Approval of Japanese Prime Minister 
Sanae Takaichi's cabinet rose 3 points to 59% in a Yomiuri Shimbun poll taken after her Sept. 17 reshuffle, its first rise in three months. Disapproval fell 2 points to 30%, and it was the first time approval had risen after a reshuffle since Shinzo Abe's government reshuffled its cabinet in August 2017.
How did respondents judge the reshuffle? The emergency nationwide survey, conducted on Sept. 17 and 18, found 52% viewing the reshuffle and the Liberal Democratic Party's new senior appointments favourably and 34% not, CNA reported. Favourable views reached 75% among LDP supporters, against 42% among opposition supporters and 37% among independents. Keeping the main ministers in place was seen as one reason approval rose. The Japan Innovation Party, which had cooperated from outside the cabinet, formally joined it with former secretary-general Hiroshi Nakatsuka as regulatory reform minister, and 59% approved of appointing a member of the party as a minister while 29% did not.
How do respondents view the prime minister? The most common reason given for supporting the cabinet, at 30%, was that there was no one more suitable, while the top reason for opposing it, at 29%, was that the prime minister could not be trusted, in results carried by CNA. Asked how long Takaichi should govern, 43% said until her term as LDP president ends in September 2027 and 40% said as long as possible. Another 13% wanted the prime minister replaced immediately.
How does this compare with past reshuffles? Approval has mostly held steady or fallen after reshuffles in recent years, CNA reported. It showed no clear rise after the Abe government's reshuffles in 2016, 2018 and 2019, or after Fumio Kishida's government reshuffled in 2022 and 2023.
How do the parties stand? In the same survey, LDP support rose 1 point to 35% and the Japan Innovation Party's climbed from 2% to 4%. Among opposition parties, Sanseito led with 5%, followed by the Democratic Party for the People at 4%. The Democratic Reform Association, a party launched on Sept. 17 by former Constitutional Democratic Party lower house members who had left the Centrist Reform Alliance, polled below 0.5% and is shown as 0% under the Yomiuri's counting method.
Figures referenced: Sanae Takaichi. — JudgeMarket.
