Some 44.2 percent of Japanese voters surveyed view favorably Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's closely watched statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, a Kyodo News poll showed Saturday.
In the telephone survey conducted Friday and Saturday, 37.0 percent said they do not regard it positively.
On controversial security bills that would expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces overseas, 62.4 percent of respondents said they do not support the passage of the bills during the current Diet session while 29.2 percent expressed support.