Filipinos’ relationship with Japan appears to have gone full circle, if a research study by a Japanese IT company is any indication.
From hating the Japanese for the killings and hardships during World War II (when one million Filipinos died), Filipinos have come to love their former colonizer.
A survey in 13 countries and one territory (Hong Kong) in May 2024 by Japanese information technology and services firm, Aun Consulting Company Limited, on the degree of affinity — or having a favorable impression of Japan — showed Filipinos on top, alongside Indonesians.
No one among the 107 Filipinos and 107 Indonesians surveyed said they hated Japan. All of them either said “I love it” or “I like it.”
However, Filipinos had a higher number of respondents saying they “love” Japan than simply “liking” it.
“Indonesia and the Philippines tied for first place with the highest combined score for ‘I love it’ and ‘I like it.’ The Philippines had the highest ‘I love it’ response rate of 77.1% of the surveyed countries,” according to a Google translation of the research.
Among the Indonesians surveyed, 7.5% said they love Japan while 92.5% said they like it.
For Filipinos, 77.7% said they love Japan, while 22.9% said they like it.
Being the Philippines’ top Official Development Assistance (ODA) donor appears to have been a key factor in the change of heart in the past half a century.
“Reasons for the high favorability of the Philippines include Japan’s support for the country’s infrastructure (highways, airports, roads, etc.) and the fact that it is one of the Philippines’ largest trading countries,” said the study.
The 11 other countries and one territory plus the number of respondents (in brackets) included in the survey were Australia (107), China (106), Hong Kong (108), India (113), Malaysia (108), Singapore (107), South Korea (109, Taiwan (108), Thailand (107), United Kingdom (108), United States (107), and Vietnam (107).
All the respondents were 20 years or older.
At the other end of the spectrum, China, which was also partly occupied by Japan and likewise suffered during World War II, had the highest combined score for “disliking” or “hating” Japan at 47.2%. A slim majority of 52.8% of the respondents from China said they either like (37.7%) Japan or love it (15.1%).
People-to-people ties
Japan’s decision to open its doors to tourists from the Philippines and other ASEAN countries in 2013 could be one of the reasons for the warming of people-to-people ties.
From the 1980s to 1990s, most of the Filipino visitors to Japan were migrant workers, including the so-called Japayukis who worked in the Land of the Rising Sun’s entertainment sector. Occasionally, there would be friction in the relationship whenever a Japayuki would end up abused or even killed. Japan eventually closed its doors to what critics called a form of human trafficking around a decade ago and today, most visitors from the Philippines go there for sightseeing.
In 2024, there was a new record high of 818,700 Filipino visitors (tourists, business travelers, etc.) to Japan, a 31.6% increase from the 622,293 in 2023. The Philippines was Japan’s eighth largest market next to South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US, Thailand, and Australia.
So many Filipinos now want to travel to Japan that it could now take around two months to process short-term visas, the Japanese embassy in Manila recently warned. Some applicants may get frustrated over the longer wait, although accredited travel agencies that accept visa applications say it usually takes 7-14 working days, not two months, to send back the applications.
The same Aun Consulting study also found that Indonesians and Filipinos, majority (over 60%) of whom had never been to Japan, were the most willing to visit Japan.
For respondents who were considering a trip to Japan and were asked, “When would you like to go to Japan?” Indonesia was number one with 49.5% saying, “I want to go soon/I already have plans to go.” The Philippines was second with 39.4%. India was third (31.9%), followed by Vietnam (28%), and Hong Kong (24.1%).
“With the (weak) yen as a driving force, Japan’s popularity continues in terms of Japanese food, culture, subculture such as anime, nature, and tourist attractions such as temples and shrines and it is expected that the number of foreign visitors to Japan will remain strong in the future,” the study said.
Historically, Filipinos have had very close ties with America, given the 4.2 million Filipino migrants in the so-called Land of Opportunity, but it seems Filipinos may have just found a new love. – Rappler.com