An overwhelming majority of Japanese voters polled picked social security issues as a key factor in deciding on the candidates and political parties they will vote for in July's House of Councillors election, according to a public opinion poll published Sunday.
With two replies allowed, social security — pension, healthcare, nursing care and welfare — was picked by 74.9 percent of the respondents, an increase of 23 percentage points from a similar poll conducted last December.
The jump apparently reflects the recent focus on public pensions following the revelation of blunders by a government agency in keeping track of data on a massive number of accounts.