Cabinet Approval Rating at 31% for 3rd Straight Month; Survey Respondents Cite Lack of Leadership, Hope for Policies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:16 JST, May 19, 2025

The approval rating for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet stayed at 31% in a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey, marking its third consecutive month at that level, the lowest since the Cabinet was formed.

The disapproval rating stood at 56% in the poll, which was conducted from Friday to Sunday. That is up 2 percentage points from 54% in the previous April survey.

Of respondents who did not support the Cabinet, 38% said they did not see hope for its policies, followed by 20% who cited a lack of leadership from Ishiba. Among supporters of the Cabinet, 45% said there were no better alternatives, followed by 19% saying the Cabinet was led by the Liberal Democratic Party.

Amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s high tariff policy, 73% said they worried about future Japan-U.S. relations, while 23% did not have such concerns. Only 19% were optimistic about tariff negotiations between the two countries, while 72% were not.

Only 15% supported the government’s measures against soaring rice prices; 78% did not.

Opinions were divided on whether lowering the consumption tax rate would be effective in combatting rising prices, with 51% saying it would and 41% that it would not. Over half of the respondents, or 56%, expressed concern that a consumption tax rate cut would jeopardize social security, while 38% did not share that apprehension.

Support for the LDP dropped from 28% in the previous survey to 25%, and the Democratic Party for the People went from 13% to 11%. Approval ratings also fell for Komeito, which slipped from 3% to 2%, and for the Japanese Communist Party, which went from 2% to 1%.

Reiwa Shinsengumi’s support was up from 3% in the April survey to 4% in the most recent poll. Support was unchanged for the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan at 6%, the Japan Innovation Party at 2%, the Conservative Party of Japan at 1% and Sanseito at 1%. The percentage of voters with no party affiliation was 41%, up from 37%.

The survey was conducted by calling 736 home landlines and 1,763 mobile phone numbers selected via random digit dialing. From the numbers called, 1,072 people gave valid answers, with 430 on landlines and 642 on mobile phones. All respondents were eligible voters age 18 or older.