(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Most people in Japan are satisfied with the government appointed by their new prime minister, according to two recent public opinion polls. In a survey by Nikkei, 59 per cent of respondents approve of Yasuo Fukuda’s cabinet. In a study by Mainichi, the approval rating for Fukuda’s government stands at 57 per cent.

Earlier this month, Fukuda—a 71-year-old moderate who favours closer ties with Asia—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.

Fukuda retained many of Abe’s collaborators in the new Japanese cabinet. Nobutaka Machimura—who served as foreign minister under Abe—was appointed as chief cabinet secretary, Masahiko Komura is now in charge of foreign affairs, and Shigeru Ishiba has taken over as defence minister.

On Sept. 26, Machimura said the replacement of cabinet ministers "was kept to a minimum so we can chart a successful path through a difficult Diet setting."

An election to renew half of the House of Councillors seats took place in July. 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.

Polling Data

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

Source: Nikkei
Methodology: Interviews with 900 Japanese adults, conducted from Sept. 24 and Sept. 25, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

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

Source: Mainichi
Methodology: Interviews to 828 Japanese adults, conducted on Sept. 25 and Sept. 26, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

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