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OPINION POLL (P05-8)

April 2005 Nikkei Regular Telephone Opinion Poll

Dates Conducted

April 7-10, 2005

Released

April 11, 2005

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

Link to Original Source

http://www.nikkei-r.co.jp/nikkeipoll/results.html

Disclaimer

The Mansfield Foundation is responsible for the translation of this Nikkei Shimbun poll, subject to the Mansfield Foundation Terms of Use.

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%