Support for the Cabinet of Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has plunged since the revision of the Imperial House Law that excludes the possibility of women ascending the throne.
According to public opinion surveys by the Asahi Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun on the 20th, the Takaichi Cabinet's approval rating in both surveys fell to its lowest level since the administration was launched in Oct. last year.
In a survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun on the 18th–19th, immediately after the revision bill to the Imperial House Law passed the House of Councilors (upper house), the Takaichi Cabinet's approval rating was tallied at 53%. That was down 7 percentage points from the previous month, and it was the first time since the administration was launched that support in an Asahi Shimbun poll fell into the 50% range.
The Asahi Shimbun analyzed that the revision of the Imperial House Law affected the decline in support. Among respondents who answered that the bill "did not gain the public's understanding," the share who support the Cabinet was 42%, lower than the overall average. Meanwhile, their disapproval of the Cabinet was 49%, far above the overall average of 35%.
In a survey conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun during the same period, the Takaichi Cabinet's approval rating also fell 10 percentage points from a month earlier to 41%, the lowest since the administration was launched.
Disapproval reached 44%, surpassing approval for the first time. The Mainichi Shimbun analyzed that although the ruling party revised the Imperial House Law to secure the number of imperial family members, it failed to gain voters' understanding, causing the sharp drop in support.
The revised Imperial House Law allows male-line males from former imperial branches to be adopted into the imperial family, and if the adoptee later has a son, that son would be granted eligibility to succeed to the throne.
The candidates are distant relatives in the 36th–38th degree who share an ancestor with Emperor Naruhito from about 600 years ago. Because of this, critics say the legitimacy of imperial succession would be weakened.
Public opinion favoring recognition of a female emperor by changing the current Imperial House Law, which limits succession to male-line males, reaches 70%, but the lack of discussion on that point is also drawing backlash. The fact that the bill does not grant imperial status to the husbands and children of married female imperial family members has also stirred controversy.
Some also point out the irony that Prime Minister Takaichi, Japan's first female prime minister, aligns with the conservative political camp's insistence on male-line male succession to the throne.
In the Asahi Shimbun poll, 60% of respondents answered "no" to the question of whether they thought the revision bill to the Imperial House Law had gained the public's understanding. In the Mainichi Shimbun poll as well, 45% evaluated the bill negatively, more than double the 19% who evaluated it positively.
In the Mainichi Shimbun survey, 46% said the Takaichi administration's policy process is "not prudent," higher than the 38% who said it is "prudent." This dovetails with the opposition's criticism that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is forcing policies through by leveraging the numerical advantage it secured with a landslide victory in the House of Representatives (lower house) election.
Only 29% positively evaluated Prime Minister Takaichi's response to high inflation. Negative evaluations reached 57%, nearly double the positive share.