Nearly 85 percent of the respondents said politicians must cut ties with the Unification Church and any affiliated group, as the fallout from the killing of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his alleged links to the organization continues to reverberate.
The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet rose only slightly to 54.1 percent, after a reshuffling on Wednesday to revive sagging public support amid intense scrutiny over his party's links with the church.
The support rate for the two-day nationwide telephone survey went up on Wednesday after the figure dropped to a worst-ever 51.0 percent in the previous poll conducted on July 30 and 31.
Kishida's administration, which was launched in October, said he has asked all ministers to check and strictly review any links to the group in question to avoid public doubts, and he has only appointed those who have agreed to do so. While 84.7 percent called for the severing of ties with the church, founded in South Korea in 1954 and with a controversial reputation in Japan, 12.8 percent said it was not necessary to do so.
The survey showed that 89.5 percent wanted the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its lawmakers to more clearly explain their links with the church, with only 6.9 percent satisfied with the current explanations.
At least five ministers in the new cabinet acknowledged their past links with the church, including taking in events or paying membership fees, despite the reshuffle.
44.0 percent gave a good assessment while 41.6 percent said otherwise when asked to evaluate the latest changes in the Cabinet and the LDP executive lineup.
56.0 percent of respondents said they were unconvinced by Kishida's explanation, while 42.5 percent said they had accepted it.
The public opinion has been divided about holding the government announced state funeral for Abe, who was fatally shot during a July 8 campaign stump speech.
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, now known as the Church, has attracted attention over problematic practices such as so-called spiritual sales, in which people are talked into buying jars and other items for exorbitant prices.
Following Abe's killing, followers of the church have been arrested in Japan and received court orders in connection with money illegally obtained from people through the use of threats, including the use of ancestral karma. The church has come under renewed spotlight after his attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators his mother's large donations had financially ruined their family.
The survey found 483 randomly selected households with eligible voters on landline phones and 2,276 mobile phone numbers. It yielded responses from 423 households and 629 mobile users.