A survey conducted over the weekend says 84.1 percent of the public believes the government hasn't yet provided a sufficient explanation of why the Cabinet decided to reinterpret the Constitution so Japan can exercise the right to collective self-defense.
In the nationwide telephone survey by Kyodo News on Saturday and Sunday, 12.7 percent said the government provided a sufficient explanation on the decision.
In the survey, 60.2 percent said they oppose using the right, which will allow Japan to come to the defense of allies under armed attack, up 5.8 points from the July survey. But 31.3 percent expressed support, down 3.3 points.
Despite the results of the survey on collective self-defense, the approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet rose 2 points from the previous poll to 49.8 percent.
Abe has decided to reshuffle the Cabinet in September and plans to create a post for coordinating the legal changes needed to execute the Cabinet's controversial decision.
As for the resumption of nuclear power plants amid safety fears caused by the 2011 Fukushima disaster, 57.3 percent oppose restarting nuclear plants and 34.8 percent backed restarting them.
On the planned 2 percent consumption tax hike in October next year, 64.4 percent opposed the move, compared with 32.9 percent expressing support.
In the survey, 79.2 percent said reduced tax rates on food and other daily necessities should be introduced when the consumption tax rate is raised to 10 percent.
By political party, Abe's Liberal Democratic Party was supported by 35.9 percent of respondents, down 1.6 points from the previous survey, while the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan was backed by 8 percent, up 0.2 points. A total of 41.8 percent did not back any particular party.
In the survey, 1,453 households with eligible voters were contacted by telephone, of which 1,014 responded.