TOKYO, April 6 – The approval rate for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s Cabinet was 40 percent in a survey conducted in March by The Japan Agricultural News.
The rate was down 4 percentage points from the previous survey in December which marked a drop of 18 percentage points from the survey conducted in September immediately after Suga took office.
The disapproval rate was 59 percent, up 3 percentage points.
The Japan Agricultural News sent the survey by mail between mid-March and late March to 1,133 monitors, mainly farmers, and received responses from 818 people.
Out of the respondents, 56 percent said they don’t rate the Suga Cabinet’s agricultural policies highly, up 11 percentage points from the previous survey. The result appears to have affected the overall approval rating.
The support rate, which posted 62 percent in the September survey, declined both in the December poll and the latest one. The disapproval rate topped the support rate in the December survey, and the gap increased in the March survey.
Among those who support the Cabinet, 34 percent, the largest percentage, gave as the reason there is no other person suitable for the position, up 6 percentage points, followed by 27 percent who said it is the administration led by the Liberal Democratic Party, up 1 percentage point.
Those who gave “the trust toward Suga” as the reason occupied the highest percentage in the previous survey, but the ratio declined 9 percentage points to 23 percent.
Among those who don’t support the Cabinet, 36 percent, the largest percentage, gave as the reason the lack of Suga’s leadership, up 2 percentage points, followed by 24 percent who don’t trust Suga, the rate unchanged from the previous survey, and 16 percent who said the Cabinet does not appear to attach importance to food and agriculture policies, up 1 point.
Asked whether the Suga Cabinet’s agricultural policies should be given high marks, 2 percent strongly agreed, the rate unchanged from the previous survey, while 23 percent more or less agreed, down 1 percentage point. The largest percentage, 37 percent, more or less disagreed, up 7 percentage points, and 19 percent strongly disagreed, up 4 percentage points.
Regarding the Suga Cabinet’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections, 36 percent said they are happy with government response, up 9 points, while 61 percent were unhappy, down 9 points.
The continued drop in the approval rate appears to reflect respondents’ dissatisfaction over the government’s farm policies rather than over COVID-19 response.
The Cabinet approval rate of those who are unhappy with the government’s agricultural policies was 17 percent, while the disapproval rate was 83 percent.