Photo: KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images
The recent approval of the state secret law in Japan has turned out to be a controversial decision that has seen Abe’s approval rating slide. The article below mentions that not only has support for Abe’s government fallen to its lowest since the inauguration of the administration last year, but also that a recent telephone poll suggested that 82% of respondents wanted the law to either be amended or abolished altogether.
Netizen responses to the news fall into two distinct camps; those who feel that the media is encouraging negative coverage of the law and manipulating the statistics, and those who feel that the law sets a dangerous precedent.
From 47news.jp:
Secrecy Law: 82% Want “Amendment/Abolition”, Sudden 47% Decline In Approval Rating For Cabinet
Kyodo News Agency report that according to an emergency nation-wide telephone opinion poll carried out on both December 8 and December 9, when asked what they thought should happen following the promulgation of the Special Secret Defence Law on December 6, 54.1% of respondents stated that it “should be amended” after the next regular session of the Diet, and 28.2% said that it “should be abolished”, making the total rise to 82.3%. 9.4% of respondents said that “it should be enacted as it is”. Those who said that the law made the “feel anxious” constituted 70.8% of responses, highlighting the current deep seated apprehension that the law was a violation of citizens’ “right to know”.
The approval rating for Abe’s cabinet was 47.6%, a sharp 10.3 point drop from November. This is the first time approval has dropped below 50% since the inauguration of the second Abe administration in December last year.
Comments from Twitter:
高橋 :
This is a result of negative media campaigns. The fact that even though most people responded that they wanted the law amended, they made abolition stand out is evidence of the media’s manipulation.
men:
I think that the approval rating is still too high. Really it should be lower. The scary thing is, that things are gradually going to become more and more set, and but the time people notice we’ll be sliding toward totalitarianism and there’ll be no way of stopping. Seems like Abe’s going to continue his explanation of the law, but I think we shouldn’t just believe all we hear — we should judge the possibilities and the dangers of this law carefully, and question them.
山本寅次郎:
Of course (・Ω・)ノ(・Ω・)ノ★
まみ:
Obviously, I hope it gets abolished.
すんすん:
Why are they putting those who want amendment together with those who want abolition? This is why we call the media shit.
てぃんぐちゃん！:
It’s all because the media and intelligentsia are mixing in false information and encouraging people’s anxiety like assholes.
岡崎 良徳:
Oh, so this topic had quite an impact in the end. Funny, because I got the impression that most people didn’t care.
べー:
Japanese public opinion is easy to manipulate. Guess we’re not suited to democracy.
Shigeya Ichikawa:
Are Abe’s supporters sitting on the fence? That, conversely, is a bit scary…
鷹姿:
Let’s disband this self-centered administration!
やさいくえよ@内藤工務店CEO:
Approval rating has plummeted. Great!
芝桜:
Are the Japanese people going to be fooled by the media yet again!! Grr. Who cares about defending gullible people? I guess it’s just that they’re unaware of stuff, but those guys are also national traitors.
yuko:
Disband the administration, election!
shinichi kobayashi:
Does the government still have as much as 47% support?
aki:
So obvious!! They pushed the bill through with no explanation…Abe’s cabinet is just too must like a dictatorship.
