Kishida Cabinet's Approval Rating Dives To Historic Low Of 25%

The approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet dropped to 25% in a nationwide opinion poll conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun over the weekend, down 6 percentage points from the previous poll in November, and marking its lowest figure since his Cabinet was inaugurated in October last year, Nanae Ito reported.

Photo Insert: The disapproval rating for the Kishida Cabinet climbed to 69% in the Dec. 17-18 poll, up 7 points from the preceding poll conducted on Nov. 19 and 20.

The disapproval rating for the Kishida Cabinet climbed to 69% in the Dec. 17-18 poll, up 7 points from the preceding poll conducted on Nov. 19 and 20.

Kishida has announced a plan to raise taxes to cover more than 1 trillion yen (about $7.34 billion) of the rise in defense spending, and this has apparently led to a lower support rate for his Cabinet.

In regard to the government's plan to significantly increase defense spending, 48% of respondents to the latest survey were in favor of the move, exceeding the 41% who were against it. Some 10% said they were not sure.

The government plans to earmark a total of 43 trillion yen (approx. $315 billion) for defense spending between fiscal 2023 and 2027 to bolster Japan's defense capabilities. By gender, 56% of male respondents supported the plan, while 38% were opposed.

Meanwhile, 35% of women said they were in favor, while 46% disapproved of it. By age, those in favor of increasing defense spending exceeded those against among respondents aged 59 and younger, while opponents of the plan surpassed supporters among those aged 60 and up.

Asked about raising taxes to fund increases in the defense budget, 69% were in the negative, well over the 23% who were positive about the move.

With regard to slashing social security spending and other policy-related outlays to cover the rise in defense expenditure, 20% expressed their support, far below the 73% who objected to it. In regard to issuing national bonds to cover growing defense outlays, 33% were in favor, well below the 52% who were against.

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