The reshuffled Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan received a support rating of 32.2 percent in a survey released Saturday, up 8.6 points from the previous poll in late December.

In a nationwide telephone survey conducted Friday and Saturday, 54.3 percent of respondents supported a consumption tax hike, compared with 43.3 percent who opposed an increase, while 56.9 percent said Japan should join a trans-Pacific free-trade agreement, far exceeding the 25.4 percent who did not support the deal.

As for Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, who is to be indicted possibly later this month over a political funds scandal, 58.7 percent called on the former party chief to resign as a lawmaker and 22.4 percent said he should quit the party.