Sanae Takaichi, who marks her second month in office as Japan's prime minister, is maintaining high approval ratings, but more than half of Japanese people are concerned about the economic impact of the Japan-China tensions triggered by her remarks.
In a poll conducted by NHK from the 5th to the 7th, the Takaichi Cabinet's approval rating was tallied at 64%. Although that was down 2 percentage points from the previous month, it remains high compared with the approval rating in the second month of former Prime Minister Ishiba's Cabinet (41%). The disapproval rating was 19%, up 4 percentage points from a month earlier.
Regarding the government's response to the Japan-China tensions, 61% of respondents gave a positive assessment, while 29% gave a negative one. However, regarding the impact of worsening Japan-China relations on Japan's economy, 14% said they were "very concerned" and 40% said "somewhat concerned," for a total of 54% expressing concern. Responses of "not concerned at all" (12%) and "not very concerned" (27%) totaled 39%.
On economic measures, 59% said they were positive about the government's subsidies for electricity and gas bills, while 34% responded negatively.
As for the plan to cut 10% of seats in the House of Representatives, which the Liberal Democratic Party is pursuing through an agreement with the Japan Innovation Party, "should be cut swiftly" was the highest at 45%, followed by "should take time for discussion" at 35% and "no need to cut" at 11%.
Party support stood at Liberal Democratic Party 30.6%, Constitutional Democratic Party 6.0%, Komeito 3.4%, Sanseito 3.1%, Democratic Party for the People 2.9%, and Japan Innovation Party 2.5%, while "no party supported" was 41.4%.