Business news from Ukraine

Japan remains one of the Asian countries with the highest level of positive perception among Ukrainians: in August 2026, 67.7% of respondents viewed it positively, while only 3.3% viewed it negatively. At the same time, compared to the previous wave of the survey, the share of positive assessments has decreased slightly, according to the Experts Club Information and Analytical Center.

According to the results of the August survey, 30.1% of Ukrainians view Japan entirely positively, and 37.6% view it mostly positively. A neutral stance is held by 26.6% of respondents. 2.5% view the country mostly negatively, 0.8% view it entirely negatively, and another 2.3% were undecided.

The balance between positive and negative assessments stands at plus 64.4 percentage points. Thus, positive attitudes toward Japan outnumber negative ones by more than 20 to 1, and over two-thirds of respondents have a favorable perception of the country.

In March 2026, 71.8% of Ukrainians had a positive attitude toward Japan: 32.9% viewed it entirely positively and 38.9% viewed it mostly positively. A neutral stance was held by 24.2% of respondents, negative attitudes accounted for 2.8%, and another 1.2% were undecided.

Thus, over the course of five months, the share of positive assessments decreased by 4.1 percentage points—from 71.8% to 67.7%. The negative segment increased by only 0.5 percentage points—to 3.3%, while the share of neutral responses rose by 2.4 percentage points—to 26.6%. The balance between positive and negative attitudes decreased from plus 69 to plus 64.4 percentage points, respectively.

These trends primarily indicate a slight decline in the intensity of positive attitudes rather than the emergence of a negative image. The share of entirely positive responses fell from 32.9% to 30.1%, and that of mostly positive responses—from 38.9% to 37.6%. Negative assessments, meanwhile, remain at a very low level.

Oleksandr Pozniy, director of the research firm Active Group, commenting on the results of the previous wave of the survey, emphasized the stability of Japan’s positive image among Ukrainians.

“For Ukrainians, Japan is an example of a country with a high level of trust and a consistently positive image. We see that even without any major news events, perceptions of Japan are gradually improving. This means that a long-term reputation and a consistent policy of cooperation are far more effective than short-term media effects,” Pozniy noted.

The latest round of the survey shows a slight decline in the figures compared to March, but this does not change the overall picture: Japan continues to have a distinctly positive image in Ukrainian society, and negative attitudes toward it remain minimal.

The survey was conducted in August 2026 using self-administered online questionnaires in the SunFlowerSociology panel among 800 Ukrainian citizens aged 18 and older. The previous survey in March also included 800 respondents; the sample was representative by age, gender, and region, with a maximum theoretical margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points at the 50% confidence level.