- Support for Prime Minister Koizumi
- Postal privatization
- Prime Minister Koizumi’s visits to Yasukuni Shrine
June 16 – 19, 2005
June 20, 2005 (Nikkei Shimbun)
The Nikkei Shimbun regularly conducts public opinion polls on attitudes toward the government and domestic policy issues. The telephone poll surveyed 1,704 males and females over the age of 20 throughout Japan.
Survey
Q1. Do you support the Koizumi cabinet or not? (N=1704)
| Support | 48% |
| Don’t support | 39% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 13% |
Q1SQ1. For those who answered “support” in Q1, what is the reason for your support? Please choose as many as apply. (N=811)
| Because it is an LDP cabinet | 16% |
| Good policies | 14% |
| Good sense in international affairs | 14% |
| Leadership | 25% |
| Stability | 18% |
| Can trust personality | 28% |
| Clean | 14% |
| Others | 10% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 6% |
Q1SQ2. For those who answered “don’t support” in Q1, what is the reason for your non-support? Please choose as many as apply. (N=663)
| Because it is an LDP cabinet | 16% |
| Bad policies | 42% |
| Bad sense in international affairs | 37% |
| Lack of leadership | 25% |
| Instability | 23% |
| Cannot trust personality | 28% |
| Not clean | 5% |
| Others | 6% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 5% |
Q2. Which political party do you currently support? Please choose one. (N=1704)
| Liberal Democratic Party | 33% |
| Democratic Party of Japan | 13% |
| New Komeito | 3% |
| Japanese Communist Party | 2% |
| Social Democratic Party | 2% |
| Others | 0% |
| Don’t support any party | 42% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 5% |
Q2SQ. For those who answered “don’t support any party” or “can’t say/don’t know” in Q2, if you have to choose one party, which party do you feel is most preferable? (N=802)
| Liberal Democratic Party | 15% |
| Democratic Party of Japan | 15% |
| New Komeito | 1% |
| Japanese Communist Party | 4% |
| Social Democratic Party | 2% |
| Others | 1% |
| Don’t support any party | 49% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 12% |
[Support + preferable parties (N=1704)]
| Liberal Democratic Party | 40% |
| Democratic Party of Japan | 20% |
| New Komeito | 4% |
| Japanese Communist Party | 4% |
| Social Democratic Party | 3% |
| Others | 1% |
| Don’t support any party | 23% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 6% |
Q3. What policy issues do you want the Koizumi cabinet to prioritize? Please choose as many as apply from the following 15 answers. (N=1704)
| Economy | 31% |
| Fiscal reform | 19% |
| Tax reform | 20% |
| Administrative reform/deregulation | 8% |
| Diplomacy/national security issues | 23% |
| Social security issues including pension and welfare | 51% |
| Employment | 23% |
| Education | 21% |
| Reforms in political systems | 13% |
| Postal privatization | 14% |
| So called “Sanmi ittai” or triple reform of central and local governments taxing systems | 13% |
| Local economy revitalization | 15% |
| Constitutional issues | 10% |
| Environmental issues | 17% |
| Safety/crime control | 20% |
| Others | 1% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 15% |
Q4. Discussions on postal privatization are moving forward in the Diet. What do you think about the Koizumi cabinet’s postal revitalization? Please choose one of the following two answers. (N=1704)
| Should privatize | 41% |
| Need not privatize | 37% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 23% |
Q5. Prime Minister Koizumi has indicated the possibility of dissolving the Lower House and elections in case the Postal Privatization Bill does not pass in this Diet session. What do you think about Prime Minister’s political posture like this? Please choose one of the following three answers. (N=1704)
| Support Prime Minister’s posture | 22% |
| Should not persist on enactment within this Diet session, and should gain understanding from opposition parties as well for enactment | 44% |
| Oppose to enactment of the Postal Privatization Bill | 15% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 18% |
Q6. Prime Minister Koizumi has shown his philosophy that he visits the Yasukuni Shrine every year. What do you think about that? Please select one from the following two answers. (N=1704)
| Support | 38% |
| Oppose | 42% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 20% |
Q6SQ1. For those who answered “support” in Q6, what are the reasons of your support for Prime Minister’s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine? Please choose one of the following three answers. (N=650)
| Because it is important to console the sole of war dead who lost their lives for the country | 56% |
| Because it is wrong to cease the visit for oppositions from neighboring countries | 21% |
| Because individuals’ religious beliefs should be respected | 21% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 1% |
Q6SQ2. For those who answered “oppose” in Q6, what are the reasons of your opposition against Prime Minister’s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine? Please choose one of the following three answers. (N=718)
| Because it leads to deteriorated relationships with neighboring countries | 69% |
| Because it violates the principle of separation of religion and politics under the Constitution | 12% |
| Because the Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol of militarism during the war | 16% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 3% |
Q7. Recently China and Korea are opposing to Japan’s gaining a permanent membership at the United Nations Security Council for history issues, and so forth. What do you think about China’s and Korea’s posture like this? Please choose one from the following three answers. (N=1704)
| Natural for the two countries | 10% |
| Regrettable though it is somewhat inevitable | 42% |
| Feel strong objection to the two countries | 29% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 19% |
Q8. Prime Minister Koizumi’s tenure as the president of the Liberal Democratic Party will end in September 2006. What framework of administration do you think would be appropriate as a post Koizumi cabinet administration? Please choose one from the following five answers. (N=1704)
| Continuation of LDP-Komeito coalition administration | 21% |
| LDP single-party administration | 9% |
| LDP-DPJ large coalition administration | 24% |
| DPJ single-party administration | 6% |
| Non-LDP coalition administration centered around DPJ | 15% |
| Others | 1% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 24% |
Q9. Who do you think is an appropriate “next Prime Minister” as a successor of Prime Minister Koizumi? Please choose one of the following. (N=1704)
| Taro Aso | 2% |
| Shinzo Abe | 34% |
| Masahiko Komura | 2% |
| Sadakazu Tanigaki | 1% |
| Takeo Hiranuma | 1% |
| Yasuo Fukuda | 5% |
| Katsuya Okada | 6% |
| Ichiro Ozawa | 7% |
| Naoto Kan | 8% |
| Others | 3% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 32% |
Q10. As a measure to save energy, the government is expanding its “Cool Biz” campaign that recommends no-tie and no-jacket in summer. What do you think about it? Please choose one from the following three answers. (N=1704)
| Should spread this campaign nationally, including private companies | 38% |
| Should do it within government agencies and let private companies decide on their own | 35% |
| Oppose to it since it could be rude to others | 9% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 18% |
F1. Gender (judged by interviewers, N=1704)
| Male | 45% |
| Female | 55% |
| Unknown | 0% |
F2. Age (N=1704)
| 20s | 8% |
| 30s | 19% |
| 40s | 17% |
| 50s | 22% |
| 60s | 18% |
| Over 70 | 15% |
| Refuse to answer | 2% |
F3. What is your occupation? Please choose one from the following. (N=1704)
| Agriculture, forestry, fishery | 4% |
| Employed (corporate employee, bureaucrat, teacher, etc.) | 42% |
| Self-employed (business, engineer), freelance (including family business) | 13% |
| House wife (without any outside job) | 20% |
| Student | 2% |
| Unemployed | 15% |
| Refuse to answer | 3% |
