The government's handling of the ongoing Japanese hostage crisis was supported by 60.6 percent in a Kyodo News poll conducted Sunday.
In the nationwide telephone survey, 31.2 percent opposed the government's response to the crisis. The survey was conducted after an image was released online Saturday, purportedly showing that one of the two Japanese men held by a group believed to be Islamic State had been killed.
The approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet stood at 52.8 percent, compared with 53.5 percent in the previous poll in December, while the disapproval rate was down 3.0 percentage points at 31.9 percent.