Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi's Approval Slips Amid Disdain for Conservative Priorities

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appears to be fraying, with two new opinion polls suggesting voters are losing patience with a leader who won a sweeping mandate in February but has since spent political capital on conservative causes instead of tackling cost-of-living pressures.

Analysts said the problem was not simply that Takaichi’s honeymoon period was ending, but that she had used her commanding position to push through legislation dear to the most conservative elements of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party while making little visible progress on day-to-day issues affecting the public’s well-being – chiefly, rising prices.

“She was given an immense mandate with a two-thirds majority for her own party, so there should have been nothing to obstruct her policies and no need to extend the Diet session, which they have just done,” said Michael Cucek, a professor of Asian Studies at Temple University’s Tokyo campus.

According to Cucek, Takaichi has failed to get her “key policy ducks in a line”, her credibility has been “eaten away by her obsequiousness” to US President Donald Trump and she has focused on fringe issues that may have pleased the far-right but have done nothing to improve the lives of ordinary people.

“In short, she has blown it and I see these opinion polls as more of a performance review than a sign that Takaichi’s ‘honeymoon period’ has come to an end.”

Two pieces of legislation pushed through the Diet this month made it a crime to “desecrate” the national flag – a law that critics say violates the constitutional right to free speech – and a revision to the Imperial Household Law that solidifies the long-standing rule of only allowing a man to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne.