"Lowest Since Inception"... 'Gift Card Scandal' Japan Ishiba Cabinet Approval Rating at 23%

Recently, the approval rating of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's cabinet plummeted to its lowest level since its inception amid criticism both inside and outside the party over the 'gift certificate scandal.'

On the 16th, Mainichi Shimbun reported that in its monthly opinion poll conducted over two days from the 15th, targeting 2,047 respondents (valid responses), the approval rating of the Ishiba cabinet dropped by 7 percentage points from the previous month to 23%. This is the lowest level since the Ishiba cabinet was launched in October last year, according to Mainichi Shimbun's polling standards. The previous lowest was 28% in January this year.

Shigeru Ishiba, Prime Minister of Japan, Yonhap News

In Japan, a cabinet approval rating below 30% is generally considered a 'resignation crisis' level. The approval rating was also 23% in the survey conducted in August last year when former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced he would not run in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election.

This low approval rating is attributed to the revelation that Prime Minister Ishiba delivered gift certificates worth 100,000 yen (approximately 1 million won) per person to 15 first-term members of the House of Representatives on the 3rd.

Although Prime Minister Ishiba insists there is no legal problem, in this survey, 78% of respondents thought the delivery of gift certificates by Ishiba's side was 'a problem.' Only 12% responded that they did not consider it a problem.

Party approval ratings were as follows: Liberal Democratic Party 19%, Democratic Party for the People 16%, Constitutional Democratic Party 11%, Reiwa Shinsengumi 5%, Japan Innovation Party 4%, Komeito 2%, and Communist Party 1%.

Regarding which party respondents would support in the proportional representation vote in this summer's House of Councillors election, the order was Democratic Party for the People (17%), Liberal Democratic Party (16%), and Constitutional Democratic Party (13%).