TOKYO (Bernama-Kyodo): The approval rate for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Cabinet slipped to 55.8 per cent, the lowest point since she took office last October, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday, amid uncertainty lingering in the resource-poor country over the economic fallout from the West Asia conflict.
In the weekend telephone survey, 54.7 per cent of respondents felt no need to send the Japanese Self-Defence Forces to the key waterway to secure the safe passage of commercial vessels, while 36.6 per cent thought otherwise.
The survey took place after the United States and Iran reached a preliminary peace deal that included Tehran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Kyodo News reported.
With households continuing to struggle with elevated prices, the poll also showed that the largest share of responses, at 43.9 per cent, said lowering the consumption tax rate on food and beverages from the current 8.0 per cent to 1.0 per cent is acceptable if the idea allows for faster introduction, while 22.6 per cent called for cutting it to zero, as pledged by the ruling parties.
Some 29 per cent of respondents in the poll dismissed the need for any food tax cut.
In Parliament, Takaichi has been grilled by opposition parties over an allegation during the LDP leadership race in 2025 that her camp created and spread videos online to smear her rivals.
While she has denied her involvement, 49.7 per cent were not satisfied with the prime minister’s explanation, compared with the 38.9 per cent who said the matter was sufficiently explained.
The poll, meanwhile, showed that the public was divided over a proposal to tackle the dwindling number of imperial family members by enabling certain male descendants from the former 11 collateral branches, which lost their royal status some 80 years ago, to join the imperial family, with 44 per cent approving the idea and 45.4 per cent opposing it.
The number of heirs eligible to take over the Chrysanthemum Throne, as well as the entire imperial family, has continued to decrease as the Imperial House Law limits heirs to a male who has an emperor on his father’s side, while female members must leave the family upon marriage to commoners.
A significant majority of 72.3 per cent supported the idea to allow female members to retain their imperial status even after marrying commoners, with only 19.5 per cent against it.
Among political parties, support for the LDP increased to 38.7 per cent from 36.2 per cent in the previous survey and that for the Japan Innovation Party fell to 4.8 per cent from 6.7 per cent.
The Centrist Reform Alliance, the largest opposition force in the House of Representatives, garnered support from 6.1 per cent, up from 5.0 per cent, while the Democratic Party for the People, also in the opposition, drew 6.6 per cent, down from 6.9 per cent.
About 21 per cent of respondents said they did not support any political party, up from 20.2 per cent.
The survey, which was conducted for two days from June 20, called 486 randomly selected households with eligible voters and 3,367 mobile phone numbers. It yielded responses from 423 household members and 621 mobile phone users.
-- BERNAMA-KYODO
