A bill for a special law to allow only the current emperor to abdicate is supported by 69 per cent of the people, far more than the 23 per cent who oppose it, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun poll.
The nationwide survey was conducted from Friday through Sunday.
The government plans to submit the bill during the current ordinary Diet session.
Among other results of the poll, 75 per cent of all respondents said the government should continue studying system revisions to allow any emperor in the future to abdicate even after the special law is established.
The same percentage gave this answer even when respondents were limited to those who supported the special law.
Only 17 per cent of all respondents said it is not necessary to do so.
Before asking whether to support the bill, the survey asked how the government should deal with emperor’s abdication issue.
The highest figure, 59 per cent, said the current system should be revised to allow any emperor in the future to abdicate, down from 66 per cent in a similar survey conducted December 2-4 last year.
Those who are in favour of establishing a special law to allow only the current emperor to abdicate stood at 33 per cent, up from 23 per cent in the December survey.
Of those who said they support system revisions, 60 per cent support the bill while 33 per cent said they do not.
The government is studying setting Jan 1, 2019, as the start of a new era upon the new emperor’s accession to the throne.
As for the new era’s starting date, 44 per cent favour January 1, while 52 per cent said there is no need to stick to that date.
Regarding the government’s measures to temporarily bring back the Japanese ambassador to South Korea to protest the erection of a statue symbolising comfort women in front of the Japanese Consulate General in Busan, South Korea, 75 per cent said the government’s action was appropriate.
Regarding a bill to revise the Law on Punishment of Organized Crimes and Control of Crime Proceeds that the government plans to submit during the current Diet session, 70 per cent said they support it while 17 per cent said they do not.
The approval rating for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stood at 61 per cent, about the same level as the 63 per cent the last time this question was asked on December 28-29 last year, shortly after Abe visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The disapproval rating was 31 per cent, compared with 27 per cent in the previous survey.
Support for the ruling Liberal Democratic party was 40 per cent, followed by 7 per cent for the main opposition Democratic Party.
The nationwide telephone interview poll was conducted on eligible voters using a random digit dialing method.
Valid answers were given by a total of 1,063 people: 527 from 913 households and 536 from 1,232 cell phone users.
The response rate was 58 per cent for landlines and 44 per cent for cell phones.
Worry over US relations
When asked about future Japan-US relations, 70 per cent of respondents said they have more concerns than hopes upon the inauguration of the administration of US President Donald Trump.
The figure was 12 percentage points higher than in the survey conducted November12-13 last year shortly after Trump won the presidential election.
Those who believe that the Trump administration will “have more of a negative impact” on the Japanese economy also rose to 70 per cent, again up 12 percentage points from the previous survey.
Regarding Japan’s policy of putting an emphasis on the alliance with the United States, 60 per cent said the policy should be maintained, almost level with the 59 per cent in the November survey.
