Japan’s Kishida disliked by nearly 4 in 5 people, polls show – making him among most unpopular prime ministers ever

A survey by the Mainichi newspaper December 16-17 found approval of his cabinet slumped by 5 percentage points from last month to 16 per cent, the lowest since he took office in October 2021. His disapproval rate rose to 79 per cent, the highest since the newspaper started conducting such polls more than seven decades ago.

A separate Nikkei survey found support dropped 4 percentage points to 26 per cent, a level often seen as the danger zone for Japanese prime ministers. Other polls showed similar results.

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About 67 per cent of respondents to the Nikkei poll said Kishida is responsible for the political funding issue, while 28 per cent disagreed.

Tokyo prosecutors have started voluntary questioning of lawmakers suspected of involvement in the slush fund at an LDP faction, local media including the Asahi newspaper reported. The money is estimated to have amounted to 500 million yen (US$3.5 million) over the past five years, according to the report.

Japanese prosecutors question ruling LDP lawmakers over fundraising scandal

The scandal is also hurting the party. While the LDP traditionally dominates Japanese politics and has retained higher support rates than any of the opposition parties, its approval rating dropped to 26 per cent, the lowest since Kishida took office, according to a separate Kyodo poll.

Still, the next general election doesn’t need to be held until 2025.

Kishida’s popularity has also been hurt by data breaches surrounding national “My Number” identification cards and concerns over the funding of record defence spending in the budget.