Public support for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba was almost unchanged in February from the previous month, remaining in the so-called danger zone below 30%, a Jiji Press opinion poll has found.

The Ishiba Cabinet's approval rating was up 0.3 percentage point at 28.5%, while its disapproval rating was down 0.2 point at 40.1%.

The survey found that 58.7% of respondents supported a call by Nippon Ishin no Kai, an opposition party, to scrap the income cap for free high school education, vastly outnumbering the 25.6% who opposed it.

Following Ishiba's first summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 7, 10.1% said they believed Japan-U.S. relations would improve, 23.2% said they believed ties would worsen and 51.3% said they believed there would be no change.

When asked about the reasons for supporting the Ishiba Cabinet, 11.8% of respondents — the largest group — said there is no one else suitable to be prime minister. Meanwhile, 8.7% said they trust the prime minister and 4.0% said that it does not matter who the prime minister is.

On the other hand, the most common reasons cited for disapproving of the Ishiba Cabinet were that it is not considered promising, given by 24.9%, that Ishiba lacks leadership, by 16.2%, and that the respondents couldn't trust the prime minister or that his policies are bad, each of which were chosen by 15.4%.

Support for Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party stood at 17.9%, up 0.6 point. Support for the opposition Democratic Party for the People (DPP) came to 6.1%, beating out for the second straight month the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), which was supported by 5.4%.

The support rate for Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, was 3.8%, followed by 2.0% for Nippon Ishin, 1.9% for Reiwa Shinsengumi and 1.8% for the Japanese Communist Party (JCP).

The interview-based survey was conducted over four days through Sunday and involved 2,000 people age 18 and over across the country. Valid responses were received from 56.3%.

The poll found that 22.0% of respondents said they will vote for the LDP in the Upper House's proportional representation bloc. The DPP followed at 10.2% — the highest level of support among opposition parties, surpassing 9.7% for the CDP.

Anticipated support for Komeito in such a vote came to 5.1%, followed by 3.6% for Nippon Ishin, 3.5% for Reiwa Shinsengumi and 2.5% for the JCP.

By generation, the DPP were favored by 19.3% of respondents below the age of 30, the group from which they enjoyed the strongest support. The LDP was most popular with respondents in their 30s and over.

The CDP received support from 3% to 8% of those in their 50s and younger, and 14.2% of those in their 60s and over, coming second after the LDP.

The poll found that 35.8% of respondents supported same-day elections for both the Upper House and the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, while 19.4% opposed such a move.