Nikkei Shimbun March 2010 Telephone Opinion Poll
Dates Conducted
March 26 – 28 , 2010
Methodology
Nationwide poll. See below for age and gender breakdown
Key Issues
- Support for the Hatoyama cabinet
- Relocation of Futenma Air Station
- House of Councillors election
- Political party subsidies
Link to Original Source
http://www.nikkei-r.co.jp/phone/results/popup/y201003_a.html
Disclaimer
The Mansfield Foundation is responsible for the translation of this Nikkei Shimbun poll, subject to the Mansfield Foundation Terms of Use.
Survey
*All numbers are percentages
*Numbers in parentheses are the total number of respondents
Q1. Do you support or not support the Hatoyama cabinet? (N=954)
| Support | 29 |
| Do not support | 53 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 19 |
SQ1. [For those who answered “Cannot say”/”Do not know”] Which of the following is closest to your feelings? (N=179)
| Support | 39 |
| Do not support | 25 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 36 |
[Total (combined) approval rating (N=954)]
| Support | 36 |
| Do not support | 57 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 7 |
SQ2. [For those who answered “Support”] What are the reasons you support the cabinet? Please choose all that apply from the following eight answers: (N=344)
| Because it is a DPJ cabinet | 39 |
| Because it has good policies | 23 |
| Because it is internationally minded | 7 |
| Because it has good leadership | 3 |
| Because it is stable | 3 |
| Because of the trustworthy character of its members | 23 |
| Because it is politically clean | 11 |
| Because its management of government and party is good | 8 |
| Other | 10 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 5 |
SQ3. [For those who answered “Do not support”] What are the reasons you do not support the cabinet? Please choose all that apply from the following eight answers: (N=546)
| Because it is a DPJ cabinet | 13 |
| Because its policies are bad | 34 |
| Because it is not internationally minded | 12 |
| Because of its lack of leadership | 57 |
| Because it is not stable | 33 |
| Because its members are not trustworthy | 14 |
| Because it is not clean politically | 11 |
| Because its management of government and party is bad | 41 |
| Other | 6 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 4 |
Q2. Which political party do you currently support? Please choose only one. (N=954)
| Democratic Party ofJapan | 29 |
| Liberal Democratic Party | 16 |
| New Komeito | 4 |
| JapanCommunist Party | 3 |
| Social Democratic Party | 1 |
| The People’s New Party | 0 |
| Your Party | 4 |
| Kaikaku Club | 0 |
| The New Party ofJapan | 0 |
| Other political party | 0 |
| Do not favor any political party | 39 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 4 |
SQ1. [For those who answered “Do not support any party” or “Cannot say/Do not know”] If you had to name one, which political party would you favor? (N=412)
| Democratic Party ofJapan | 11 |
| Liberal Democratic Party | 15 |
| New Komeito | 1 |
| JapanCommunist Party | 3 |
| Social Democratic Party | 1 |
| The People’s New Party | 1 |
| Your Party | 9 |
| Kaikaku Club | 0 |
| The New Party ofJapan | 0 |
| Other political party | 1 |
| Do not favor any political party | 44 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 14 |
[Support + Preferred Parties (N=954)]
| Democratic Party ofJapan | 33 |
| Liberal Democratic Party | 23 |
| New Komeito | 5 |
| JapanCommunist Party | 4 |
| Social Democratic Party | 1 |
| The People’s New Party | 1 |
| Your Party | 8 |
| Kaikaku Club | 0 |
| The New Party ofJapan | 0 |
| Other political party | 0 |
| Do not favor any political party | 19 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 6 |
Q3. How do you evaluate the performance of the Hatoyama cabinet during the latter half of the year? (N=954)
| Positively | 29 |
| Not positively | 57 |
| Neither | 10 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 3 |
SQ1. [For those who answered “Positively”] What is the biggest reason for your evaluation? Please choose one from the following seven answers: (N=277)
| Approach toward economic measures | 8 |
| Approach toward cutting wasteful public spending | 59 |
| Approach toward pension/medical care problems | 9 |
| Approach toward diplomacy/national security | 1 |
| Approach toward the politics and money problem | 6 |
| Approach toward building a system of political leadership | 6 |
| Approach toward global warming problems | 6 |
| Other | 4 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 2 |
SQ2. [For those who answered “Not positively”] What is the biggest reason for your evaluation? Please choose one from the following seven answers: (N=547)
| Approach toward economic measures | 19 |
| Approach toward cutting wasteful public spending | 6 |
| Approach toward pension/medical care problems | 7 |
| Approach toward diplomacy/national security | 10 |
| Approach toward the politics and money problem | 39 |
| Approach toward building a system of political leadership | 11 |
| Approach toward global warming problems | 1 |
| Other | 3 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 4 |
Q4. Although it appears that the national and prefectural debt will be the largest ever, Prime Minister Hatoyama has stated “the consumption tax will not be raised in four years.” What are your thoughts on the prime minister’s statement? (N=954)
| For | 43 |
| Against | 46 |
| Neither | 6 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 5 |
Q5. The government is considering prohibiting donations from corporations and organizations to combat the politics and money problem. It has been suggested that subsidies to political parties from the country should be increased. What are your thoughts on how political funds should be raised? (N=954)
| Prohibit donations from corporations and organizations and increase political subsidies | 16 |
| Should prohibit donations from corporations and organizations, but should not increase political subsidies either | 47 |
| Should not prohibit donations from corporations and organizations | 16 |
| Other | 2 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 18 |
Q6. The government aims to make a decision on the relocation of the U.S. Futenma Air Station by the end of May and is hurrying its examination of the issue. How do you believe the government should handle this issue? (N=954)
| Should relocate elsewhere withinOkinawa | 19 |
| Should relocate withinJapan, but outsideOkinawa | 12 |
| Should relocate outside ofJapan | 32 |
| No need to relocate from Futenma | 20 |
| Neither | 6 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 11 |
Q7. It is being said that if the U.S. Futenma Air Station relocation issue is not resolved by the end of May it will affect the future of the Hatoyama administration. What are your thoughts on this problem? (N=954)
| The issue is of critical enough importance to influence the future of the administration | 42 |
| The issue is of critical importance, however not enough to influence the future of the administration | 44 |
| The issue is not of critical importance | 6 |
| Other | 1 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 8 |
Q8. When you cast your vote this summer for the House of Councillors election, will you take into consideration Prime Minister Hatoyama and DPJ Secretary General Ozawa’s political fund scandals? (N=954)
| Will take into consideration | 60 |
| Will not take into consideration | 32 |
| Neither | 2 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 6 |
Q9. In this summer’s House of Councillors election, which party or which candidate’s party will you vote for? (N=954)
| Democratic Party ofJapan | 24 |
| Liberal Democratic Party | 20 |
| New Komeito | 5 |
| JapanCommunist Party | 4 |
| Social Democratic Party | 2 |
| The People’s New Party | 1 |
| Your Party | 9 |
| Kaikaku Club | 1 |
| The New Party ofJapan | 0 |
| Other political party | 1 |
| Have not decided yet | 22 |
| Will not vote | 0 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 10 |
Q10. In the future, which politician would you like to see demonstrate greater influence over Japanese politics? Please choose one from the following: (N=954)
| Yukio Hatoyama | 6 |
| Katsuya Okada | 8 |
| Ichiro Ozawa | 3 |
| NaotoKan | 7 |
| Seiji Maehara | 10 |
| Akira Nagatsuma | 3 |
| Sadakazu Tanigaki | 1 |
| Shigeru Ishiba | 6 |
| Nobuteru Ishihara | 5 |
| Yoichi Masuzoe | 28 |
| Other | 6 |
| Cannot say/Do not know | 15 |
Polling Information
F1. Gender (Determined by the polltaker) (N=954)
| Male | 47 |
| Female | 53 |
| Unknown | 0 |
F2. How old are you? (N=954)
| 20s | 5 |
| 30s | 12 |
| 40s | 19 |
| 50s | 18 |
| 60s | 25 |
| 70 years old or older | 17 |
| Refused to answer | 4 |
Average Age: 55.0 years
F3. What is your occupation? (N=954)
| Agriculture, forestry and fisheries | 3 |
| Employee (company or governmental employee, teacher, etc.) | 43 |
| Self-owned business, self-employed (including a homemaker) | 11 |
| Full-time housewife (without job only) | 19 |
| Student | 1 |
| Unemployed | 18 |
| Refused to answer | 3 |