Takaichi's Sliding Approval Ratings Spark Concerns of Looser Spending Policies
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is facing declining approval ratings after her cabinet's support dropped below 50% for the first time since her inauguration in October 2025.
Takaichi rode a wave of pro-growth enthusiasm into office, delivering a historic supermajority to the Liberal Democratic Party in a snap election on February 8, 2026. Her approval ratings climbed as high as 68% in June 2026, according to a Nikkei/TV Tokyo poll.
However, a Jiji Press poll dated July 16, 2026 showed her cabinet's approval at 49%, with older voters increasingly uneasy about inflation pressures and legislative proposals. Market strategists are warning of a likely pivot toward looser spending policies, which could send shockwaves through currency markets.
A weaker yen could benefit Japanese equities in the short term, but is potentially bad news for the currency itself. The crypto connection is real, with Bitcoin briefly touching $72,000 after Takaichi's election victory and a Solana-based meme coin named after her reaching a market cap of roughly $30 million before crashing.