TOKYO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet dropped sharply by 10 percentage points from June to 41 percent, falling below the disapproval rate, which climbed to 44 percent, a nationwide opinion poll by Mainichi Shimbun showed Sunday.
According to the poll conducted on Saturday and Sunday, the approval rating for the Takaichi cabinet declined from 51 percent in the June 20-21 survey to 41 percent, marking the first time it has fallen below 50 percent in the Mainichi Shimbun survey since the prime minister took office in October last year.
Meanwhile, the proportion of respondents who did not support the cabinet rose by 9 percentage points, from 35 percent to 44 percent.
This marks the second major Japanese media poll last week in which support for the Takaichi cabinet fell below 50 percent.
A separate poll released by Jiji Press last Thursday found the cabinet's approval rating at 49 percent, down 5.3 percentage points from the previous month.■
