The approval rate for Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet came to 19.2 percent in a weekend survey, down 6.3 percentage points from the previous survey in December and falling far below the critical 30 percent mark.
The disapproval rate came to 70.2 percent, up 8.9 points, with 46.4 percent of respondents saying they would prefer Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, as prime minister, up 11.9 points.
In the telephone survey conducted Saturday and Sunday by Kyodo News, 22.1 percent said they prefer Aso to lead the country, down 11.4 points.