Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sept. 30 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

On the eve of the first anniversary of taking power, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida saw his Cabinet's disapproval rating hit 50 percent for the first time, according to a new Asahi Shimbun survey.

The survey showed a high level of disapproval from respondents over the staging of the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and disclosures of ties between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Unification Church. 

In the survey, conducted Oct. 1 and 2, the disapproval rating for the Kishida Cabinet was 50 percent, up from the previous survey’s 47 percent, which was conducted in September.

The approval rating was 40 percent, down from the previous survey’s 41 percent.

That marked the first time the Kishida Cabinet's disapproval rating reached half.

It was the second consecutive month for the disapproval rating to exceed the approval rating.

Among those who supported the Liberal Democratic Party, 70 percent approved of the Cabinet, while 23 percent disapproved of it.

Among nonaffiliated voters, 24 percent approved and 62 percent disapproved.

About the state funeral for Abe on Sept. 27, 59 percent said they did not support it, while 35 percent supported it.

Among LDP supporters, 58 percent supported it but 37 percent did not.

Among nonaffiliated voters, 67 percent did not support it.

Among those aged between 18 and 29, 47 percent supported it, the highest among age groups.

Among those in their 70s, only 25 percent supported it.

About the manner that Kishida is handling of the continuing disclosures of ties between politicians and the Unification Church, 67 percent disapproved of it. 

The figure has remained almost the same as the 65 percent in the August survey and 66 percent in the September survey.

Kishida will mark the first anniversary on Oct. 4 since he became the prime minister.

Asked about his performance, 4 percent of the survey respondents approved of it very much and 38 percent approved to some extent, while 43 percent said they did not approve of it much and 13 percent did not approve of it at all.

But only 15 percent said they think opposition parties hold promise, while 81 percent said they do not look promising.

Sixty-four percent said the LDP should conduct an investigation into the ties between Abe and the Unification Church, now formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, while 31 percent said it is not needed.

Among LDP supporters, 53 percent said the probe should be done, while 42 percent did not think so.

In the September survey, conducted before the state funeral, 63 percent said the investigation should be conducted and 31 percent said there is no need.

Regarding Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda’s statement in which he admitted that he had attended meetings held by groups related to the church, 74 percent said his explanation was not satisfactory, while 12 percent said it was.

About ongoing price hikes, 70 percent said they felt burdened in their daily lives, while 29 percent they did not feel burdened much.

Among those aged between 18 and 29, 62 percent said they felt burdened, lower than other age groups.

Among those aged between 40 and 69, more than 70 percent said they felt burdened.

About the way Kishida handled the price hikes, 71 percent disapproved of it and 19 percent approved of it. The trend was the same in the September survey.

The survey was conducted through contacting fixed telephone numbers and mobile phone numbers selected at random by computer.

The survey takers received 548 valid responses, or 54 percent, from 1,015 fixed numbers of households with at least one eligible voter each.

There were 900 valid responses, or 42 percent, from 2,140 mobile phone numbers of eligible voters. Valid responses totaled 1,448.

Related News