‘She’s blown it’: support frays for Japan PM Takaichi over controversial laws

Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appears to be fraying, with two new opinion polls suggesting voters are losing patience with a leader who won a sweeping mandate in February but has since spent political capital on conservative causes instead of tackling cost-of-living pressures.

Analysts said the problem was not simply that Takaichi’s honeymoon period was ending, but that she had used her commanding position to push through legislation dear to the most conservative elements of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party while making little visible progress on day-to-day issues affecting the public’s well-being – chiefly, rising prices.

“She was given an immense mandate with a two-thirds majority for her own party, so there should have been nothing to obstruct her policies and no need to extend the Diet session, which they have just done,” said Michael Cucek, a professor of Asian Studies at Temple University’s Tokyo campus.

According to Cucek, Takaichi has failed to get her “key policy ducks in a line”, her credibility has been “eaten away by her obsequiousness” to US President Donald Trump and she has focused on fringe issues that may have pleased the far-right but have done nothing to improve the lives of ordinary people.

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