Photo: Fumio Kishida, former foreign minister, speaks during a press conference after being elected as the new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), at the LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Japan on Tuesday kicked off its first official day of campaigning ahead of the October 31 general election, with a media poll showing support for the ruling party easing, in a blow for recently installed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was at 38.8 percent, according to a poll by public broadcaster NHK conducted over the weekend, down from 41.2 percent a week earlier.

Kishida's approval rating also fell, slipping 3 percentage points to 46 percent, although his party is still expected to retain power, albeit with fewer seats.

Key election issues will be revitalizing the economy and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kishida has promised he will spread the benefits of economic growth more widely, seeking to blunt criticisms of former prime minister Shinzo Abe's economic plan, while prioritizing the handling of the coronavirus response.

The opposition has criticized the ruling coalition for failing to improve the livelihoods of people and protect them from the pandemic.

The NHK poll also showed a 4 percentage point increase in respondents who would "definitely go to the polls" versus a week ago, with 56 percent now saying they would cast their vote.

But leading opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ), is still far behind the LDP in approval ratings, with only 6.6 percent of respondents throwing their support behind them.

The poll showed 36.2 percent of people in the country did not support any particular party.

Reuters