65% of Japanese feel proud of anime and manga culture: Mainichi poll

Sixty-five percent of Japanese feel a sense of pride about anime and manga as unique Japanese culture, according to the results of a Mainichi Shimbun survey released on Oct. 25.

The 71st survey on reading by the Mainichi Shimbun, carried out from July to September this year, also found that those who feel a sense of pride about manga and anime as Japanese culture greatly outnumbered those who didn't feel pride at 5 percent, and those who didn't have any interest in it at 29 percent.

Popular franchises such as "One Piece," "Dragon Ball" and "Doraemon" have attracted fans around the world, and exporting manga and anime internationally is one of the main pillars of the government's "Cool Japan" strategy. The opinion poll also asked if respondents were aware of this policy, and 55 percent said that they were, while 44 percent said they were not.

Out of those who were aware of the Cool Japan strategy, the proportion of those who felt pride in anime and manga rose to 76 percent, while only 53 percent of those unaware of the project expressed pride. From these results, it can be said that the government's policy to export Japanese culture abroad has affected how people think about contents like anime and manga at home.

The survey was sent by mail to 3,588 men and women aged 16 and older nationwide, and received 2,336 valid responses.