Japanese Prime Minister Loses Support After Imperial Succession Reform
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s approval rating drops below 50% for the first time, just a few days after the imperial succession reform came into force. This is what two separate national surveys reveal. The first survey published by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper gives the executive an approval rating of 41%, down ten points compared to 51% in June, while the distrust rate rises to 44%, exceeding for the first time the number of people in favor of his work.
The Asahi Shimbun, in the same period, instead recorded a 53%, from 60% last month, and the negative opinion rose to 35%, up eight points. The most politically relevant data is the erosion of consensus among voters without political affiliation: according to Asahi, 42% of these express no confidence versus 36% approval, an unprecedented overtaking for the Takaichi administration. Both newspapers agree in identifying the main factor in the debacle as the reform of the law on the Imperial Household, passed on 17 July. Only 19% of Japanese, the Mainichi notes, approve of the new text which excludes women from the throne and provides for the integration of male descendants from previously extinct collateral branches. 45% of those interviewed said they were against it and 35% were uncertain. Asahi points out that 60% of voters believe the government is incapable of adequately explaining the reform. The authoritarian drift of the majority is also criticized in terms of freedom of expression: 46% of those interviewed by Asahi judge the method with which the government conducted the deliberations to be “not respectful and thorough”. The decline in popularity, for now, does not affect the voter base of the Liberal Democratic Party, where approval remains at 87%, also due to the disintegration of the opposition forces.
