According to a recent Asahi Shimbun opinion poll, the approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet has fallen to 33%, with 39% of respondents expressing disapproval, marking a reversal in their comparative standings. Just under a month since his Cabinet’s formation, this decline reflects a so-called “death cross” in public support.
In an earlier poll conducted shortly after the Cabinet’s inauguration on October 1st-2nd, 46% supported the Cabinet, while 30% opposed. The rapid decline in approval has raised concerns as it precedes an upcoming general election. This trend contrasts with the 2021 election when then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet had a pre-election approval rating of 42%, higher than its disapproval rating of 31%.
Asahi Shimbun’s poll involved 19,633 eligible voters reached via telephone between October 19th-20th. The survey highlighted that Ishiba’s “new economic measures” have not resonated well with voters; only 24% expressed optimism about this economic policy, whereas 53% were skeptical.
Another survey by Kyodo News on the same dates showed Ishiba’s Cabinet with a slightly higher approval rate of 41.4%, but this still marks a drop from 50.7% at the beginning of October and 42.0% on October 12th-13th. The “disapproval” rate in this poll was 40.4%, only a 1 percentage point difference from the approval rate, underscoring the challenges facing the Ishiba administration ahead of the election.