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Introduction As a percentage of GDP, Japan has not been an especially generous donor of development aid compared with many other developed economies, although it is more generous than some – notably the United States (McDonnell et al. 2003, p. 14, fig. 11.1). As a democracy, public opinion has the potential to influence Japan’s aid policy. What sort of influence, if any, has the public exerted? This chapter looks at a variety of Japanese opinion polls to examine public support for development aid in order to address three questions. First, is the Japanese public supportive of development assistance? Second, to the extent that it is, for what reasons does development assistance attract public support? Third, does public opinion influence aid policy? To answer these questions, this chapter examines in particular the annual survey conducted by Japan’s Foreign Ministry in cooperation with the Cabinet Office, entitled Gaikō ni kansuru yoron chōsa [The Survey on Diplomacy].2 After briefly examining two approaches to the study of public opinion and its influence on policy, this chapter uses results from this poll to assess the state of public opinion on development assistance. Subsequent sections examine whether politicians pay any attention to public opinion on development aid when seeking support at election time, whether shifting patterns of public affinity with, or antipathy towards, China have influenced Japan’s aid policy towards China, and how the public is likely to influence the implementation of the 2015 Development Cooperation Charter.
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