More than half of voters do not think Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba should resign despite his party’s resounding defeat in the Upper House election in July, an Asahi Shimbun survey showed.

Fifty-four percent of survey respondents felt no need for Ishiba to step down as prime minister, up from 47 percent in the previous survey conducted in July.

The ratio of those who think Ishiba should bow out was 36 percent, down from 41 percent in July.

The Cabinet approval rating jumped to 36 percent from 29 percent and was approaching its 40-percent approval rating in February.

The disapproval rating decreased by 6 percentage points from the previous survey to 50 percent but still remained higher than the approval rating.

Calls have grown within Ishiba’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party for him to resign to take responsibility for the election defeat.

But nearly half of the survey respondents, or 49 percent, disagreed with the intraparty movement, exceeding the 37 percent who agreed with LDP moves to oust Ishiba.

Among LDP supporters, 60 percent said they disagreed with the movement, double the 30 percent who agreed with the push.

Among unaffiliated voters, who accounted for about 40 percent of all respondents, 32 percent said they agreed with the LDP movement against Ishiba while 47 percent disagreed with the action.

76% OF LDP SUPPORTERS OK WITH ISHIBA

Only 20 percent of LDP supporters in the survey feel that Ishiba should resign, down from 22 percent in the previous survey, while 76 percent said Ishiba “does not need” to step down as prime minister, up from 70 percent.

Among supporters of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, 60 percent said there is no need for Ishiba to resign, unchanged from the previous survey.

Among supporters of the LDP’s junior coalition partner, Komeito, about 70 percent felt that Ishiba can stay on as prime minister. The same percentage was seen among Japanese Communist Party supporters.

The rates for the two parties were up from the previous survey.

The LDP-Komeito coalition lost its majority in the Upper House election. It also lost its majority in the more powerful Lower House in October last year.

Supporters of two parties that made significant gains in the Upper House, the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito, had a harsher view of Ishiba.

Around 60 percent of them said the prime minister should step down.

Thirty-two percent of unaffiliated voters said Ishiba should resign, down from 37 percent in the previous survey, while 53 percent said there was no need for him to quit, up from 44 percent.

RESPONSE TO TRUMP TARIFFS

Discrepancies have emerged between the Japanese and U.S. governments in their explanations of the trade agreement regarding tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Japanese imports.

But there has been no significant change in the public’s evaluation of the Ishiba Cabinet’s response to the tariffs.

Thirty-nine percent in the latest survey, down 1 percentage point from the previous survey, approved of Japan’s response while 45 percent, up 1 percentage point, disapproved of the response.

Among those who approve of the Cabinet, 61 percent gave positive marks for its tariff response, down from 70 percent in the previous survey.

Ishiba cited his commitment to fully implement the terms of the trade agreement with the United States as one reason to remain in office.

When asked if this reasoning was convincing, 45 percent of respondents agreed, while another 45 percent disagreed.

Among men, 51 percent said they were not convinced by this reasoning. Forty-nine percent of women found the reason convincing, exceeding the 39 percent who did not.

Among LDP supporters, 71 percent said the reasoning was convincing.

MORE WOMEN APPROVE CABINET

The Cabinet approval rating among women jumped from 31 percent in July to 41 percent, while the disapproval rating dropped from 51 percent to 45 percent.

Among men, 32 percent approve of the Cabinet, up from 27 percent, while 56 percent disapprove, down from 61 percent.

Among respondents aged 70 and older, the Cabinet approval rating was 52 percent, exceeding the 34 percent disapproval rate of this age group.

However, among the youngest respondent group aged 18 to 29, the approval rating was only 16 percent, while the disapproval rating was 73 percent.

The most common reason for giving approval for the Cabinet was: “It seems better than the alternatives.” That reason was chosen by 16 percent of approvers, up from 13 percent in the previous survey.

Eighteen percent of female respondents picked this reason for their approval, also up from 13 percent.

Nine percent, up from 7 percent, picked: “Because Ishiba is the prime minister,” while 5 percent, up from 4 percent, chose: “Because it is an LDP Cabinet.”

Only 6 percent answered: “Because of its policies.” Four percent chose this reason in the July survey.

Regarding party support, the LDP’s rate remained unchanged at 20 percent, the DPP rose to 10 percent from 8 percent, Sanseito dropped to 9 percent from 10 percent, the CDP fell to 5 percent from 7 percent, Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) remained unchanged at 4 percent, and Komeito declined to 3 percent from 4 percent.

Both Reiwa Shinsengumi and the JCP held steady at 3 percent, the Conservative Party of Japan remained at 2 percent, and Team Mirai’s support was unchanged at 1 percent.

While Sanseito had the highest support rate among opposition parties in the previous poll, the DPP took over the lead with its slight increase.

The survey was conducted on eligible voters on Aug. 16 and 17 using both landline and mobile phone numbers that were randomly generated by computer. A total of 1,211 of 2,789 voters contacted gave valid answers to the survey.

(This article was compiled from reports written by Tatsuya Eguchi and Nozomi Matsui.)