The government appears to be disregarding public opinion here and siding with American sentiment in shaping Tokyo's stance toward a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq.
At a news conference Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said, "U.S. public opinion cannot be ignored," when asked about surging anti-French sentiment in Washington, where Capitol Hill restaurants renamed "French fries" on menus as "Freedom fries."
Fukuda made the comment while criticizing French moves to veto a six-point British proposal to force Iraq to disarm. "America has been a country (that is swayed by) public opinion since long ago," he said. Recent opinion polls in the U.S. show the American population roughly split on whether to support the threatened war with Iraq.