Poll: Decline in Support for Kishida's Japanese Government

A poll conducted by the Japanese newspaper "Mainichi Shimbun," and released on Sunday, has shown that support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has dropped by 12 percentage points, reaching 33 percent, down from its peak during the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima. The newspaper, which conducted the survey earlier this week, noted that the disapproval rate has increased to 58 percent, up from 46 percent in the previous survey conducted in late May. This decline follows a scandal involving Kishida's eldest son and a series of technical issues with the national ID card system. The newspaper pointed out that Kishida's government's popularity surged ahead of the G7 summit, reaching its highest level last month since August 2022. Some speculate that Kishida may call for early elections before the party leadership competition next year. A separate poll conducted by Kyodo News on Sunday showed a decline in support for Kishida's government to 40.8 percent, down from 47 percent in May.