Former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, 67, has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to become the next leader of Japan’s opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDPJ), according to a recent opinion poll conducted by Yomiuri Shimbun. The survey, which was carried out nationwide from Friday to Sunday, asked respondents to choose their preferred candidate from a pool of four contenders.
Noda secured 32% of the votes, making him the most popular choice among those surveyed. Yukio Edano, former CDPJ president and a prominent figure in Japanese politics at 60 years old, came in second with support from 14% of respondents. Harumi Yoshida, a House of Representatives lawmaker aged 52, ranked third with 9% support. Meanwhile, current CDPJ President Kenta Izumi received only 8% backing and found himself at the bottom of the list.
Interestingly, around 12% of respondents stated that they did not have a particular preference for any candidate. However, when focusing solely on CDPJ supporters themselves, Noda garnered nearly half (50%) of their support. Edano followed closely behind with almost one-third (30%) backing him. Izumi received less than one-fifth (20%) support while Yoshida trailed behind with less than one-tenth (10%).
Among those who do not align themselves with any specific political party or have no party affiliation whatsoever, Noda still managed to secure significant support at 27%. Edano received backing from 13%, Yoshida from 11%, and Izumi from just 5%.
Breaking down the results by gender reveals that Noda was favored by both men and women alike; he garnered support from approximately one-third (35%) of men and nearly three-tenths (29%) of women.
When considering age groups within the survey sample size as well as level of support for each candidate across these groups: Noda enjoyed his highest rate among individuals aged over sixty years old at an impressive rate of forty percent (40%). However his popularity decreased slightly among those aged between forty and fifty-nine years old where he secured thirty-two percent(32%), before dropping further to twenty percent(20%) among individuals aged eighteen to thirty-nine years old.
