Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Dec. 19 (Takeshi Iwashita)

The approval rating for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet remained steady at 68 percent in December, hovering at a level close to 70 percent for three consecutive months since its inauguration, according to a new Asahi Shimbun survey.

The disapproval rating was 19 percent, according to the nationwide telephone survey conducted on Dec. 20-21.

Approval ratings were 68 percent in October and 69 percent in November.

Although Tokyo’s relations with Beijing have deteriorated following Takaichi’s Diet remarks on a Taiwan contingency, 55 percent of respondents approved of her stance toward China, compared to the 30 percent who disapproved.

Among those who approved, the Cabinet approval rating reached 89 percent.

When asked in a four-option format about the economic impact of worsening bilateral ties, 53 percent said they are concerned, combining the responses “very” and “somewhat” concerned.

A total of 45 percent said they are not concerned, either “not much” or “not at all.”

Among those unconcerned, the Cabinet approval rating was 80 percent.

END OF ‘PANDA DIPLOMACY’

Two giant pandas at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo will be returned to China next month, leaving Japan without any of the crowd-pleasing animals. Visitors have packed the zoo since their departure was announced on Dec. 15.

However, only 26 percent of respondents said they believe that the government should call on China to send pandas to Japan again, while 70 percent said there is no need for such efforts.

CONCERN OVER NATIONAL FINANCES

The Takaichi Cabinet passed a fiscal 2025 supplementary budget focused on measures to address rising prices on Dec. 16.

Approval of the prime minister’s measures against elevated prices stood at 46 percent, almost unchanged from the 44 percent in the previous survey in November.

Disapproval rose from 35 percent to 40 percent.

While Takaichi advocates “responsible proactive fiscal policy,” the size of the extra budget exceeded that of the previous fiscal year. The revenue shortfall will be covered by issuing additional government bonds.

When asked how much they are worried about worsening national finances, 71 percent said they are concerned, combining the responses “very” and “somewhat” concerned.

A total of 29 percent said they are not concerned, either “not much” or “not at all.”

Opinions were divided on increasing government spending to pursue economic growth even if it raises the national debt in the short term.

Forty-six percent said it is “good,” while 42 percent said it is “not good.”

Among those who feel anxious about fiscal deterioration, 52 percent called it “not good.”

The survey was conducted using the random digit dialing method, in which interviewers called computer-generated numbers for landlines and cellphones.

The callers obtained a total of 1,195 valid responses.

For landlines, 470 people were interviewed from 965 households confirmed to have eligible voters, for a response rate of 49 percent.

The response rate for cellphones was 39 percent, with 725 people responding from 1,837 numbers that connected to eligible voters.

Adjustments were made to reflect the demographic composition by gender, age group and region based on internal affairs ministry data.

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