Public support for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet dropped sharply by 10 percentage points from June to 41%, falling below the disapproval rate, which climbed to 44%, a nationwide opinion poll by Mainichi Shimbun showed on Sunday.

According to the poll conducted on Saturday and Sunday, the approval rating for the Takaichi cabinet declined from 51% in the June 20-21 survey to 41%, marking the first time it has fallen below 50% in the Mainichi Shimbun survey since the prime minister took office in October last year.

Meanwhile, the proportion of respondents who did not support the cabinet rose by 9 percentage points, from 35% to 44%.

This marks the second major Japanese media poll last week in which support for the Takaichi cabinet fell below 50%.

A separate poll released by Jiji Press last Thursday found the cabinet's approval rating at 49%, down 5.3 percentage points from the previous month.