The Constitutional Revision Research Project seeks to follow, analyze, and document constitutional discussion in Japan.

August 23, 2026

The Mainichi Shimbun conducted a nationwide public opinion survey on August 22 and 23. Approval of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi remained unchanged at 41 percent, the same as in the previous survey conducted on July 18 and 19, which recorded the lowest approval rating since the Cabinet was inaugurated in October 2025. [...]

_{*On August 15, 2026, after arriving at the Nippon Budokan, where the National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead was held, Prime Minister Takaichi briefly got out of her vehicle and performed a Shinto-style ritual of “two bows, two claps, and one bow” while facing in the direction of Yasukuni Shrine. This is a form of ritual worship in Shinto, and an aide to the prime minister acknowledged that she had performed an yōhai, or “distant worship,” toward Yasukuni Shrine. The practice of incumbent prime ministers visiting Yasukuni Shrine has been the subject of longstanding debate, including over whether such visits are incompatible with the “principle of separation of religion and state” stipulated in Article 20(3) of the Constitution of Japan (see also the related article by Jiji Press).}