The approval rating of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's Cabinet remained at a record low for the administration at 37% in a nationwide public opinion poll conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun from Friday to Sunday, unchanged from the previous poll last month.
The disapproval rating rose to 53% from 50% in the June 4 to 6 poll, the worst mark since the Suga Cabinet was formed last September.
The disapproval rating has exceeded the approval rating since the May poll. The slump in the approval rating is believed to be due to dissatisfaction with the government's measures against the novel coronavirus and handling of the Olympics.
The Yomiuri Shimbun used random digit dialing to mobiles and landlines of people 18 or older who are eligible to vote. It received answers from 1,068 people (635 from mobile phones and 433 from landlines).
Regarding the fourth declaration of a state of emergency issued for Tokyo, 38% "think it is effective," while 56% "do not think it is effective." More than half of the respondents questioned the effectiveness of the repeated declarations.
On the government's handling of the novel coronavirus so far, only 28% said they "have a high opinion" of it, while 27% said so in the previous poll. As for the government's handling of the vaccination rollout, 36% said they "have a high opinion" of it, while 59% "do not have a high opinion" of it.
When asked which party they would vote for in the proportional representation part of the next House of Representatives election, 39% said they would vote for the Liberal Democratic Party, down 5 percentage points from the April poll. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan garnered the second most at 10%, down from 13% in April.
As for which party respondents support, 36% (33% in the June poll) favor the LDP, followed by the CDPJ at 5% (5% in June), while 43% (48% in June) said they supported no particular party.
-- 40% want no Games spectators
When asked what they would have preferred to be done about the Tokyo Olympics, which will be held without spectators at most venues, 40% said they support the "no spectators" decision. In a similar question in the June poll, 26% supported "holding the Games without spectators." It seems that the support spread after the decision by the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments to ban spectators at relevant venues.
However, the percentage of those who answered the Games should be "canceled" was still high at 41% (48% in the June poll), indicating that public opinion is split with very little time remaining until the beginning of the Olympics. The percentage of those who would prefer to "allow a small number of spectators" was 17%.
By political party support, "canceled" was chosen by 54% of independents and 51% of opposition party supporters. Among those who support the ruling coalition parties, holding the Games with "no spectators" was the most frequent answer at 49%.
The poll also found 74% said they would like to watch the Olympics on TV or other media. Even among those who wanted the Olympics to be canceled, 55% expressed their intention to watch the Games.
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