TOKYO -- The approval rating of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet rose to 54% in a nationwide opinion poll on December 18, up 5 percentage points from shortly after the administration's inauguration in October and up 6 percentage points from the previous survey held on November 13.
The Cabinet disapproval rating was down from 43% in the previous poll, according to the poll conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun and the Social Survey Research Center.
46% of the respondents said they appreciated the administration's coronavirus countermeasures, well above the 26% that said they do not. The low figures for daily new infections in the country have been highly rated by the public, and this has led to a rise in support for the Kishida Cabinet.
As per the national government's initial request to distribute money in cash only, instead of as a combination of money and coupons, up to 60% said local governments should distribute the money in cash only instead of as a combination of money and coupons. People who were looking for cash-only handouts exceeded the 11% of respondents who said they were fine with money and coupons. Twenty-five percent of respondents said they were against the handouts themselves. The questions were either answered through SMS texts on mobile phones or automated voice messages on landlines.