Kishida Records Approval Rating in the 30% Range in NHK Survey... "Ignoring Public Opinion"

Lowest Record Since Cabinet Inauguration
Lack of Execution Cited as Cause
Positive Response to Defense Budget Increase Precedes

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The approval rating of the Kishida Fumio Cabinet has fallen into the 30% range for the first time in an NHK public opinion poll conducted by Japan's public broadcaster NHK. It is analyzed that suspicions involving politicians of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church), as well as Prime Minister Kishida's inadequate policy execution, have influenced the decline in approval ratings.

NHK reported that the approval rating of the Kishida Cabinet was 38%, down 2 percentage points from the previous month, based on a survey conducted over three days starting from the 8th, targeting 2,375 adults aged 18 and over. According to NHK's public opinion poll standards, this is the first time since the cabinet's inauguration that the approval rating has fallen into the 30% range. The percentage of respondents who do not support the cabinet increased by 3 percentage points to 43%, surpassing the support rate for the first time.

The most common reason for not supporting the cabinet was "lack of execution ability," at 39%. This was followed by "lack of expectations for policies" and "because it is not the party I support," with 37% and 8% respectively.

The main reason for supporting Prime Minister Kishida was "seems better than other cabinets," with 37% of respondents. The percentages of those who answered "because it is the cabinet of the party I support" and "because I can trust his character" were 28% and 19%, respectively.

When asked about the cabinet's achievements on the occasion of Prime Minister Kishida's first anniversary in office, negative responses predominated, with 41% saying "do not evaluate much" and 15% saying "do not evaluate at all." Those who answered "somewhat evaluate" accounted for 36%, and only 3% responded "highly evaluate."

Regarding suspicions that the Liberal Democratic Party and the Unification Church have a close relationship, 73% of respondents evaluated Prime Minister Kishida's response as inadequate. Positive evaluations were only 18%.

However, there was a positive response to the move to increase defense spending to strengthen defense capabilities. Fifty-five percent of respondents supported the increase in defense spending, while 29% opposed it.

Negative public opinion toward the Kishida Cabinet was also revealed in a Kyodo News poll. According to a public opinion poll conducted by Kyodo News over two days starting from the 8th targeting voters nationwide, the approval rating was 35.0%, down 5.2 percentage points from the previous month. In last month's Mainichi Shimbun survey, the cabinet's approval rating was recorded as low as 29%.

Japanese media analyzed that Prime Minister Kishida's failure to sufficiently reflect public opinion while managing the state funeral of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and the Unification Church scandal led to the decline in approval ratings.

Kyodo News pointed out, "Although Prime Minister Kishida says he listens to the voices of the people, in reality, he has been indifferent," and added, "His recent appointment of his eldest son as the political affairs secretary to the prime minister also seems to show that he did not listen to the people's voices."

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