Public’s Views of Japan Mixed, Contradictory

Although seven in 10 Americans view Japan as a threat and would support protectionist trade measures, half also believe Japan is being blamed unfairly for a trade crisis that is of the United States’ own making, according to the Times Poll.

The findings reflect mixed, and sometimes sharply contradictory, attitudes toward Japan at a time when rhetoric is heating up over the troubled bilateral economic relationship. Japanese leaders made a series of pejorative remarks about the American work ethic last month, escalating tension and striking a raw nerve in the recession-weary public.

The latest poll suggests that instead of growing into a “Japan-bashing” backlash, the public’s frustrations about trade are being held in check by a recognition of America’s own shortcomings and responsibilities, said John Brennan, director of the Times Poll.

“This is what holds back the public from becoming massively anti-Japanese, the sense that we have nobody to blame but ourselves,” he said. “The conventional wisdom is that Americans are up in arms about Japan, but I just don’t see it.”

Specifically, the nationwide telephone survey of 1,776 adults between Jan. 31 and Feb. 3 found:

* Forty-five percent of the respondents said they “generally avoid products made in Japan” when they make purchases, suggesting a broad receptivity to recent “Buy American” campaigns. In contrast, only 26% replied that they avoided Japanese products in a September, 1985, survey by The Times.

* Seventy percent said it should be U.S. policy to “restrict foreign imports in order to protect jobs and domestic industries,” roughly the same level found in a series of Times polls over the past decade.

* Slightly fewer than one-third of those contacted said they consider Japan a “very serious threat” to the United States, while another 39% said the threat from Japan is “fairly serious.” Taken together, 70% signaled a negative concern about Japan.

* When respondents were asked to select among potential remedies for the ailing economy, 41% made “tightening restrictions on trade with Japan” one of their two choices, more than any other choice. Cutting taxes for the average American followed at 38%. (Other options were lowering the federal deficit, 29%; reducing taxes for the wealthy, 8%; spending more on public works programs, 21%; and cutting interest rates, 19%.)

* But when asked if they thought “Japan is being blamed unfairly for a trade crisis that is really the fault of the United States,” 50% said yes, a sharp rise from the 35% who expressed that opinion in the 1985 Times survey. Four in 10 said Japan was not being blamed unfairly, down slightly from 44% in 1985.

The survey findings reinforce what many pundits and Washington insiders have said about the possibility of Japan becoming a major issue in this year’s presidential election campaign: It seems unlikely.

“Concern about Japan is gradually rising, but I don’t think we’ve seen it become a primary focus among our economic issues--it looks like a second-tier thing,” Brennan said. “One looks back at Richard Gephardt’s 1988 presidential campaign, when he tried to harness this (antipathy toward Japan) and it didn’t go anywhere. I think it’s the same situation this year.”

But the results also betray a sense of frustration and confusion among much of the public on the complex issues of the economy and foreign trade. Of the survey respondents who characterized Japan as a “very serious threat,” 43% also said Japan is being unfairly blamed for trade friction, reflecting widespread ambivalence.

Beverly Putnam, the wife of a manufacturing supervisor who participated in the telephone survey, said she is sympathetic to Japan because it has produced reliable automobiles while Detroit has fallen behind on quality.

“All things being equal we’d prefer to buy American, but it isn’t easy,” said Putnam, 54, of Elk River, Minn. “Right now we’re looking for a large pickup truck, and because the Japanese don’t make them, we have no choice but to buy a U.S. truck. But we’re having a real hard time finding a salesman to sell us one--they won’t go out of their way to give us what we want. It didn’t used to be that way.”

Yet Putnam, despite her admiration of Japanese manufacturing quality, believes Japan is a “serious threat” to America’s economic well-being.

“Just from hearing about what’s been going on over the past several years, with the Japanese buying up our companies and real estate, I’m very concerned,” Putnam said. “It’s not really clear what they have in mind to do.”

Another respondent, Sam Miller, a restaurant owner in Youngstown, Ohio, said it’s not the fault of the Japanese that they have prospered while America’s economy declined. The blame, he said, should be placed on the U.S. government, which “is responsible for the trade agreements we make with foreign governments and should make sure we get treated fairly.

“I don’t believe we have a fair deal in our trade with Japan, because we’re open to their products and they’re closed to ours,” Miller, 53, said. “I believe in an eye for an eye, and it’s not Japan’s fault that the American government doesn’t protect our interests.”

In the past, a solid majority of Americans have held friendly opinions about Japan and the Japanese, a review of public opinion polls shows. Typically, about two-thirds of Americans felt favorably about Japan, in contrast to the one-third or less who harbored unfavorable sentiments.

But recent surveys suggest that the positive feelings may be wearing thin. A Gallup poll conducted in November found that 47% of the respondents felt favorably about Japan, relatively close to the 41% who felt unfavorably. This measure of declining esteem for Japan, it should be noted, came immediately before the highly publicized 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which may have temporarily shaped opinion.

The most recent flare-up in the transpacific war of words appears to have made a deeply negative impression on how Americans perceive Japanese attitudes about the United States, according to a CBS/New York Times poll conducted in January.

Two-thirds of the respondents thought Japanese “look down” on Americans, compared to 23% who said that Japanese respect Americans. In the same survey, 40% of respondents said U.S. goods are not sold in Japan because of Tokyo government restrictions, compared to 19% who said U.S. quality is lower and 31% who said U.S. companies do not try hard enough.

BOYCOTT SUGGESTED: NAACP official urges blacks not to buy Japanese cars. D1

HOW THE POLL WAS CONDUCTED

The Los Angeles Times Poll interviewed 1,776 adult Americans nationwide by telephone, Jan. 31 to Feb. 3. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list that includes all telephone exchanges in the United States. Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that both listed and unlisted households had an opportunity to be contacted. Results were adjusted slightly to conform with census figures on variables such as sex, race and national origin, age, education and household size. The margin of sampling error for percentages based on the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points; the error margin for subgroups may be somewhat higher. Poll results can also be influenced by other factors such as the wording of questions and the order in which questions are presented.

THE TIMES POLL

No Outpouring of Blame at Japan

Instead of a backlash of “Japan-bashing,” frustrations seem to be held in check by a critical recognition of America’s own shortcomings, results of a Times Poll indicate.

How serious a threat is Japan to the United States? Very serious: 31% Fairly serious: 39% Not so serious: 18% Not serious: 9% Don’t know: 3%

Is Japan being blamed unfairly for a trade crisis that is really America’s fault? (Percentage answering “Yes”) Sept. 1985: 35% Feb. 1992: 50%

When you make a purchase, do you generally avoid products made in Japan? (Percentage answering “Yes”) Sept. 1985: 26% Feb. 1992: 45% Source: Los Angeles Times national polls, latest conducted Jan. 31-Feb. 3