Let me lead you through the streets of Moscow

by Brit Muscovite

We find it very important to know what do other people think about us. Do you agree? With this purpose I’d like to start today a new theme in this blog - attitude of russian people to different countries and nations. Before you go to Moscow, let you inform about.

Article by Yakusheva T. www.fom.ru

Japan

For all the problematic issues in relations between Russia and Japan, the majority of Russians (56%) regard the land of the rising sun as friendly towards the Russian Federation, an opinion especially typical of 18-to-35-year-olds, highly-educated respondents, supporters of Vladimir Putin and 'optimists'. 27% of those surveyed consider Japan to be an unfriendly state. In the Far East region, as many as 43% of those surveyed hold this opinion.

When asked "What do you think of first when you hear the word 'Japan'?"(an open-ended question), poll participants most often (15%) mentioned high living standards and economic development. Russians see Japan not only as a wealthy country, but as a dynamically developing one, a country on the move. Many respondents are excited by what they call an "economic miracle," the leap Japan has made in its development in spite of scarce natural resources and small territory. Especially impressive is the contrast between the achievements of Japan and Russia.

• "In a matter of fifty years, the country advanced from the middle ages to the level of the most highly-developed nations ."
• "It has risen reborn from the ashes."
• "A most wealthy state has emerged on poor islands."
Indicative of Japan's wealth are primarily the high technologies it possesses. Japan is viewed by Russians as the world leader in advanced technique and electronics (14%).
• "This power has managed to achieve the status of an electronic empire."
• "The most highly-developed country in the field of electronics."
• "The perfection of 21st century's technologies."
In this context, respondents recall the names of leading Japanese manufacturers such as "Sony," "Hitachi," "Toshiba," "Toyota," and others.

As to the causes of Japan's economic boom, Russians think (8%) it was primarily the national character of the Japanese that helped build the country up, in spite of unfavorable conditions. Cleverness, industry and discipline are named as their main national characteristics. In addition, Russians believe the Japanese population is very educated.
• "They are all clever."
• "A high intellectual level."
• "Highly educated people."
• "Workaholics."
• "Japanese industriousness."
• "Discipline and order."
• "A highly disciplined nation."
But as Russians see it, the Japanese possess more than just business abilities. The Russians' image of Japan is of a country of elevated culture and old traditions. 7% of respondents mentioned these national traditions and symbols in their responses.
• "A country of very high culture."
• "Whether they are drinking tea or growing flowers, they turn it all into art."
• "The land of the rising sun."
• "Blooming cherry-trees."
• "Old traditions, women in kimonos."
• "Ikebana, harakiri."
• "Martial arts."
• "Samurais, geishas."
In the view of Russians, life is harmonious in Japan, and its people are able to integrate material and spiritual demands, modern technology and ancient tradition. This unique trait constitutes the principal difference between Russian's image of Japan and their image of their own country, the USA and other Western countries. For example, drawing a comparison between Russia and America, respondents pointed at the fact that, though Americans have a high living standard, the nation is culturally underdeveloped and spiritually poor, whereas Russia, they said, is poor in material wealth, its people have a low standard of living, but it is superior spiritually, and Russian culture is very rich. As far as Japan is concerned, however, Russians feel no cultural superiority. At the same time, while recognizing the advantages of the Japanese way of life, Russian respondents are far from willing to adopt it, because they regard it as alien. In particular, they consider Japanese industriousness and love for order as excessive, as a focus group discussion in September 2000 showed.
• "Being Japanese means first of all working very hard. The Russian mentality is such that we would be neither willing or able to live like that, ever" (DFG, Samara).
The Kurile Islands dispute is believed to be the main problem in relations between the two countries. 10% of respondents mentioned this issue when answering an open-ended question on Japan. Most of them disapproved of Japan's stance:
• "They have little land, so they set their eyes on our land."
• "They raise claims on our islands."
• "Encroaching on the Kuriles."
Generally speaking, the respondents are well-informed on the territorial dispute. 69% of those surveyed say they 'know about it', and another 22% 'have heard something'. More than a half of the Russian population (54%) is convinced that the disputed territories should belong Russia and Japan should renounce its claim. This point of view is primarily advocated by supporters of Gennady Zyuganov (72%) and residents of the Far East federal district (70%), to which the Kurile Islands belong. 10% of those surveyed say a solution to the problem must be postponed until the far future.

The disputed of the Kurile Islands being jointly governed by Russia and Japan is an idea that enjoys the support of 15% of Russians, especially those with a higher education. Half of the experts also believe that Russia should not wholly cede the Kurile Islands to Japan, but may administer them together with the Japanese. The opponents of returning the islands to Japan mostly adduce two arguments: first, it would run against the strategic military interests of Russia, and second, it would damage the country's prestige in the eyes of its population, as well as of the world community.

• "If they put between the islands of the Kurile Archipelago, our Pacific Fleet will be locked in Vladivostok" (expert, Barnaul).

• "These are strategic islands, it's a frontier. I think we can't give them back, but they can be used jointly" (expert, Ivanovo).

• "What we are worried about are not these islands themselves, but the American navy getting access to this sea" (expert, Yekaterinburg). • "For us these islands are important as a political symbol, a symbol of our not yielding to Japan's jackboot" (expert, St. Petersburg). According to the experts' estimation, the Kurile Islands are of no economic value.
• "They represent no particular value economically, but the coastal waters are valuable. They are fish-rich and strategically important" (expert, Ryazan). Experts speaking in favor of joint administration point out that it would help release the tension existing between Russia and Japan, provide economic growth for the islands as well as for the Far East region as a whole, and substantially improve the living standards of the local population. • "Just keeping them means suppressing a problem that will pop up sooner or later. Just selling them away will lead to the money being either stolen or eaten up. A third way is preferable, that is joint ownership" (expert, St. Petersburg). • "There is a prospect for pretty close contact with Western civilization, technologies coming to Russia, exchange of specialists and opportunities for our specialists to gain access to Western technology" (expert, St. Petersburg). • "Japan is closer to them. It will make life easier for our people down there, who suffer today under horrible circumstances" (expert, Krasnodar). Both the regional experts and rank-and-file Russians are skeptical about the idea of selling the Kurile Islands to Japan. Only 6% of the population finds this reasonable, as do one-fourth of the experts. Opponents of selling the Kurile Islands are mostly guided by two considerations. First, they believe that it is morally unacceptable; second, they believe Japan wouldn't buy the islands even if Russia were willing to sell them. • "I think we can't do that. It's what they call indecent" (expert, Ivanovo). • "You don't make a market of your mother country" (expert, Ryazan). • "It's a visionary idea. Japan won't buy these islands. It doesn't need them economically. It needs them as a political symbol" (expert, St. Petersburg). • "Suppose we'd like to sell them, but who will buy? I don't seem to remember the Japanese ever said they would buy them. There were no such offers" (expert, Kemerovo). • The kurile islands issue, according to 37% of the respondents, is equally important for both russia and japan. Among these, most think that joint administration of the four disputed islands would be the best solution. 27% of russians think the issue is more important for the japanese than for themselves. Those who represent this point of view more often than others speak in favor of postponing a decision on the kurile islands until the far future. Respondents thinking that the islands are more important for russia make up 23% of those surveyed, but among residents of the far east region, 42% think so. People who see the situation this way are mostly convinced that the disputed territories should belong to russia, and japan should renounce its claim on them.
The prevailing opinion among the experts as well as ordinary Russians is that the Kurile Islands issue is equally important for both Russia and Japan. More than a half of the reresentatives of the regional elite subscribe to this point of view. The experts adduce various reasons for the two countries' equal concern about the islands. Each of these reasons is solid enough to account for Russia as well as Japan standing upon their respective interests.
• "For Russia, it is rather a political issue, and for Japan it is a social-demographic one" (expert, St. Petersburg).• "I think it is important for both sides. Russia has its interests: there are military bases there. It is not for nothing that they exist there. Japan, in turn, probably has a land problem. A small country with a high population density. For them the Kurile Islands must be of great significance" (expert, Vladimir).
About one-third of the experts believe that this issue is more important for Japan than for Russia. The number of those who hold the opposite opinion is much smaller among the regional elite than among ordinary Russians. Speaking about the Kurile Islands as an important issue for Japan, most experts refer to the country's small territory and say that repossessing the islands is one the leading national ideas in Japan, which is trying hard to recover from the effects of numerous wars.
• "It is not a problem for us. We just don't give them back, and that's it. It's the Japanese who have made a problem of it, because Japan has limited territory" (expert, Barnaul).• "Of course, for the samurais... They dream from when they are little about grabbing all that actually doesn't belong them, but was ceded to them by Russia because of it's infirmity" (expert, Ryazan).

• "For Japan, of course. Probably they don't have enough land. Maybe it is also interested in the sea basin, for fishing and other ends" (expert, Vladimir).

• "For Japan: it is a national hang-up of theirs, and a very serious one" (expert, Saratov).

WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL US, WHAT IS THE CAPITAL CITY OF JAPAN?

IN YOUR VIEW, IS JAPAN FRIENDLY OR UNFRIENDLY TOWARDS RUSSIA?

THERE IS A TERRITORIAL DISPUTE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND JAPAN OVER OWNERSHIP OF THE KURILE ISLANDS. DO YOU KNOW, HAVE YOU HEARD SOMETHING, OR IS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT THIS PROBLEM?

WHAT STANCE DO YOU THINK RUSSIA SHOULD TAKE ON THE KURILE ISLANDS ISSUE?

FOR WHOM DO YOU THINK THE KURILE ISLANDS ISSUE IS MORE IMPORTANT: RUSSIA, JAPAN, OR IS IT EQUALLY IMPORTANT FOR BOTH SIDES?

OPEN-ENDED QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF FIRST WHEN YOU HEAR THE WORD "JAPAN"?

Article by Yakusheva T. www.fom.ru

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