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The Ishiba Cabinet’s approval rating jumped to 40 percent from 33 percent after the summit with U.S. President Donald Trump did not create any unexpected problems for Japan, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.

Fifty percent of respondents in the nationwide telephone survey conducted on Feb. 15 and 16 gave the first summit between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump favorable reviews, exceeding the 35 percent who rated it negatively.

Among those who viewed the summit positively, 61 percent supported the Ishiba Cabinet.

The talks on Feb. 7 in Washington were closely watched in Japan to gauge how the Japanese prime minister would handle Trump and his unpredictability, particularly on security and trade.

No surprise concerns for Japan arose from the summit.

Despite the gains for Ishiba, his Cabinet’s approval ratings continued to fall below the disapproval ratings since last fall’s Lower House election.

Although the disapproval rating fell to 44 percent from 51 percent in the previous survey in January, it was still higher than the 40-percent approval rating.

The survey also asked respondents if they expect Ishiba to engage with Trump on equal terms in future dealings.

Sixty-six percent said they did not expect this of the prime minister, compared with only 25 percent who did.

Respondents were asked about the negative impact on the Japanese economy from Trump’s successive tariff increases.

Eighty-two percent said they felt concerned, either significantly or to some extent, while 16 percent said they felt little or no concern.

In domestic politics, an Upper House election is expected in July.

When asked which party they would vote for in the proportional representation portion if the Upper House election were held now, 26 percent of respondents chose Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party for the People was the top choice in the opposition bloc, at 16 percent.

The DPP was followed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at 11 percent, Reiwa Shinsengumi at 9 percent, Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) at 5 percent, and the LDP’s junior coalition partner, Komeito, at 5 percent.

Party support rates showed the LDP leading at 25 percent, followed by the DPP at 10 percent, the CDP at 7 percent, and Reiwa Shinsengumi at 4 percent.

The DPP, which made significant gains in the October Lower House election, has had higher support rates than the main opposition CDP for three consecutive months.

Following the Lower House election, in which the coalition lost its majority due largely to a funding scandal in the LDP, the ruling and opposition parties have discussed what to do about political donations from corporations and organizations.

The LDP has submitted a bill to the Diet to increase transparency in such funds.

Survey respondents were asked what they thought should be done about such donations.

Forty-four percent of them support increased transparency, while 42 percent favor a complete ban on political donations from companies and organizations.

The ruling and opposition parties said they would settle the issue by the end of March.

The survey used the RDD method, in which computers randomly generate landline and cellphone numbers, which pollsters then call.

A total of 1,111 valid responses were collected.

For landlines, 430 valid responses were received from 917 households identified as having a voter for a response rate of 47 percent.

For cellphones, 681 valid responses were received from 1,719 voters who were called, for a rate of 40 percent.

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