Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan. AP Yonhap News.

The Japanese cabinet led by Sanae Takaichi, which was inaugurated late last month, is sailing smoothly with unusually high approval ratings.

The private broadcast network JNN reported on the 3rd that a public opinion poll conducted on 1,013 men and women aged 18 and over on November 1st-2nd showed an 82.0% approval rating for the cabinet led by Prime Minister Takaichi.

The media outlet stated this was the second highest figure since the Koizumi administration's inauguration in 2001, which recorded an 88.0% approval rating.

The approval rating for the preceding Shigeru Ishiba cabinet immediately after its inauguration was 51.6%.

The policies promoted by the Takaichi cabinet were also generally evaluated positively.

Specifically, 83% positively assessed the series of diplomatic schedules, including participation in the ASEAN Summit, the first summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, and the APEC Summit in Gyeongju.

Regarding Prime Minister Takaichi's decision to advance the timing of increasing defense spending (defense budget) to 2% of GDP from fiscal year 2027 (April 2027-March 2028) to fiscal year 2025, 56% expressed support. The original plan was for defense spending to be around 1.8% of GDP in fiscal year 2025.

Furthermore, 64% responded that they favor the relaxation of regulations on working hour limits.

As for the Takaichi administration's inauguration, 58% of respondents believed that the economy would improve.

Regarding the reduction in the number of members of the House of Representatives (lower house) promised by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in its coalition agreement with the Japan Innovation Party, 48% held the view that "the bill should be passed within the year."

However, despite the very high approval ratings for the Takaichi cabinet, the approval rating for the Liberal Democratic Party itself remained at 28.9%.

Initial approval ratings for the Takaichi cabinet are also reported to be high, in the 60-70% range, in surveys by other media outlets. Generally, approval ratings tend to be higher among younger demographics.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that based on the examples of the Koizumi cabinet and the second Abe cabinet, which were maintained for a long time, changes in the approval ratings of unaffiliated voters who do not support any particular party are important.

Meanwhile, the Asahi Shimbun evaluated that Prime Minister Takaichi, while demonstrating a pragmatic approach during the week-long diplomatic schedule culminating in the APEC Summit, also presented herself as inheriting the line of former Prime Minister Abe.

The newspaper explained, "Prime Minister Takaichi showed an attitude of responding to China and South Korea with a purely 'pragmatic approach,' without making hardline conservative claims."

Prime Minister Takaichi, from Nara Prefecture in western Honshu, is reportedly said to have remarked during her first summit with President Lee Jae-myung on the 30th of last month, "People in Nara Prefecture well know that the word 'Nara' originally means country in Korean."

The Asahi analyzed that Prime Minister Takaichi adopted a strategy of maximizing the political legacy of former Prime Minister Abe when meeting with leaders of Southeast Asian countries, where evaluations of former Prime Minister Abe are generally positive.

The newspaper added that the prevailing view is that Prime Minister Takaichi made a smooth debut on the diplomatic stage, and noted, "There were many instances where she seemed to be trying to speak in her own words, rather than just reading prepared question-and-answer scripts drafted by bureaucrats."

Yonhap News