U.S.National Image In Japanese Public Since Postwar Ⅱ

The formulation and implementation of any country’s foreign strategy depends not only on the needs of its own interests,but also on its national image in other countries.Japan and U.S.are both great powers and have a pivotal position in the international community,and Japan-U.S.relations are one of the most important bilateral relations in the international landscape.Against the background of the U.S.continuing to promote the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" and the ongoing trade conflict between China and the U.S.,the rise of right-wing conservatism in Japan,and the constant friction and escalation of conflicts between China and Japan,studying Japanese people’s perceptions of the U.S.is important in judging Japan-U.S.bilateral relations,conducting public diplomacy with Japan,and shaping China’s great power image.The study of Japanese people’s perceptions of the United States has important theoretical and practical significance in judging Japan-U.S.bilateral relations,conducting public diplomacy with Japan,and shaping China’s national image.In this study,we select the research results and statistical data on Japanese people’s perceptions of the United States from the Asian Barometer(Wave 5),the NHK and the Hoover Research Center to directly obtain the image of the United States in Japanese and analyze the specific situation of Japanese’s perceptions of the United States.First,Japanese’s perceptions of the United States are both positive and negative.Japanese recognize the strong comprehensive power and international influence of the U.S.,and are satisfied with the bilateral alliance,considering the U.S.as a reliable ally.On the other side,on issues involving national interests,the public’s perception of the U.S.results in changes once U.S.actions may affect or harm Japan’s national interests.In alliance relations,the public perceives the U.S.dominance and absolute voice as detrimental to alliance relations and thus shows a certain degree of antipathy toward the U.S.A small number of respondents even expressed their desire for their country to dissolve its alliance with the United States.The results of the poll show that there are two sides to the perception of the U.S.by the Japanese public and society.On the one hand,the public wants to "lean on" the U.S.to enhance its status in the international community through its status as a "U.S.ally" and to reduce its military means and actions to maintain regional and global peace.On the other hand,the Japanese do not want the U.S.to interfere in their own affairs,especially when it comes to their real interests,and the Japanese people show their aversion to U.S.involvement.In general,Japanese people’s perception of the United States is distinctly two-sided,with both "Americanism" and "anti-Americanism".To address this phenomenon,the study uses Brunswick’s "cognitive lens" theory to construct a national image cognitive mechanism and analyze the factors affecting Japanese’s perception of the United States from three aspects:cognitive pathways,cognitive subjects,and cognitive contexts.In terms of cognitive pathways,the correlation between personal experience and media exposure and people’s favorable perceptions of the United States was examined,and the results showed that when Japanese have visited the United States,their perceptions of the United States are more positive and their favorable perceptions of the United States increase significantly.In terms of cognitive subjects,after receiving information about the United States,people integrate and internalize that information.In this process,factors such as historical memory,cultural interactions and economic and trade contacts influence people’s judgment and evaluation of other countries,and to a certain extent shape the public’s cognitive outcome of other countries.In terms of cognitive context,with the rapid rise of China,Japanese sees China as its rival and further strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance has become the primary choice of the Japanese,but although Japan and the U.S.share the same goal of containing China,the two countries have divergent priorities.It is under the influence of these three factors that the public’s perception of the U.S.has become distinctly two-sided.From the results of the above analysis,the "two-sidedness" of Japanese’s perception of the U.S.will continue for some time in the future.In the short term,Japan is currently unable to counter China on its own,and strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance remains the mainstream view in Japanese society.In the long run,Japan fears that the weakening of the United States will leave a power vacuum in the Asia-Pacific region and that the Japan-US alliance will be subordinated to the new Sino-US relationship.In this context,the trust of Japanese society in the United States will inevitably decline.