Takaichi's favorability drops 15 percentage points in a year — but one policy wins praise

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae posted the highest approval rating among recent prime ministers when her cabinet launched last year, but her favorability has since fallen 15 percentage points in the span of a year.

The Asahi Shimbun, working with a research team led by Osaka University Professor Miura Asako, conducted an online survey of 668 eligible voters from Oct. 9 to 18. The survey found that 40 percent of respondents said they viewed Takaichi favorably. That compares with 55 percent who said the same in a survey conducted in November last year, shortly after the cabinet was formed — a drop of 15 percentage points in one year.

The methodology was based on scores that respondents assigned to Takaichi on a scale of 0 to 10, with scores of 6 or higher counted as favorable.

On the overall assessment of the Takaichi administration's policies, 45 percent of respondents rated them as poor, far exceeding the 26 percent who rated them as good. The sharpest negative ratings came on "politics and money" — the issue that had dogged the ruling Liberal Democratic Party before the Takaichi cabinet took office — with 56 percent rating the policy poorly against just 14 percent who rated it well. Assessments of national security and defense were nearly evenly split, with 33 percent rating it good and 34 percent poor. Diplomacy and foreign relations were similarly close, at 33 percent good and 35 percent poor.

The "economic growth and fiscal management" category — which includes a push to cut the food consumption tax — drew more positive than negative responses, with 35 percent rating it good against 28 percent poor. Policy on high prices and household support also received a net positive assessment, with 41 percent rating it good and 33 percent poor.

The area that drew overwhelmingly positive ratings was immigration policy. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they viewed the policy favorably — more than three times the 17 percent who viewed it unfavorably. The Takaichi cabinet has significantly raised the financial burden on foreigners, hiking departure taxes, visa issuance fees, alien registration renewal fees, permanent residency application costs and accommodation taxes, under a banner of putting Japanese citizens first.

While critics say the approach amounts to xenophobia, the survey confirmed that immigration policy is at least one factor boosting Takaichi's favorability among Japanese voters. Particularly notable was that positive assessments of the immigration policy were broadly consistent across both groups — those who said their favorability toward Takaichi had declined compared with last year, and those who said it had risen.