Most Japanese patriotic but want WW2 reflection-poll

TOKYO, Jan 25 (Reuters) Most Japanese are mildly proud of their homeland, while one-fifth are staunchly patriotic and an equal proportion feel little or no love for their country, a newspaper survey showed today.

Japanese patriotism has been viewed with suspicion in Asia since World War Two, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to make Japan a ''beautiful country'' proud of its past -- though the Asahi Shimbun poll showed younger Japanese felt less patriotic.

Concerning Japan's wartime past, 85 per cent in the poll said the country should ''strongly'' or ''somewhat'' reflect on its aggression in Asia.

In the survey of 1,805 voting-age Japanese, 20 per cent said they had strong feelings of patriotism while 58 per cent said they had some sense of patriotism.

But 17 per cent said they had little love for their country and three per cent said they had no feeling of patriotism at all.

Still, 94 per cent of those surveyed said they were happy to have been born in Japan.

Asked if patriotism should be taught in schools, 50 per cent of overall respondents approved and 41 per cent disapproved.

Abe, who took office in September, has pledged to inject more patriotism and discipline into Japan's schools.

Critics worry the revision will bring up memories of the militarist education that underpinned Japan's aggression in Asia in the early 20th century and do little to resolve real problems such as bullying.

Japan's ties with neighbours such as China and South Korea have been strained, with the countries accusing Tokyo of refusing to admit to atrocities committed by its soldiers during World War Two.

REUTERS PB KP0934