The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet has fallen to 35.0 percent, its lowest level since its launch last year, a Kyodo News survey showed Sunday, as he struggles to deal with discontent among the Japanese public over higher prices and his party's links to the Unification Church.
The support rate, which marked a slide from 40.2 percent in September and 54.1 percent in August, also signals Kishida has failed to defuse jitters over the state funeral held last month for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Abe was fatally shot in July by a man who reportedly held a grudge against him for alleged ties to the church.
The disapproval rate for the Cabinet rose to a record 48.3 percent, exceeding the approval rating for the second straight month. Kishida took office in October last year.
The two-day telephone survey through Sunday came as public distrust of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been fueled by reports of its lawmakers' links to the Unification Church.
The latest poll showed that 83.2 percent see the party's survey of such links as insufficient.
Opposition parties have urged Kishida to replace economic revitalization minister Daishiro Yamagiwa, who has repeated fallacious explanations about his relationship with the religious group.
Of those polled, 62.7 percent said Yamagiwa should step down as minister. The minister has said he attended events hosted by the church and its affiliated groups.
The religious organization was established by a staunch anti-communist in South Korea in 1954. Recent revelations about LDP lawmakers' links to the group have sparked concern that it may have sought to exert political influence.
Among the ruling lawmakers who have come under scrutiny is the lower house speaker, Hiroyuki Hosoda.
Hosoda, who headed the LDP's largest faction before becoming the chief of the House of Representatives, has admitted he attended several meetings with the organization, in explanations that were given only after the LDP released its survey results.
The poll found that 87.0 percent see Hosoda's response as insufficient.
As for Abe's funeral, 61.9 percent said they disapproved of the Sept. 27 event, compared with 36.9 percent who appreciated it.
While Kishida defended his decision to grant the honor to Japan's longest-serving prime minister, public opinion was divided over the costs for the funeral, concerns that people could be forced to mourn and its possible use to cement a positive legacy for the divisive former leader.
The survey also found that 78.8 percent feel their lives have been affected by price hikes for food, daily necessities, utility bills, and other items.
The figure suggests Kishida's policy response to rapid inflation largely due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a plunging yen is not sufficient.
The survey called 487 randomly selected households with eligible voters on landline phones and 2,043 mobile phone numbers. It yielded responses from 421 people from households and 646 mobile phone users.
