▲ Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi
A series of opinion polls indicate that the approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Cabinet has hit its lowest level since its inauguration.
Analysts suggest that a combination of factors led to this decline, including perceived insufficient explanations during the legislative processes for revising the Imperial House Law and enacting legislation related to a secondary capital, as well as growing frustration over prolonged inflation.
According to a poll conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun from July 24 to 26 among 1,058 adults aged 18 and older and released on July 27, the approval rating for the Takaichi Cabinet dropped to 57%, marking its lowest level since the Cabinet was launched in October of last year.
This represents a 12 percentage point drop compared to the previous month's survey, and the first time the rating has fallen into the 50% range in the newspaper's polls.
The disapproval rate for the Cabinet rose to 34%, a 13 percentage point increase from the previous survey (21%).
The drop in support was particularly notable among politically unaffiliated voters who do not support any specific party.
The disapproval rate among these unaffiliated voters stood at 47%, outpacing their approval rate (41%).
Yomiuri reported that this is the first time since the Cabinet's inauguration that the percentage of disapproval among unaffiliated voters has surpassed the approval rating.
An opinion poll released the same day by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) showed a similar trend.
In a survey conducted by Nikkei and TV Tokyo from July 24 to 26 among 924 men and women aged 18 and older, the Takaichi Cabinet's approval rating fell 10 percentage points from the previous month to 58%.
The proportion of respondents who stated they "do not support" the Cabinet rose 10 percentage points to 37%.
Among unaffiliated voters, disapproval jumped 15 percentage points to 51%, outstripping approval.
A survey conducted by Kyodo News from July 25 to 26 also showed the Takaichi Cabinet's approval rating falling 2.1 percentage points from the previous month to 53.7%, while the disapproval rate rose 5.8 percentage points to 33.7%.
The results of the three media polls released on this day followed the same trajectory as other media surveys published the previous week.
The sharp decline in the Takaichi Cabinet's approval ratings across major Japanese media polls is seen as a reflection of public dissatisfaction with measures against inflation, alongside perceptions that the government has failed to sufficiently explain key bills and policies, such as the revision of the Imperial House Law, to the public.
In the Yomiuri survey, when asked whether the Prime Minister is providing sufficient explanations to the public regarding important bills and policies such as the revision of the Imperial House Law, 62% responded "no," significantly outnumbering the 29% who said "yes."
Negative evaluations of the Imperial House Law revision—which would allow male descendants of former imperial families to be adopted into the imperial family and grant them succession rights if a boy is born to them—appear to have played a major role.
In particular, analysts note that the absence of discussions recognizing reigning empresses or female-line monarchs drew backlash.
Regarding the adoption of male descendants of former imperial families as adopted sons under the Imperial House Law, 45% of respondents viewed it "unfavorably," outpacing those who viewed it "favorably" at 40%.
As for revising the Imperial House Law again to recognize empresses, 85% expressed support, overwhelmingly higher than the 8% who opposed it.
In the Nikkei survey as well, 45% responded that granting imperial succession rights to male children of adopted heirs is "not appropriate," slightly higher than the 42% who considered it "appropriate."
Regarding empresses, 59%—the largest share—supported recognizing "both empresses and female-line monarchs," while 25% stated that "only empresses should be recognized, but not female-line monarchs."
This means that the total percentage of those favoring the recognition of empresses reached 84%.
Among those who said they support the Takaichi Cabinet, 53% also expressed support for empresses and female-line monarchs.
Among supporters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), 54% gave the same answer.
Among LDP supporters, 29% favored empresses but opposed female-line monarchs.
The proportion of LDP supporters who believe empresses should be recognized stood at 83%, mirroring the overall trend among respondents.
In the Kyodo News survey, 49.6% responded that the revision of the Imperial House Law "failed to gain public understanding," higher than the 44.3% who felt it "gained understanding."
Similarly, the proportion of those saying "empresses should be recognized" reached 81%, overwhelmingly higher than the 16.1% opposition rate.
Beyond the handling of the Imperial House Law, more than half of respondents also expressed antipathy toward the Takaichi administration's management of parliament.
A total of 57.5% described the Takaichi administration's parliamentary management as "coercive," higher than the 35% who viewed it as "prudent."
Regarding the secondary capital bill, which the ruling party pushed through deliberations in the House of Representatives, only 24.3% felt discussions were "sufficient."
Economic policies, including inflation countermeasures, also failed to secure broad support.
In the Yomiuri survey, 71% of respondents viewed the Takaichi Cabinet's anti-inflation measures "unfavorably," a 15 percentage point increase from the previous poll.
This marks the first time since the inception of the Takaichi Cabinet that negative assessments of this question have climbed into the 70% range.
With major media polls consecutively showing a decline in the Takaichi Cabinet's approval ratings, voices within the government and the ruling party are expressing caution regarding public sentiment.
Takayuki Kobayashi, Chairperson of the LDP Policy Research Council, remarked on the survey results on July 26, stating, "We will not be swayed day by day. We will accelerate the implementation of the policies promised to the public during the election."
However, regarding the first major drop in approval ratings since taking office, a cabinet minister close to the Prime Minister expressed disappointment to Yomiuri, saying, "It has dropped considerably. We are working so hard."
(Photo: Getty Images)
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