Only 37.6 percent of Japanese feel friendship toward China, down 10.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to a Cabinet Office survey.

It is the lowest showing since the government started the survey on diplomacy in 1975. The previous low was 39.4 percent in 1996.

Meanwhile, a record-high 56.7 percent of respondents have a positive feeling toward South Korea, topping the previous high of 55.5 percent in 2003. There is currently a "South Korea boom" in Japan, fueled in part by the hit television show "Winter Sonata."

Those who consider diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea as good stood at 55.5 percent.

Analysts say recent unfavorable incidents, such as China's reaction to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine and anti-Japanese sentiment by Chinese at the Asian Cup soccer tournament last summer, have affected public opinion on China.

Survey respondents who do not feel friendly toward China came in at 58.2 percent, up from 48 percent in last year's survey.

A sharp drop was seen in those who perceive Japan-China diplomatic relations as good at 28.1 percent, down from 46.9 percent.

The survey was conducted in October on 3,000 people aged 20 and above, with 2,067, or 68.9 percent, responding.

As for the United States, 71.8 percent of the respondents said they feel friendship, down by 4 percentage points. Those who find Japan-U.S. diplomatic ties to be doing well also dropped slightly, from 79.1 percent to 76.7 percent.

Feelings of friendliness toward Russia was down, from 20 percent to 16.3 percent.