April 2005 Nikkei Regular Telephone Opinion Poll
Dates Conducted
April 7 – 10, 2005
Date Released
April 11, 2005 (Nikkei Shimbun)
Methodology
The Nikkei Shimbun regularly conducts public opinion polls on attitudes toward the government and domestic policy issues. The telephone poll surveyed 1,553 males and females over the age of 20 throughout Japan.
Key Issues
- Support for Prime Minister Koizumi
- Constitutional revision
Disclaimer
The Mansfield Foundation is responsible for the translation of this Nikkei Shimbun poll, subject to the Mansfield Foundation Terms of Use.
Survey
Q1. Do you support the Koizumi cabinet or not? (N=1553)
| Support | 44% |
| Don’t support | 41% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 15% |
Q1SQ1. For those who answered “support” in Q1, what is the reason for your support? Please choose as many as apply. (N=680)
| Because it is an LDP cabinet | 20% |
| Good policies | 16% |
| Good sense in international affairs | 18% |
| Leadership | 22% |
| Stability | 16% |
| Can trust personality | 31% |
| Clean | 20% |
| Others | 7% |
| 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 it apply. (N=635)
| Because it is an LDP cabinet | 19% |
| Bad policies | 46% |
| Bad sense in international affairs | 19% |
| Lack of leadership | 31% |
| Instability | 27% |
| Cannot trust personality | 31% |
| Not clean | 5% |
| Others | 4% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 4% |
Q2. Which political party do you currently support? Please choose one. (N=1553)
| Liberal Democratic Party | 30% |
| Democratic Party ofJapan | 15% |
| New Komeito | 4% |
| Japanese Communist Party | 2% |
| Social Democratic Party | 1% |
| Others | 1% |
| Don’t support any party | 43% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 7% |
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=734)
| Liberal Democratic Party | 15% |
| Democratic Party ofJapan | 16% |
| New Komeito | 1% |
| Japanese Communist Party | 4% |
| Social Democratic Party | 3% |
| Others | 1% |
| Don’t support any party | 43% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 17% |
[Support + preferable parties (N=1553)]
| Liberal Democratic Party | 37% |
| Democratic Party ofJapan | 22% |
| New Komeito | 4% |
| Japanese Communist Party | 4% |
| Social Democratic Party | 3% |
| Others | 1% |
| Don’t support any party | 20% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 8% |
Q3. What policy issues do you want the Koizumi cabinet to prioritize? Please choose as many as apply from the following 15 answers. (N=1553)
| Economy | 36% |
| Fiscal reform | 21% |
| Tax reform | 22% |
| Administrative reform/deregulation | 8% |
| Diplomacy/national security issues | 21% |
| Social security issues including pension and welfare | 56% |
| Employment | 26% |
| Education | 28% |
| Reforms in political systems | 15% |
| Postal privatization | 13% |
| So called “Sanmi ittai” or triple reform of central and local governments taxing systems | 14% |
| Local economy revitalization | 16% |
| Constitutional issues | 10% |
| Environmental issues | 18% |
| Safety/crime control | 24% |
| Others | 1% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 13% |
Q4. Discussions on revising the Constitution are getting into full swing in the Diet and among political parties. What do you think about the Constitution? Please choose one of the following two answers. (N=1553)
| Fine as it is | 29% |
| Should revise | 54% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 17% |
Q4SQ1. For those who answered “fine as it is” in Q4, why do you think it is fine as it is? Please choose one from the following four answers. (N=443)
| Because the current Constitution does not have any specific problem | 17% |
| Because revising the Constitution could change pacifism | 47% |
| Because there are many other issues to work on | 18% |
| Because the Constitution should not be revised unless there is a compelling reason | 17% |
| Others | 1% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 0% |
Q4SQ2. For those who answered “should revise” in Q4, why do you think it should be revised? Please choose one from the following four answers. (N=843)
| Because the current Constitution was formulated under the occupation | 12% |
| Because clauses that are detached from reality stand out | 26% |
| Because it is necessary to include new ideas | 48% |
| Because it is necessary to change the country’s systems to make it easier to advance reforms | 12% |
| Others | 1% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 1% |
Q4SQ3. For those who answered “should revise” in Q4, What do you think about the timing of revision? Please choose one from the following three answers. (N=843)
| Should revise as soon as possible | 36% |
| Should revise in some years | 33% |
| Should discuss in details without setting a deadline | 29% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 2% |
Q5. What are problems in the current Constitution if there is any? Please choose as many as apply from the following five answers. (N=1553)
| Article 9, which stipulates renunciation of war, does not match the reality | 26% |
| No clauses on environmental right, the right of privacy, etc. that reflect changes of the times | 35% |
| Clauses on the Diet, including the two-chamber system of House of Representatives and House of Councillors, are not appropriate | 23% |
| It allows government to intervene in such a wide realm, and freedom of economic activities is not clear. | 22% |
| Insufficient consideration of local autonomy | 22% |
| Others | 1% |
| No problem | 2% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 21% |
Q6. What do you think about the characterization of the Self Defense Force under the Constitution? Please select one from the following four answers. (N=1553)
| Should stipulate its existence in the Constitution as “Self Defense Force” | 26% |
| Should make clear that it is a military force by calling such name as “Self Defense Army” in the Constitution | 20% |
| Should not mention in the Constitution, fine as it is | 24% |
| Should not mention in the Constitution and should think towards reduction or abolition | 10% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 20% |
Q7. The current constitution stipulates the Diet as two-chamber system of House of Representatives and House of Councillors. What do you think about it? Please choose one from the following three answers. (N=1553)
| Should maintain the two-chamber system | 37% |
| Should maintain the two-chamber system, but should weaken the authority of the House of Councillors | 13% |
| Should change to one-chamber system | 28% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 22% |
Q8. The Constitution can be revised when more than two thirds of members of both Houses approve and more than half of the entire population approve. What do you think about it? Please choose one from the following three answers. (N=1553)
| Should loosen the conditions to make it easier to revise | 30% |
| Fine as is | 39% |
| Should tighten the conditions to make it more difficult to revise | 11% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 20% |
Q9. Prime Minister Koizumi plans to finalize the outline of Postal Privatization Bill and pass the Bill in this Diet session. What do you think about his approach? Please choose one from the following four answers. (N=1553)
| Support Prime Minister’s approach | 13% |
| Should privatize more drastically | 22% |
| Should privatize with gaining more support from opposition forces | 33% |
| Oppose to the privatization | 12% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 20% |
Q10. Conflicts between Fuji TV and Livedoor over acquisition of Nippon Broadcasting System continue. What do you think about it? Please choose one from the following two answers. (N=1553)
| Support Fuji TV | 30% |
| Support Livedoor | 40% |
| Can’t say/don’t know | 31% |
F1. Gender (judged by interviewers, N=1553)
| Male | 43% |
| Female | 57% |
| Unknown | 0% |
F2. Age (N=1553)
| 20s | 9% |
| 30s | 20% |
| 40s | 17% |
| 50s | 21% |
| 60s | 16% |
| Over 70 | 16% |
| Refuse to answer | 1% |
F3. What is your occupation? Please choose one from the following. (N=1553)
| Agriculture, forestry, fishery | 2% |
| Employed (corporate employee, bureaucrat, teacher, etc.) | 42% |
| Self-employed (business, engineer), freelance (including family business) | 11% |
| House wife (without any outside job) | 25% |
| Student | 2% |
| Unemployed | 17% |
| Refuse to answer | 2% |