Tokyo Report

Shinzo Abe’s Approval Rating Dips Below 50 Percent

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Tokyo Report

Shinzo Abe’s Approval Rating Dips Below 50 Percent

Following a slowdown in Abenomics’ success and the collective self-defense resolution, Abe’s approval falls.

Shinzo Abe’s Approval Rating Dips Below 50 Percent
Credit: Shinzo Abe via Shutterstock.com

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s domestic approval ratings have fallen below 50 percent, according to the latest political opinion polls. Abe, who recently pushed through a controversial cabinet resolution to reinterpret the Japanese constitution’s pacifist clause to allow for collective self-defense, has generally remained a popular leader in Japan. His popularity stemmed in great part due to the apparent success of a series of unorthodox economic reforms known as “Abenomics.” According to a Bloomberg report, Japanese support for Abe’s cabinet is at the lowest level since his election in December 2012. According to a poll published in Japan’s Nikkei, the cabinet’s approval rating stands at 48 percent and its disapproval rating stands at 38 percent (with no margin of error supplied).

Two factors largely explain the fall in approval ratings: April’s sales tax increase, which put the future of Abenomics into doubt, and the collective self-defense resolution passed in early July. The latter prompted rare public displays of political discontent in Japan, including protests and even one self-immolation in Tokyo’s crowded Shinjuku district. Notably, Abe’s December 2013 visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine did not seem to move public opinion numbers as significantly as either of these developments.

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