Nearly 85% of respondents said politicians must cut ties with the controversial Unification Church and any affiliated group, a Kyodo News survey showed Thursday, as the fallout from the killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his alleged links to the organization continues to reverberate.
The survey found the approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's new Cabinet rose only slightly to 54.1% following a reshuffle on Wednesday aimed at reviving sagging public support amid intense scrutiny over his ruling party's links with the church.
The support rate in the two-day nationwide telephone survey from Wednesday came after the figure dropped to a low of 51% in the previous poll conducted on July 30 and 31.