Kishida rating sinks to new low

e approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plunged to an all-time low of 51% directly a er a Cabinet reshu e, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun nationwide opinion survey. is made for a 6-point drop from the previous survey.

According to an urgent public opinion poll conducted by e Yomiuri Shimbun on Aug. 10 and 11, the disapproval rate for the Cabinet hit a record high of 34%, up from 32% in the previous survey conducted on Aug. 5 to 7.

However, when compared to average approval ratings of cabinets led by Liberal Democratic Party prime ministers in recent years, support for the Kishida Cabinet remains high. e average cabinet approval ratings were 56% while Junichiro Koizumi was prime minister, 47% when Shinzo Abe rst held the o ce, 38% for Yasuo Fukuda, 26% for Taro Aso, 53% during the period when Abe returned to o ce, and 48% for Yoshihide Suga.

With regard to Kishida’s request that his new Cabinet members personally inspect and review their links to the Family Federation for World Peace and Uni cation — widely known as the Uni

cation Church — 36% thought Kishida’s request was an adequate response, while 55% said it wasn’t.

e survey showed that voters remain critical of links between the Uni cation Church and political parties such as the LDP.

Forty- ve percent said they support the Cabinet reshu e as a whole, while 34% said they do not.

When asked to rate the appointment of Taro Kono as digital minister, 63% said they support the move and 21% said they do not. As for the choice of Koichi Hagiuda as chairperson of the LDP’s Policy Research Council, 32% said they support it and 40% said they do not.

Asked how long they would like Kishida to continue as prime minister, 45% said “until September 2024, when the LDP president’s term expires,” down from 52% in the July survey, followed by “as long as possible” at 21%, down from 27% in the last survey, and “about a year” at 19%, up from 12%.

e percentage of those who said they would like to see Kishida replaced immediately accounted for 10% of respondents, compared to 6% in the previous survey.

e results showed a downward trend in the number of respondents who want the administration to continue longterm.

When asked which party they supported, 35% of respondents chose the LDP, down from 38% in the previous survey, marking the lowest percentage since the Kishida Cabinet was formed.

Support for the opposition parties remained virtually unchanged, with 6% choosing the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and 5% Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party), while 37% of respondents described themselves as independent voters, up from 36% in the previous survey.

UNUSUAL DROP IN SUPPORT

e drop in support for the Kishida

Cabinet following the reshu e is unusual given that reshu es typically raise people’s expectations for the Cabinet.

In the 17 previous Cabinet reshufes since the rst Koizumi Cabinet, including reshu es for cabinets led by the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, the approval rating fell immediately a er a Cabinet reshu e on three occasions, remained unchanged twice and rose on 12 occasions.

During Abe’s second stint as prime minister, there was only one drop in six reshu es of the cabinets.

e survey was conducted by calling 770 households and 1,605 users of mobile phones using random digit dialing. All respondents were eligible voters age 18 or older. A total of 1,095 respondents gave valid answers, with 448 valid answers on landline phones and 647 on mobile phones. (Aug. 13)