(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A cabinet shuffle did not help Yasuo Fukuda in Japan, according to a poll by Asahi. 24 per cent of respondents approve of the Japanese prime minister’s team, up one point since mid-June.

In September 2007, Fukuda was elected as the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and officially sworn in as Japan’s prime minister, substituting Shinzo Abe. Fukuda served as chief cabinet secretary during the premierships of Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi. He is also the son of former Japanese head of government Takeo Fukuda.

An election to renew half of the House of Councillors seats took place in July 2007. Final results gave the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 60 of the 121 seats at stake, with the governing LDP winning 37 mandates. The opposition—with 137 seats—now holds a majority in the upper house of Japan’s Diet for the first time since the LDP was founded in 1955.

On Aug. 1, Fukuda enacted a cabinet shuffle. Kaoru Yosano took over as economy minister, and Bunmei Ibuki became the new finance minister.

On Aug. 3, Ibuki acknowledged that food price increases are affecting the country, adding, "We need to look into the [existing] measures and take additional ones to boost the economy."

Polling Data

Do you approve or disapprove of Yasuo Fukuda’s cabinet?

Source: Asahi
Methodology: Interviews with 581 Japanese adults, conducted on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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