NHK poll: Kishida Cabinet’s approval rate at 50%

According to an opinion poll by NHK, the cabinet of Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has an approval rating of 50 percent. That is 3 percentage points less than in the last survey, which was carried out last month.

The rejection rate is 26 percent, 1 point higher.

NHK conducted the survey over the weekend by telephone. Almost 1,200 people or 57 percent of those surveyed answered.

Of those who support Kishida cabinet, 45 percent said it appears better than other cabinets, while 18 percent said it is the cabinet of the parties they support.

Of those opposed, 38 percent said they didn’t expect much from cabinet policies, while 21 percent said it was not the cabinet of the parties that support them.

When asked about the government’s anti-coronavirus response, 7 percent said they rated it highly and 57 percent said they rated it to some extent. But 26 percent said they don’t rate it much, while 6 percent said they don’t rate everything.

The government has generally banned the entry of foreigners to prevent the spread of infections caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant. 43 percent said they rated the measure very highly, and 38 percent said they had a positive opinion. But 10 percent do not rate it very well and 4 percent have no positive opinion at all.

The United States and several other countries have decided not to send government officials to the upcoming Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, citing the human rights situation in China. Japan has not yet made a decision whether to follow suit. When asked about the pros and cons of similar measures taken by Japan, 45 percent said they would support it, 34 percent said they were against, and 21 percent said they had no idea or gave no answer.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20211213_25/