distrust and suspicion could grow into open antagonism. When this condition is coupled with a natural sympathy for the underdog, it is not surprising that few Americans have supported Japan in the war against China. Polls taken at frequent intervals show a steady rise of sympathy for China. By February 1940, 2 per cent of the persons sampled in a Gallup poll expressed a wish to see Japan win the war, but 77 per cent favored China, with only 21 per cent undecided.2 Americans, moreover, have denounced what to them have appeared to be selfish designs for conquest in southeastern Asia. Japan's protestations of a desire to establish a new order of peace and security have met with scant consideration. Formal proclamation by Tokyo in the autumn of 1940 of a military alliance with the Axis partners in Europe served to intensify the distaste of the majority of Americans. Japan thus brought herself within the range of the hatred of most Americans for the methods and objectives of Hitler and Mussolini

China · Development economics · Distrust · East Asia · Economics · Government (linguistics · Opinion poll · Political science · Politics · Proclamation · Public opinion · Sympathy · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology

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