The nation should join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement free-trade accord now in the works, 65 percent of Japanese firms said in a recent opinion survey released by Teikoku Databank Ltd.
Only 8.6 percent of corporate respondents of the survey, which was released Tuesday, said Japan need not join the TPP, but most favored participation, saying, for example, it will be necessary for corporate survival as key contenders in the international marketplace.
However, opinion on the pact, which will eliminate tariffs on all goods in principle, was divided along industry, and regional, lines.
Nearly 70 percent of respondents in the services, real estate and manufacturing sectors favored joining the TPP, while 48.9 percent of firms in the farm, forestry and fisheries sector, which could bear the brunt of competition from low-priced imports, were against, outnumbering the 35.6 percent of respondents in the sector that were in favor.
The financial services sector's support for the accord was tepid at 54.2 percent.