Ishiba’s steady support

Don’t look now, but he might be able to hold on

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Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru speaks at a New Year’s party hosted by Jiji Press. Source: Prime Minister’s Office of Japan

Political Japan is slowly stirring after the New Year’s holiday, so opinion polling has been relatively sparse. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru might take some comfort from NHK’s latest poll, published on 14 January, which showed his government’s approval basically holding steady, with its disapproval climbing two points to forty percent and its approval climbing one point to thirty-nine percent. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) gained nearly two points of support, while both the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and the Democratic Party for the People (DPFP) both lost ground, losing 0.6 and 1.5 points respectively.