After the Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi stated that Japan could intervene militarily if China used force against Taiwan, Beijing moved to impose a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports and advised Chinese tourists to strongly reconsider visiting Japan. Such sanctions are already affecting Japanese department stores, carriers and tourist attractions. Takaichi has refused to retract her comments, and the issue continues to escalate tensions between the two countries.
Rising tensions between China and Japan have seen Taiwan stepping in to offset some of the damage to Japanʼs economy. William Lai, the president of Taiwan, has shared a post of himself having sushi for lunch to encourage Taiwanese to buy more Japanese seafood. Many Taiwanese politicians and businesses likewise are promoting Japanese products.
Such a show of support echoes an earlier incident where Japan gave Taiwan support when facing pressure from China. In 2021, Beijing banned imports of Taiwanese pineapples. Abe Shinzo, the Japanese PM of the time, promoted Taiwanese pineapples on social media; Japan ended up ordering a record number of Taiwanese pineapples.
Other examples of support demonstrating close ties between the two countries include Taiwanʼs significant financial and humanitarian support following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and Tsunami, Japanʼs donation of over a million vaccines and vocal support for Taiwanʼs participation in the WHO during COVID-19, and Japanese parliamentary and official visits to Taiwan, despite Chinese protests. Also notable is how solemnly the former Japanese PM Abe Shinzoʼs death was commemorated in Taiwan – with thousands of Taiwanese attending Japanese representative offices in Taiwan, flags on public institutions raised in half mast, and expressions of solidarity by the Taiwanese president and vice president of the time.
Such high-level support between Taipei and Tokyo easily dominates international headlines but fails to capture how widespread and deep such support is on a grassroots people-to-people level in both countries.
Japanese Clearly Distinguish Taiwanese from Chinese
While Beijing seeks to promote a view of Taiwan as part of China, the majority of the Japanese do not hold such a view. Recent polls reveal that as many as 70% of Japanese see Taiwan as an independent country and support diplomatic relations. Such a sentiment goes beyond recognition: 77% of Japanese report feeling close to Taiwan. Taiwan ranks as the second most popular travel destination for Japanese tourists, only surpassed by South Korea.
The pro-Japan sentiment in Taiwan is even stronger: around 76% of Taiwanese pick Japan as their favourite country, and 86% report feelings of closeness to Japan. For Taiwanese tourists, Japan is the most popular travel destination, and compared with tourists from other countries, Taiwanese tourists are the highest spenders.
While warm feelings between Taiwan and Japan are growing, they are only declining between Japan and China. A stunning 88% of Chinese report negative views towards Japan, with such negative perceptions only increasing. Likewise, according to some surveys, 92% of the Japanese have a bad impression of China.
Tourism patterns and survey responses indicate reciprocal appreciation and how clearly Japanese people distinguish Taiwan from China. The current tensions show that Taiwan-Japan solidarity goes beyond tourism and survey responses.
A Mutual Grassroots Show of Support
To get a sense of how Japanese and especially Taiwanese people are expressing their support for each other, I surveyed some of the most trending posts on Threads – one of the most widely used social media apps in Taiwan.
Unfortunately, threadsʼ algorithms may limit the breadth of the search results by creating an echo-chamber. The statements below, therefore, must be taken with a grain of salt and may be more indicative of pro-Japanese sentiment in Taiwan.
Both Taiwan and Japan have been using design, producing cute characters and posters, to express support for each other. The most popular designer during the recalls, 台派寶寶, also known as Bb, produced little characters depicting Japanese pineapple and Taiwanese sushi diplomacy. These designs feature the late Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and the current Taiwanese president William Lai.