Despite Successful Evaluation of Japan Olympics, Suga Prime Minister's Approval Rating Hits Lowest

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Although the Tokyo Olympics in Japan are being evaluated as a success, public opinion for replacing Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has increased.

According to a telephone survey conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun from the 7th to the 9th with 1,065 voters nationwide (based on valid responses), 64% of respondents ultimately thought that hosting the Olympics was "a good decision," while only 28% disagreed.

However, the approval rating for the Suga Cabinet was 35%, which is 2 percentage points lower than the survey conducted last month. The approval rating for the Suga Cabinet, which soared to 74% at its launch in September last year, has dropped by more than half in less than a year, setting a new low.

In this survey, the person whom the Japanese public considers most suitable as the next prime minister was former Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba at 19%, followed by Vaccine Minister Taro Kono at 18%, and Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi at 17%.

Although the Suga Cabinet received evaluations for relatively successfully holding the Tokyo Olympics under the difficult circumstances of COVID-19, the collapse of its support base is analyzed to be primarily due to the worsening COVID-19 situation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.