Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first Cabinet since the Dec. 14 snap election scored an approval rating of 53.5 percent, compared with 46.9 percent in the poll conducted shortly after the election, a Kyodo News survey showed Thursday.
In a nationwide telephone survey conducted Wednesday and Thursday, 34.9 percent said they disapproved of the Cabinet, which remains intact except for the defense minister, down from 45.3 percent in the Dec. 15 to 16 survey.
When asked about Abe's plan to submit bills to the Diet to legalize Japan's use of the right to collective self-defense, 54.3 percent of the respondents said the government should take its time before doing so.