Study on Comparison of Citizens’ Environmental Awareness Among Four Cities in China and Japan

Abstract

This study aims to compare governmental activities and citizens’ consciousness in environmental protection in China and Japan. The citizens’ environmental awareness and the relevant acts were examined by designing and distributing questionnaires to citizens in urban and rural cities in China and Japan. The results demonstrate that there are more differences between the two countries than between urban and rural cities inside the same country. Chinese people pay more attention to local severe problems, and require more garbage classification while Japanese people are relatively satisfied with the current environmental situations. Past trends of the accessible environment could positively affect citizens’ perspectives for the environment in the future.
Key words: Environmental awareness; Citizen; China; Japan; Social survey