The approval rating for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet has fallen 6.0 points since November to 42.7 percent, marking the second straight month of decline, amid criticism he uses taxpayers' money to entertain his supporters at a state cherry-blossom viewing event, a survey showed Sunday.
The disapproval rate stood at 43.0 percent, up from 38.1 percent and eclipsing the support rating for the first time since December 2018, the Kyodo News survey said.
The sharp drop in the support rate followed a drop of 5.4 points in November. It was the first fall of 10 points or more in two consecutive polls since February and March 2018, when Abe was embroiled in a scandal linked to cronyism allegations over a sale of state-owned land to Moritomo Gakuen.