85% of Americans support security treaty: annual survey

Eighty-five percent of Americans support the Japan-U.S. security treaty, while Japan's closed markets topped the list of reasons a trade imbalance exists between the two countries, according to an annual poll released Friday.

The Foreign Ministry poll on U.S. attitudes toward Japan was conducted in the United States in March by Gallup on 1,509 members of the general public and 375 opinion leaders. The results show that 61 percent of the general public and 85 percent of experts thought of Japan as a dependable ally and friend.

The survey reveals that most Americans think the bilateral alliance is important for the security of the U.S., getting a positive response from 89 percent of the general public and 82 percent of the opinion leaders.