Struggling with rising coronavirus cases and a deeply unpopular Olympics, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is at risk of becoming the next in a long line of short-term leaders.
The 72-year-old Suga, long-time right-hand man of former premier Shinzo Abe, has seen his support rate sink to just over 30% — traditionally considered a danger line for Japanese leaders — from around 70% when he took office last September.
Suga took over after Abe, citing ill health, ended a tenure that lasted nearly eight years and made him Japan's longest-serving premier. Before that, Japan went through six prime ministers in as many years, including Abe's own troubled first one-year tenure.