The approval rating for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet fell to 45% in a nationwide poll conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun on Dec. 26-27, down 16 points from 61% in the previous poll conducted Dec. 4-6.
The disapproval rating rose to 43% from 27% in the previous poll.
It is believed that dissatisfaction with the measures taken against the novel coronavirus and suspicions surrounding "politics and money" scandals involving former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former agriculture minister Takamori Yoshikawa, among others, had an impact.
This was a 29-point drop from 74% at the start of the Cabinet in September. When comparing the extent of the decline in the first three months after the inauguration of The Yomiuri Shimbun's monthly national opinion polls since March 1978, it was the largest, tied with the Cabinet of Taro Aso.
The decline from the previous poll was also the fifth largest, tied with the 16 points in the June 1993 poll at the end of the Cabinet of Kiichi Miyazawa.
The question about the coronavirus showed a severe evaluation of the government and Suga. Only 16% of the respondents thought the prime minister was "showing leadership" in dealing with the virus, while 77% disagreed.
A whopping 62% of respondents (49% in the previous poll), do not approve of the government's response to the virus, far more than the 32% who approve (42% in the previous poll).
Furthermore, 66% said the government should declare a nationwide state of emergency again.
As for the government's Go To Travel program, which was suspended nationwide from Monday, 48% said it should have been scrapped, not suspended, 42% said it was an appropriate move, and 7% said it should have been continued without suspending it.
An overwhelming 76% of respondents were not convinced by Abe's explanation denying his involvement in a case over the violation of the Political Funds Control Law, related to the compensation of expenses for dinner parties held on the eve of Abe's cherry blossom-viewing events organized by his supporters' association.
A similar 74% of respondents said that the "politics and money" issue, including the suspicion that former agriculture minister Yoshikawa, who resigned as a lawmaker, received cash from an egg producing company, would affect the Suga Cabinet's future administration.
When asked which party respondents support, 38% said the Liberal Democratic Party, down from 42% previously, 3% said Komeito, unchanged from the previous poll, 3% said the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, down from 5% previously, while 47% said no particular party, up from 40%.
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