Japan Digest #247

1.     PM ABE’S APPROVAL RATING UNCHANGED

Yomiuri’s monthly survey, which was conducted on July 21 and 22, found the Abe Cabinet’s approval rating remained unchanged from the previous month at 45%.

Its disapproval rating was 45% (44% last month).

Abe Cabinet’s approval rating was bottomed in April, and then it went up through May and June.

Political parties’ approval ratings are as follows:

LDP      41% (38% last month)

CDPJ*  8% (6%)

Independent 41% (44%)

*Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan

Following is the popularity ranking of the potential candidates for the next Prime Minister:

29% Rep. Shinjiro Koizumi

26% PM Abe

22% Rep. Shigeru Ishiba

4%   Minister Seiko Noda

3%   Rep. Fumio Kishida

3%   Minister Taro Kono

2.     PM ABE’S 3RD TERM AS PARTY PRESIDENT LIKELY

Former Foreign Minister and the chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council Fumio Kishida held a press conference on July 24 and announced that he would not run for the party president election scheduled in September.

This is forming the next party president election almost a head-on competition between PM Abe for his 3rd term and Rep. Shigeru Ishiba for his second candidacy of the PM office although Ms. Seiko Noda, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications might run for it.

Reportedly, PM Abe and his faction (94 members) successfully collected the commitment of support (vote) from the Aso faction (59 members), Nikai faction (44 members), and once the Kishida faction follows the suit, PM Abe’s support would be able to share around 60% of the Diet members votes of the LDP.

Rep. Ishiba would have to collect the local party members’ support more aggressively, but it might be difficult to make a significant difference locally especially after PM Abe’s presence in local areas for disaster relief and other opportunities is enhanced these days.

LDP originally had a rule to limit the president in power to two terms, but thanks to PM Abe’s high popularity, it was extended to three terms.

There is no term limit for Prime Minister as long as he or she is a House of Representative member and elected by the votes of the house.  If PM Abe is elected as the party president, he could be in the PM office up to September 2021 as long as his party stays in the ruling party position.

3.     INTEGRATED RESORT (IR) LAW PASSED

Integrated Resort Law passed the Diet on July 20 and became a law.

The Abe Administration positions integrated resorts as a key pillar of Japan’s growth strategy after the Tokyo Olympic Games of 2020.

Under this law, Japan’s first IR will begin its operation in as early as 2023.

The law legalizes gambling, which had been a criminal act under the Criminal Law.

The new law places the following limit at this moment:

The maximum number of IR sites in Japan: 3

Japanese guests have to pay 6,000 yen ($55) for casino admission every time.

The maximum number of casino admission by Japanese per person: 3 times per week and 10 times per month

Operators of casinos have to pay a 30% share of the total revenue to the local and national governments.

4.     2020 TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES APPROACHING WITHIN 2 YEARS

The countdown of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games’ opening marked the just-2 years-to-go point on July 24.

The Tokyo Olympic Organizing Members Committee announced on the 20th the outline of admission tickets as follows:

Opening ceremony         :               from 12,000 yen up to 300,000 yen

Closing ceremony            :               from 12,000 yen up to 220,000 yen

Baseball games                 :               from   4,000 yen up to   67,500 yen

Basketball games             :               from   3,000 yen up to 108,000 yen

Soccer games                    :               from   2,500 yen up to   67,500 yen

Swimming                           :               from   5,800 yen up to 108,000 yen

Track and field                   :               from   3,000 yen up to 130,000 yen

The committee also decided to advance the marathon race hours to earlier time in the morning considering the recent trend of terrible heat in summer.