The approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stood at 50 percent in a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey, unchanged from the previous survey conducted last month.
According to the latest survey, which was conducted from Sept. 21 to 23, the disapproval rating was 41 percent, up from 40 percent in the previous survey carried out from Aug. 24 to 26.
Opinions about Abe's reelection as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for a third consecutive term were divided among respondents, with 46 percent saying they think it is "good," while 41 percent said it is "not good."
When asked about Abe securing 553 of votes in last week's LDP presidential election and former LDP Secretary General Shigeru Ishiba collecting 254 votes, 49 percent of respondents said they think "It would have been better if Ishiba won more votes," while 39 percent said, "It was just right" and 6 percent said, "It would have been better if Abe won more votes."
Abe is seeking to submit an LDP draft for constitutional amendment to an extraordinary Diet session to be convened in autumn. The latest survey found that 51 percent of respondents were against this idea, while 36 percent support it.
The pros and cons over the LDP plan to add legal grounds for the Self-Defense Forces to Article 9 of the Constitution was reversed in the latest survey. Thirty-nine percent of respondents, down from 45 percent, said they are in favor of this plan, while 43 percent, up from 38 percent, said they are against it. It was the first time in five surveys since a March survey when respondents were asked the same question where opposition to the plan outweighed support for it.
Meanwhile, 34 percent of respondents, down from 35 percent, said they support the Abe Cabinet's policy of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture to the Henoko district of Nago in the prefecture. Forty-seven percent, down from 48 percent, said they do not support it.
The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry plans to review the furusato nozei system to exclude donations from the tax-deductible donation scheme if gifts that are given in return are priced at more than 30 percent of the amount of donations or if such presents are gifts other than locally produced products.
The latest survey found that 54 percent of respondents said they support this policy, while 34 percent oppose it.
Under the furusato nozei system, if a donation is made to a specific local government of their choice, an amount close to the sum of the donation can be deducted from a person's income or residential tax.
When asked which party they support, 40 percent of respondents selected the LDP, unchanged from the previous survey, followed by 6 percent who chose the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, up from 4 percent. Forty-five percent, unchanged from the previous survey, do not support any party.
The survey was conducted by polling 830 households on landlines and 1,215 mobile phone users who were sampled with a random digit dialing method. All respondents were eligible voters aged 18 or older. Of them, 1,053 people -- 528 on landlines and 525 on mobile phones -- gave valid answers.
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