Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government dropped to a record low after he handed out gift vouchers to some ruling party lawmakers, a poll conducted by the Asahi newspaper showed on Monday.
The approval rating slid 14 percentage points to 26% from the previous survey done in February, the worst since Ishiba took the office last October, according to the March 15-16 poll by the Asahi.
Other polls done by the Yomiuri newspaper and the Mainichi newspaper over the weekend also showed public approval for the Ishiba's cabinet fell to a record low.
Ishiba found himself in a hot water as he handed out gift vouchers worth 100,000 yen each to 15 first-term lower house lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) earlier this month, drawing criticism as it could violate a political law.
Speaking in parliament, Ishiba said he used "pocket money" to hand out gift certificates to the lawmakers before having dinner with them on March 3 as a "show of appreciation" for their hard work getting elected.
The premier said the gift handout didn't violate a political fund law but apologized for his action caused "distrust and anger among many people."
All of the 15 lawmakers returned the gift vouchers to the Ishiba's office, according to Japanese media.
The slide in opinion polls could be a blow to Ishiba's leadership ahead of an upper house election slated for July, and comes at a time when Japan's economy faces headwinds from the escalating trade war waged by U.S. President Donald Trump.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
25 Comments
Login to comment
The_Beagle
On top of his many gaffs, Ishiba & co. have few if any accomplishments to boost confidence in their ability to govern effectively.
Yubaru
Record low for him. Get it straight!
Blattamexiguus
100,000¥ x 15 = 1,500,000¥
just ‘pocket money’ for this jackass!
for your average Taro working 40hrs a week at minimum wage it’s a lot of money!
so out of touch!
HopeSpringsEternal
Seems a dead man walking, like LOTS of politicians now in office, especially ones who're deemed part of the 'problems' rather than driving towards needed 'solutions'!
kurisupisu
…
So, the steak dinners were included in the mix!
Blackstar
Seems a dead man walking, like LOTS of politicians now in office, especially ones who're deemed part of the 'problems' rather than driving towards needed 'solutions'!
Solutions. By which you mean "final solutions". Authoritarianism. No thanks. Keep dreaming.
Not that a Trump-like figure could arise in Japan (judging by political outcomes, the Japanese are relatively sane compared to Americans), but if one did Ishiba would be favoured every day over the week over a buffoon of that type.
Yes, he's quite useless, but at least not disastrous to his country and the world.
kaimycahl
How low can one go? In politics not everyone is going to like you, its a pin the needle on the donkey job!!
ZENJI
Oh no, not again.
Sanjinosebleed
Does the LDP come any other way except corrupt to the core!?
Ishida is just another corrupt LDP politician used to the graft that comes with the job!
They are so used to this corruption that this sort of thing obviously isn’t even thought of as corruption…
Time for the LDP to become the opposition!
DanteKH
It's the LDP. LDP is the cancer that made Japan go into recession and burts the economic bubble.
gsa
I don't think any recent Japanese leader's approval rate was high either.
BigP
He is a career politician.
So, our tax payments gave him ¥1,500,000 pocket money to hand out.
With so many Japan families financially struggling the buffoon.
tamanegi
I stand by my comments the other day. This is the beginning of the end of another Japanese Prime Minister. It will be long and drawn out as scandals and missteps emerge.
The fat lady has been placed on notice.
grund
If he was a stronger, more charismatic prime minister I think this scandal would slide off, but seeing that he isn't and that he has relatively few things to show for I think he has until summer.
Seigi
We need a new majority in the Diet. It's about time we get rid of traditional politicians, although not entirely, but through a slow but effective process.
Cephus
"Ishiba cabinet approval hits record low: poll."
Ratings are usually, meaningless. But it's very frustrating without long term political stability in the highest office. PM Abe, accomplished a lot because he brought political stability and in turn that created stable business environment.
Simon Foston
CephusToday 11:32 am JST
He was just lucky because the opposition was so weak and fragmented.
All that's led to is more malaise and stagnation. Abe was a slimebag who brought his own political downfall on himself with his sleaze and corruption. I suspect you only like him because he was also sycophant-in-chief to Donald Trump.
DanteKH
Abe, with his Abenomics, is responsible for almost everything that happened in the last 5 to 10 years. The collapse of the currency, the inflation, the stagnant salaries, the collapse of the Pension fund (seems like everybody forgot about that and the shenanigans he pulled with it), etc.
Please stop praising that guy. It brang the downfall of the powerful Japanese economy, as everyone knew it, to what it is today...
Cephus
Simon Foston,
"All that's led to is more malaise and stagnation. Abe was a slimebag who brought his own political downfall on himself with his sleaze and corruption. I suspect you only like him because he was also sycophant-in-chief to Donald Trump."
And yet he remains the longest serving PM right? The Japanese real economic recovery started with PM Abe like him or loath him the guy was a political genius.
Simon Foston
CephusToday 03:25 pm JST
Simon Foston,
Did you miss my first point about the lack of effective opposition?
When was that? We all must have missed it because it doesn't seem to have made anyone any better off.
He didn't leave much of a legacy for a "political genius." The LDP and Japanese politics are in pretty much the same sorry state as they were when he became PM for the second time, and the spate of scandals he was involved in didn't help much.
DeeZee
Blaming Japan's problems on a PM is just silly. Everything that has transpired has been festering for decades. The bubble burst, the population went into decline, other countries started to rise and the youth became more disenfranchised and alienated from society. It doesn't matter how many PM's change hands really. The root causes still remain.
Simon Foston
DeeZeeMar. 18 11:47 pm JST
True. PMs make convenient scapegoats though because the LDP doesn't want to do anything about the root causes. One of the main prerequisites for them staying in power is everything staying the way it is.
Aly Rustom
THIS!! One of the best comments I've read in a LONG time! Dead right mate!
Aly Rustom
THIS!!!
chatanista
Not many good alternatives to Ishiba in the LDP and the ones that might be will not be allowed to become PM due to the old guard.