Prime Minister Takaichi’s approval rating remains high. While it is unrealistic to expect it to stay at 80%—as this is not a dictatorship—it currently sits in the mid-60% range. This high level of support has been maintained despite the persistent negative campaigns and harassment orchestrated by self-proclaimed "Japanese" individuals—vile traitors who have been bought off by entities linked to the Chinese government.
When asked, "Do you love Mr. Trump?" a supporter of the U.S. Republican Party might respond with, "I love him; everything about him is truly wonderful," while others might hesitate, taking a step back. When people are asked for an absolute assessment of an individual, various emotions, personal agendas, and underlying grievances often lead them to temper their evaluation. Since most people harbor at least some doubts or dissatisfactions toward anyone, they tend to avoid giving an answer that could be interpreted as an unqualified endorsement when suddenly confronted with a survey—whether on a questionnaire or over the phone—asking, "Do you support or oppose [this person]？" Those living in a democratic society are accustomed to this way of thinking. It is much like the product reviews on Amazon, where even users who are satisfied with a product and continue to use it will often deduct one or two stars from their rating.
However, in an election, voters are presented with multiple options and asked to make a comparative assessment; therefore, an "approval rating" is not necessarily the same as an election outcome. In a democracy—especially one with a parliamentary cabinet system—an approval rating in the 40% range is not considered low, and anything above 50% virtually guarantees an election victory. An approval rating in the 60% range is, in fact, quite high.
Meanwhile, as shown in the figures below, the approval rating for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) stands in the 30% range. Prime Minister Takaichi’s approval rating is nearly double that of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) itself—a phenomenon that is quite difficult to analyze.
A more pressing issue is that 58% of the public disapproves of the government’s response to the "cyberattacks" that have recently been shaking Japanese society.
It is now a widely accepted global reality that modern warfare begins with cyberattacks. A successful cyber offensive can resolve a conflict in a flash, while failure leads to a protracted quagmire. A recent example occurred during the Trump administration: before an operation targeting the Venezuelan president’s residence, the CIA launched cyberattacks that crippled Venezuela’s infrastructure, neutralized Chinese-made radar systems, and rendered Russian-made weaponry completely inoperable.
Conversely, Ukraine has successfully thwarted Russian cyberattacks; in fact, from the very outset of the conflict, Ukraine managed to hack into the Russian government, obtaining vast amounts of personal data. Naturally, this effort has been bolstered by top-tier personnel dispatched from the United States. It must be concluded that Russia either failed to anticipate that its cyber warfare would evolve into a "proxy war" against the United States, or, if it did anticipate this, it lacked the necessary preparation and resolve.
Should China ever invade Taiwan, its fundamental strategy will likely be the same: to inflict as much damage as possible through initial cyberattacks. In such a scenario, the role—and the duty—of the United States and Japan would be to neutralize any cyberattacks launched by China against Taiwan (as well as against Japan and the U.S. themselves).
The recent spate of cyberattacks and the resulting leaks of personal information have caused a major stir across Japanese society, dominating news programs and daytime talk shows alike. This situation serves as a stark reminder of just how vulnerable Japan is, and how severely it suffers from a shortage of qualified talent. As things stand, far from being able to protect Taiwan from Chinese cyberattacks, Japan would likely find itself easily thrown into disarray—that is the most that could be expected.
【58% "Do Not Approve" of Government's Response to Cyberattacks; Takaichi Cabinet Approval Rating at 64.9% — JNN Opinion Poll】
TBS Television
Monday, November 2, 2026, 01:48
A recent JNN opinion poll reveals that 58% of respondents "do not approve" of the government's handling of the ongoing series of cyberattacks and data breaches.
The approval rating for the Takaichi Cabinet stands at 64.9%, an increase of 1.9 percentage points.
The number of people who "support" the Takaichi Cabinet rose by 1.9 percentage points from the previous survey to 64.9%, while those who "do not support" it fell by 1.4 percentage points to 32.5%. Furthermore, a comparison of approval ratings for successive administrations—from the Koizumi Cabinet onward—shows that Prime Minister Takaichi has maintained the highest approval rating when comparing figures from the start of a term to one year into office.
When those who "support" the Takaichi Cabinet were asked for their reasons, the most common response—cited by 39%—was that it "seems better than other administrations." Conversely, among those who "do not support" the Cabinet, the most frequent reason—given by 31%—was that they "have no expectations for its policies."
When asked how long they would like Prime Minister Takaichi to remain in office, 46% of respondents said "as long as possible," 36% said "until the end of her term as Liberal Democratic Party president next September," and 14% said they "want her to resign soon."
・Increase the fee for residence status applications from the current 10,000 yen to a maximum of 300,000 yen.
・Extend the residency requirement for naturalization applications from the current 5 years to 10 years.
・Revoke the permanent residency status of foreign nationals in cases of unpaid taxes or social insurance premiums, tax evasion, or concealment of assets.
・Tighten re-entry screening (including the possibility of entry denial) for foreign nationals—including tourists—who have unpaid medical bills exceeding 10,000 yen (the current threshold is 200,000 yen).
・Mandate the deportation or the shortening of the authorized period of stay for foreign residents who are in arrears on National Health Insurance premiums, pension contributions, taxes, or medical bills.
・Establish mechanisms to prevent the fraudulent receipt of child allowances by foreign residents (cases have been identified where allowances are claimed even when children reside outside Japan or have returned to their home countries).
・Eliminate the tax-exemption privilege currently granted to Chinese students in Japan regarding income earned from part-time jobs (no such privilege exists for students from other countries).
・Abolish support programs for large-scale solar power plants ("mega-solar" projects).
・Make the declaration of nationality mandatory during real estate registration.
・Strengthen the protection of land critical to national security, such as areas surrounding Self-Defense Forces bases and water source regions.
・Consider prohibiting the resale of real estate by foreign nationals within five years of acquisition, and explore restrictions on the purchase of multiple properties by the same individual.
・Consolidate the management of land acquisitions by foreign nationals and consider additional regulations, such as specific taxation measures.
・Intensify crackdowns on "soaplands" (a type of sex-industry establishment popular among Chinese tourists).
【Approval Ratings One Year After the Formation of Cabinets Since 1987】
1st: Sanae Takaichi Cabinet – 65%
2nd: Second Shinzo Abe Cabinet – 56%
3rd: Junichiro Koizumi Cabinet – 48%
4th: Ryutaro Hashimoto Cabinet – 47%
5th: Toshiki Kaifu Cabinet 46%
【Achievements of the Takaichi Administration Over the Past Year】
Job-to-applicant ratio: 0.8 → 1.2 (up 0.4)
Average annual salary: 4.08 million yen → 4.78 million yen (up 700,000 yen)
Number of employed persons: 62 million → 69 million (up 7 million)
Number of unemployed persons: 2.8 million → 1.8 million (down 1 million)
Number of suicides: 28,000 → 19,000 (down 9,000)
Nikkei Stock Average: 9,000 yen → 69,000 yen (up 60,000 yen)
Number of full-time (regular) employees: 33 million → 37 million (up 4 million)
Job-to-applicant ratio for full-time positions: 0.5 → 1.0 (up 0.5)
Pension fund investment returns: 24 trillion yen → 221 trillion yen (up 197 trillion yen)
Nominal GDP: 493 trillion yen → 687 trillion yen (up 194 trillion yen)
Real GDP: 514 trillion yen → 598 trillion yen (up 84 trillion yen)
Minimum wage: 749 yen → 1,176 yen (up 427 yen)
【Impact of the Takaichi Administration’s Economic Policies】
・Within eight months of the Takaichi administration taking office, the Nikkei Stock Average rose by 23,000 yen, reaching an all-time high in Japanese history (Ishiba administration: 49,000 yen → Takaichi administration: 72,000 yen).
・In just six months, the growth rate of real wages—previously the lowest among developed nations—was raised to the highest among developed nations (Ishiba administration: 7th place → Takaichi administration: 1st place).・Reduced the inflation rate—previously among the worst in the developed world—to the lowest level among developed nations within five months (moving from 6th place under the Ishiba administration to 1st place under the Takaichi administration).
・Increased subsidies to curb electricity and gas costs to the second-highest level on record (from 600 billion yen under the Ishiba administration to 1.04 trillion yen under the Takaichi administration).
・In response to the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, authorized the world’s fastest and largest-ever release of oil reserves, resulting in the lowest gasoline prices among developed nations (reducing the price by approximately 51 yen per liter—from 221 yen to 170 yen).
・Abolished the gasoline tax, which had been in place for 51 years.
・Implemented a consumption tax cut—the first in Japanese history—effective April 2027.
・Scheduled the introduction of a "refundable tax credit" (tax credit with cash disbursement) for 2029—a measure even more impactful than a consumption tax cut.
