Support for Kishida Cabinet holds at 50%, nearly unchanged from previous poll

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:45 JST, September 5, 2022

A nationwide poll by The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted Friday through Sunday found that the approval rating for the Kishida Cabinet stood at 50%, nearly unchanged from 51% in a previous poll conducted on Aug. 10-11.

The disapproval rate breached 40% for the first time, coming in at 41% and up from 34% in the previous poll.

After the July upper house election, the Cabinet’s approval rating continued to drop as the Liberal Democratic Party’s links to the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification — widely known as the Unification Church — came to light. Since the Cabinet was formed, the approval rating has never been lower than it is now, at 50%, but the downward trend has subsided. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s declaration that “it is the basic policy of the Liberal Democratic Party to sever ties with the group,” a statement of which 76% of respondents said they approve, is likely to have had an impact on the Cabinet approval rating.

However, it can hardly be said that voters’ mistrust of the LDP has been dispelled, as 72% of respondents said they do not believe that the LDP can sever ties with the Unification Church. Among independents, the proportion of those who said they do not believe ties could be severed rose to 83%. The percentage of independents who disapprove of the Cabinet surged to 60% from 44% in a previous survey, pushing up the overall Cabinet disapproval rate.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they approve of the decision to reconsider recording the information of every individual infected with the novel coronavirus, while 36% said they disapprove.

When asked which party they supported, 40% chose the LDP, up from 35% in the previous poll, followed by Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) at 6%, up from 5%, and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at 5%, down from 6%. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they did not support any party, unchanged from the previous poll.