Even Free Money Isn’t Helping Japan’s Premier: Gearoid Reidy

Japan’s prime minister wants to give money back to the people. They’re saying “no thanks.”

Fumio Kishida has seen his popularity plummet to worrying new lows in every major poll, with approval dropping almost 11 percentage points to 29.1% in a JNN survey, taken shortly after he announced his latest economic stimulus package. The prime minister has overcome low polling before, but more concerning will be the opposition to his centerpiece plan for tax cuts: The premier intends to return 40,000 yen ($267) per taxpayer next year in a one-time reimbursement of the country’s growing tax revenue, as well as hand ...