May 30, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Only one-in-four adults in Japan are supportive of the current administration, according to a poll by Nikkei. 24 per cent of respondents approve of the appointed cabinet of Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, down five points since April.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Only one-in-four adults in Japan are supportive of the current administration, according to a poll by Nikkei. 24 per cent of respondents approve of the appointed cabinet of Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda, down five points since April.

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.

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 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 May 27, Masaharu Kuba, a government official, discussed his proposal to curb cell phone use among young Japanese, saying, "Parents are giving cell phones to their children without giving it enough thought. (…) In Japan, cell phones have become an expensive toy." Kuba said he fears too many young people are exposing themselves to extortion, identity theft and other crimes by "overusing" mobile phones enabled with internet access.

Polling Data

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

	May 2008	Apr. 2008	Mar. 2008
Approve	24%	29%	32%
Disapprove	64%	59%	54%

Source: Nikkei
Methodology: Interviews with 966 Japanese adults, conducted from May 23 to May 25, 2008. No margin of error was provided.