Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks with reporters on Nov. 8 after talks with Natsuo Yamaguchi, the head of junior coalition partner Komeito. (Koichi Ueda)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida changed course and pushed for a ban on egregious donations sought by the Unification Church after an opinion poll showed a further decline in public approval for his Cabinet.

The ruling coalition had been holding talks with the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) about revising laws to deal with the shady business transactions of the church, now formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

But ruling coalition representatives on Nov. 1 clearly said legislation to clamp down on huge donations from Unification Church members would be difficult to compile in the current extraordinary Diet session.

The results of a public opinion survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun that were released on Nov. 7 changed everything, sources said.

The survey found the approval rating of the Kishida Cabinet had slid to a record low 36 percent.

Kishida met with Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of junior coalition partner Komeito, the following day, and the two agreed to work to submit legislation for a new law on such donations as soon as possible.

The opposition parties welcomed the move.

“The decision by the prime minister has an extremely huge significance,” Shun Otokita, the Nippon Ishin policy chief, said on Nov. 8.

The two sides met soon after Kishida announced his intention to submit the legislation in the current Diet session.

When opposition officials asked that a basic outline of the proposed legislation be presented on Nov. 14, the ruling coalition representatives said every effort would be made to meet that deadline.

But the actual wording of such an outline, let alone the contents of the bill, have yet to be hammered out, including how to sufficiently help children and spouses of Unification Church members who have made large donations.

In recent weeks, Kishida has often changed his tune on how to deal with the various issues related to the Unification Church.

He had said the Unification Church would not be asked to submit reports or have top officials respond to questions from education ministry officials.

But he later ordered an investigation into the organization.

And he initially said Civil Code violations would not be taken into consideration when deciding whether to dissolve the church.

However, Kishida turned around the next day to say such breaches would be included in any evaluation.

He also abruptly said the government would seek revisions to the Consumer Contract Law in the current Diet session, forcing officials of the Consumer Affairs Agency to pick up their pace in writing the legislation.

They initially thought the bills would be submitted to the ordinary Diet session to convene early next year.

That decision also led to the start of discussions between the ruling coalition and two opposition parties about possible legal changes.

(This article was written by Kazuki Uechi and Taro Ono.)

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