48% want ex-trade minister Sugawara to quit as lawmaker: poll

In the nationwide emergency telephone poll, conducted over the weekend, 43.5 percent of the respondents said the lawmaker, in his sixth term, did not need to give up his Diet seat.

Why call it an "emergency poll"? Where's the emergency? This guy is just like far too many other policticians here in Japan, they take the money, and expect that they wont get busted.

This is just business as usual!

Step down?

He should be in jail for rigging the outcomes of political elections...

Even if he steps down he still needs to face the charges in court.

This whole damn cabinet needs to step down. Esp. the head.

So it seems "gift scandal" has become Kyodo's designated euphemism for corruption and bribery.

Despite the resignation, the approval rating for Abe's cabinet has risen 1.1 percentage points to 54.1 percent from the previous poll held earlier this month. The disapproval rate came in at 34.5 percent, up 0.3 percentage point, according to the poll.

This is the head-scratcher in my opinion, I do not see how people can keep supporting Abe in the midst of him taking more and more money from our pockets!

I also can not see how people are disassociating Abe from the very people HE chose for his cabinet.

Abe is responsible for all the screw ups!

“A whopping 81.9 percent said they are in favor of the idea of Japan having a female emperor with 13.5 percent indicating they were opposed...”

I wonder if the people here will ever learn that until they sultans up for themselves, it doesn’t matter what they want if it’s not the wishes of the right-wing government.

I do not understand, bribe is part of daily life here.

officials show the way to follow...

Yeah corruption and bribe being called "gifts", welcome to the crooks nation. They are wondering if he should quit as lawmaker instead of asking the right question: why isn't being prosecuted? Again and again, compare with Ghosn.

If only what the people wanted mattered........

Realistically, about 80% of Japanese lawmakers and politicians should be replaced for their fraud and grafting.