Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to mark one year on Tuesday since taking office, but his administration is now in a tight corner.

Kishida, who became prime minister and launched his administration on Oct. 4, 2021, had enjoyed a certain level of public support, and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s victory in this July’s election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, was seen to have paved the way for a long administration for the prime minister.

Public support for the Kishida cabinet has plummeted recently, however, in the wake of issues related to the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the revelation of ties between many LDP lawmakers and the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church.

“We are being criticized. What’s going on?” Kishida said angrily at his office in early September, responding to some media reports critical of the government’s plan to reduce subsidies aimed at curbing gasoline prices in stages.

The government was considering scaling back the subsides paid to oil wholesalers after spending nearly 2 trillion yen on the program.

According to informed sources, the prime minister had given his go-ahead to the reduction, but suddenly changed his mind and opted to keep the status quo for fear of being criticized by the public.

Some had said Kishida secured “golden three years,” in which he would be able to boldly push his policies, because there would be no major parliamentary elections for the time being after the LDP fared well in the election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, in late October 2021 and this July’s Upper House poll.

Soon after the Upper House election, however, the situation took a sudden turn for the worse for the Kishida administration due to the state funeral and Unification Church issues.

Although Kishida attended an off-session Diet meeting Sept. 8 to explain about the matters, the criticism grew louder.

Disapproval rates for the Kishida cabinet outpaced approval in many recent media polls, and his “ability to listen,” which the prime minister has touted since taking office, has lost its luster.

Going into Extra Diet Session with Anxiety Kishida is rushing to announce new policy measures recently.

Among measures against soaring prices, the government plans to grant 50,000 yen in cash to each low-income household.

Kishida also instructed the establishment of a new system to cushion the impact of surging electricity bills.

The opposition camp is ready to grill the government over the Unification Church issue at the extraordinary Diet session starting Monday.

Especially, economic revitalization minister Daishiro Yamagiwa could be a source of concern as he has failed to respond properly despite cases suggesting his links with the religious organization coming to light one after another.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan is calling for the resignation of Yamagiwa, with CDP leader Kenta Izumi criticizing the minister for frequently changing his explanations.

The Japanese Communist Party also demanded that Yamagiwa step down.

With the opposition side planning to pursue Kishida’s responsibility for appointing Yamagiwa to the post at budget committee meetings, a senior LDP lawmaker said that Yamagiwa should quit early.

Work to compile the government’s budget for fiscal 2023, which starts next April, is also seen to be tough.

Kishida has vowed to substantially increase defense spending, double the funding for measures for children and spend 20 trillion yen on measures to promote decarbonization over 10 years.

How to procure financial resources for these items will be a major challenge, informed sources said.

A government official said: “We don’t know what is a priority issue. I wonder if we can really put (these measures) into action as the Kishida administration is losing its strength.”

JIJI Press