Takaichi cabinet approval slips 10 points to 58%

2026-07-26

Approval still high, but decline widens

In a public opinion poll conducted by Nikkei Inc. and TV Tokyo from 24-26, support for the Sanae Takaichi cabinet stood at 58%, down 10 points from the previous survey in June. Disapproval rose 10 points to 37%. Among independents with no particular party affiliation, disapproval topped 50%.

The last time cabinet approval fell by 10 points or more was the Fumio Kishida cabinet in September 2022, when the issue involving the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, formerly the Unification Church, weighed on it. Since the Takaichi administration took office, this is the first time approval has slipped below 60%. Even so, only the cabinets of Junichiro Koizumi, the second Shinzo Abe administration and Kishida had approval above 50% nine months after taking office. The level remains high.

Differences by support base stand out

Among those who said they support the Takaichi cabinet, 87% were in the LDP support base, down 7 points from the previous poll. Among opposition supporters, the figure was 34%, down 12 points, while among independents it fell 16 points to 36%. The share saying they do not support the cabinet rose 5 points to 11% among LDP supporters and climbed 15 points to 51% among independents, exceeding support.

Until now, cabinet approval among supporters of the Democratic Party for the People and Sanseito had tended to exceed 50%, but this time disapproval among Sanseito supporters outnumbered support. By age group, the under-39 group, which had the highest support to begin with, fell 11 points to 67%, while those aged 60 and older also fell 10 points to 51%. Support among those in their 40s and 50s declined 6 points to 66%.

How the poll was conducted

The main reason given for support was 'the prime minister's character is trustworthy' at 35%, followed by 'has leadership' at 33%. The top reasons for disapproval were 'because it is an LDP-centered cabinet' at 41% and 'its policies are bad' at 35%. An LDP executive said one factor behind the decline in approval may be policies distant from everyday life, such as the vice-capital law, and a revision to the Imperial House Law that would not allow a female emperor.

The LDP's support rate was 41%, while Japan Innovation Party stood at 4%, both unchanged. Sanseito was at 6%, the highest among opposition parties, while the Democratic Party for the People fell 2 points from the previous poll to 5%. The Constitutional Democratic Party rose 3 points to 5%, and the Japanese Communist Party climbed 1 point to 4%. The centrist reform alliance and Team Mirai were both at 3%, and independents accounted for 21%.

Nikkei Research conducted the survey by telephone from 24-26 nationwide among men and women aged 18 and older, using random digit dialing, including mobile phones, and received 924 responses. The response rate was 40.1%.

Public opinion polls use sample surveys that question only part of the electorate. Nikkei Inc. collects about 800 to 1,000 valid responses for its monthly regular polls by having interviewers call randomly generated telephone numbers under the RDD method. At this scale, the margin of error between a sample survey and a full census is generally within 3 points. To make the respondent pool resemble the electorate as a whole, not only by age group but overall, the surveys target randomly selected landline and mobile numbers that could be used nationwide. The share of responses by age group roughly matches the population distribution, and landlines account for only about 20% of responses. Weighting is also applied to correct differences in the likelihood of being selected as a survey target, taking into account telephone ownership and household size.

Enjoyed this article? Share it with your network!