(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The popularity of Japan’s new prime minister and his administration has increased this month, according to a poll by Yomiuri. 59.1 per cent of respondents approve of Yasuo Fukuda’s cabinet, up 1.6 points since late September.

Last 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.

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.

On Oct. 10, Machimura revealed the government’s intention to resume the sessions of the Education Rebuilding Council, under the leadership of Eriko Yamatani. The group, which was set up to provide recommendations to reform Japan’s education system, was one of Abe’s special projects.

Machimura expressed satisfaction with the decision, saying, "The fact that Ms. Yamatani was reappointed shows the Fukuda cabinet also intends to promote the reform of education. As a person who has twice worked as the Education, Science and Technology Ministry, I’ll give the reforms my full support."

Polling Data

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

Source: Yomiuri
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,812 Japanese voters, conducted on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

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