Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his cabinet ministers attend a photo session at Kishida’s residence on August 10, 2022 in Tokyo, Japan. Portal/Issei Kato/Pool
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TOKYO, Aug 12 (Portal) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s cabinet reshuffle appears to have done little to allay voter concerns amid anger at the ruling party’s ties to the Unification Church, opinion polls by media groups showed on Friday.
Links to the church, which was founded in South Korea in the 1950s and is famous for its mass weddings, have become a major strain for Kishida in the month since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s alleged killer said his mother was from the group went bankrupt, and accused Abe of campaigning for it.
With approval ratings already at their lowest since taking office in October, Kishida on Wednesday sacked some members of his cabinet with ties to the group.
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But more than half of those polled by the conservative daily Yomiuri, or 55%, said Kishida’s response was inadequate. Overall support for his cabinet fell to 51%, down 6 points from an Aug. 5-7 poll.
About 86% of respondents who responded to a poll by the daily Nikkei said Kishida’s actions had not “allayed” their concerns about the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) ties to the organization, but support for the cabinet remained intact 57%
Asked about the polls, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the government will listen carefully to people’s views and act on them.
Kishida told a news conference on Wednesday after announcing his new cabinet that he had instructed all new members to review their ties with the church, although he said he didn’t think it had an impact on party politics.
About a dozen LDP politicians have disclosed ties to the church or related organizations since Abe’s assassination. Continue reading
Several members of the new cabinet said they had had ties to the group in the past, such as attending events or making donations to affiliated groups.
Kishida said he selected experienced ministers to deal with some of the most severe crises in decades, including rising prices and growing tensions with China over Taiwan.
But he said he only selected those who had agreed to “review” their ties to the church.
Taro Kono, the newly installed digital minister who is also in charge of consumer affairs, told reporters he intends to set up a committee later this month to investigate commercial activities and fundraising by some religious groups.
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reporting from Elaine Lies and Rocky Swift; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Robert Birsel
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