A Solid Year-End for Takaichi in Opinion Polls

A Steady Performance to Close Out 2025

Japan’s major media organizations have released their results for December public opinion surveys gauging sentiment about Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and her government. Her performance was generally strong, with approval ratings holding steady in one poll, dropping slightly in four, and rising in three. The largest swing was seen in the Jiji Press poll, where her approval rating fell by 3.9 percentage points from November to 59.9%.

In half of the eight polls, Takaichi marked her highest support ratings since taking office in October 2025: 75.9% in the Sankei Shimbun survey, 67% in the Mainichi Shimbun survey, 75% (unchanged from November) in the Nikkei survey, and 73% in the Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

Disapproval ratings for the Takaichi administration remain low, in the 10% to low 20% range.

Looking at surveys asking respondents to comment on their choices, the Mainichi and Kyōdō News polls both found positive takes gaining momentum in the wake of the decision to hike the minimum threshold for income taxation from an annual ¥1.60 million to ¥1.78 million.

Meaningful numbers of respondents noted perceived personal qualities of the prime minister as reasons for supporting her: The Nikkei survey found 41% citing her “trustworthy character,” while the Mainichi poll has fully 57% stating they could “rely on her leadership.” That said, there are also signs that the public will be looking for real results from her administration—the top reason for supporting Takaichi in the Kyōdō poll was expectations for her economic policies, at 27.7%, while the Yomiuri poll marked 29% of respondents as hoping for policy outcomes.

Strong Numbers for the Premier, But Not Her Party?

Some analysis, notably by the Nikkei, sees similarities between Takaichi’s strong public support out of the gate and that enjoyed by other long-lived forces on the Japanese political scene, such as the Koizumi Jun’ichirō administration (2001–6) and Abe Shinzō’s second outing (2012–20). The Yomiuri coverage noted her support ratings, remaining above 70% for more than two months following her inauguration, as behind the numbers only for Hosokawa Morihiro (1993–94) and Koizumi.

Compared to the support ratings from exactly a year earlier, for Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru at the same point in his administration where Takaichi now finds herself, her numbers are roughly twice as high. This is not, however, impacting support for her Liberal Democratic Party, which is only a few points higher than at the end of 2024, in the 20%–30% range. It is evident that Japan’s first female prime minister will need to continue searching for ways to translate her personal popularity into broader support for her party.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae poses with a photo of herself and US President Donald Trump at a press photography exhibition in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, on December 22, 2025. © Jiji.)