People whose opinion of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has worsened since her government took office are far more critical of how it has handled "politics and money" and inflation and household support than those whose view has held steady, an online survey by the Asahi Shimbun and Osaka University has found.
Foreigner policy drew high marks from both groups, according to the survey, conducted with Miura Asako, a professor of social psychology at Osaka University.
Asked to rate the government's roughly one year in office overall, 45% said it had done badly and 26% said it had done well. The share saying they liked Takaichi stood at 40%, down 15 points from a survey in November 2025.
How the survey was run
The Asahi Shimbun has polled about 7,000 eligible voters nationwide through an online survey company since February last year. This round, conducted from October 9 to 18, 2026, drew responses from 668 of those who had taken part before.
The sample is a self-selected group of repeat respondents rather than a fresh random sample, a point two academic commentators raised in notes published alongside the results.
Shiro Sakaiya, a political scientist and professor at the University of Tokyo graduate school, called the data valuable but said the respondents amounted to a heavily "chosen" group. Kono Yuri, a professor of Japanese political thought at Hosei University's law faculty, asked what the government's policy on politics and money actually consists of — whether recent misconduct by some cabinet ministers, the appointment of lawmakers tied to the so-called "slush fund" scandal, or specifics of political funding regulation.
The survey did not break down which of those voters had in mind.