Approval Rating of Japan's Suga Halved in Just 4 Months After Inauguration... "Largest Drop in History"

Yomiuri Survey: Support Drops from 74% in September Last Year to 39% in January This Year
'Do Not Support' Responses Surpass 'Support' for the First Time

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga
[Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The cabinet of Yoshihide Suga in Japan continues to struggle with a crisis marked by a plummeting approval rating. Just four months after taking office, his approval rating has been halved, recording the largest drop in history. On the 18th, Prime Minister Suga will deliver his first policy speech since taking office at the regular Diet session.

On that day, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that a telephone survey conducted from the 15th to the 17th among 1,093 voters aged 18 and older nationwide showed that the approval rating of the Suga cabinet was 39%, down 6 percentage points from last month's survey. The percentage of respondents who answered "do not support" was 49%, surpassing those who supported for the first time since the Suga cabinet was launched in September last year.

When the Suga cabinet took office in September last year, it recorded a 74% approval rating in the Yomiuri poll. However, just four months later, this month, the cabinet's approval rating has plunged by 35 percentage points. Yomiuri reported that this four-month drop since its launch exceeded the 30 percentage points of the Hatoyama and Aso cabinets, marking the largest drop in history. Earlier, a poll released by the Mainichi Shimbun on the 16th also showed the Suga cabinet's approval rating at 33%, down 31 percentage points compared to the survey in September last year.

The sharp decline in the Suga cabinet's approval rating is interpreted as stemming from a delayed response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). In this Yomiuri poll, negative evaluations of the Japanese government's COVID-19 response reached 66%. Regarding the state of emergency declaration issued in some regions, 42% responded that it should be applied nationwide, the highest percentage, and 36% said it should also target other regions where infections are spreading. This indicates that many believe the current emergency declaration covers too few areas.

Yomiuri assessed the sharp drop in the Suga cabinet's approval rating as "the administration is falling into difficulty." A mid-level member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said about the approval rating falling to the 30% range, "It is beginning to become difficult to make Mr. Suga the 'face of the election.'"

In his policy speech that day, Prime Minister Suga is expected to address policies and budget proposals promoted by the Suga cabinet, such as COVID-19 vaccines and a decarbonized society, as well as bills. Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, "Not only the content but also the tone, facial expressions, and verbal slips during the speech will be closely watched."