Rating of Japanese Government Hits Record Low of 35% Since September 2021: Poll

TOKYO (Sputnik) - The approval rating of the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has dropped to 35%, hitting a record low since the senior official took office in September 2021, while dissatisfaction with the cabinet's work reached 48.3%, a poll conducted by the Kyodo agency showed on Sunday.

The level of government support among the Japanese nationals fell by 5.2 percentage points, while the number of those unsatisfied with the operation of the cabinet rose sharply by 1.8 percentage points to 48.3%, the survey showed.

Also, the respondents expressed particular dissatisfaction with the "insufficient level of explanations" concerning the revealed ties of the ruling party members with the scandalous religious organization Unification Church, the government's decision to organize a state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the costs of which were covered from the state budget, as well as inconsistent support measures amid rising food and utilities prices, the results of the poll read.

The skyrocketing food and household costs affected the living standard of 78.9% of those sampled, according to the poll.

The survey was conducted from October 8-9 via a phone interview by calling randomly selected Japanese phone numbers.