Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Meets Biden, Records Highest Approval Rating Since Cabinet Inauguration

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The Kishida Fumio Japanese Cabinet has recorded its highest approval rating since its launch, influenced by U.S. President Joe Biden's Asia tour and improvements in the COVID-19 situation.

On the 30th, Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that a public opinion poll conducted from the 27th to the 29th among 935 men and women aged 18 and over, jointly with TV Tokyo, showed the Kishida Cabinet's approval rating at 66%. This is the highest since its launch in October last year and a 2 percentage point increase compared to last month's survey. The Kishida Cabinet's approval rating rose to 65% two months after its launch in December last year but then fell to 55% in February before recently showing signs of recovery.

Nihon Keizai stated, "The progress in diplomatic and security responses and the COVID-19 situation is interpreted as supporting the approval rating."

Prime Minister Kishida attended the U.S.-Japan summit in Tokyo on the 23rd during President Biden's Asia tour, followed by the Quad summit consisting of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India the next day. He confirmed with President Biden the strengthening of deterrence and response capabilities with China in mind. After the Quad summit, Prime Minister Kishida personally appeared before the media to announce a joint statement. Regarding the summit between Prime Minister Kishida and President Biden, 61% responded positively, significantly outnumbering the 21% negative responses.

Japan's government's response to COVID-19 also received a positive evaluation of 70%, the highest since February 2020. As the COVID-19 situation improved recently, Japan announced on the 26th that it would resume entry for foreign tourists starting from the 10th of next month. This is the first time in 2 years and 2 months since April 2020, when foreign entry for tourism purposes was banned following the outbreak of COVID-19. Regarding this, 67% responded that they think the easing of entry restrictions is appropriate, receiving positive evaluations.

Looking at the Cabinet approval rating by generation, it was 54% for ages 18-39, 68% for ages 40-59, and 73% for those aged 60 and above.

Although the overall approval rating of the Kishida Cabinet was high, regarding the Japanese government's response to rising prices due to increased raw material costs caused by the Ukraine war, 61% gave a negative evaluation, greatly exceeding the 28% positive evaluation, indicating dissatisfaction. The top policy task respondents wanted to be addressed first was "economic recovery," the same as last month.

Meanwhile, 69% of respondents positively evaluated the Japanese government's response to the invasion of Ukraine, a 7 percentage point increase from the previous month. In response to the question, "Should Japan prepare under the assumption that China will attack Taiwan?" answers such as "Prepare within current laws" (50%) and "Strengthen response capabilities through legal amendments" (41%) were given, with over 90% indicating that preparation is necessary.